Provenance
The French auction site Delcampe remains a treasure trove for historical items, even for specialistic items such as documents from the French Foreign Legion.
Medio 2022 three postcards, sent to an officer of the French Foreign Legion in the 1930’s, were for sale at a very reasonable price. The vendor seems to be specialised in historic postcards and documents , though with no noticable clear emphasis on militaria, although clearly knowledgable based on provided descriptions.
In this post the postcards will be discussed and as far as possible placed in their historical context.
The postcards
The postcards were sent on 16-08-1934, 12-01-1936 and 26-03-1936.
The adres were:
Foucher, Chef de Bon Major 2eme Regiment Etranger Meknes Maroc
Commandant Foucher 2eme Regiment Etranger Meknes Maroc.
Commandant Foucher, 2eme Regt Etranger Meknes
The postcards were sent from Tanger, Mazagan and Ijoukkak
Commandant FOUCHER
Very useful when researching French officers from this period are the ” Annuaire des fonctionnaires et de l’armée : tout le Protectorat de la République française au Maroc / publié sous la direction de M. H. Rainaldy”.
These can be found nowadays in digital format on the Gallica website.
A officer named FOUCHER serving with the 2e RE in Maroc, was found on the list of 1934 and 1937.
We learn from this that his first name was Edouard and he had earned the Legion d’Honneur and the Croix de Guerre. Recipients of the Legion d’Honneur can be found on this website:
https://www.leonore.archives-nationales.culture.gouv.fr
Entering FOUCHER and Edouard gives two results from which this based on the year of birth is the only realistic one:
Nom :FOUCHER
Prénom(s) :Edouard
Date de naissance :16/04/1882
Lieu de naissance :Charente, Reignac
Edouard FOUCHER received his Legion d’Honneur and the Croix de Guerre for bravery during the First World War.
The documents found on Leonore do however not provide any information about Edouard FOUCHER later carreer.
As such it is not 100% certain this is the later Commandant FOUCHER, although it is very likely.
Using Gallica, following Newspaper announcement from the 24th of June 1934 was found indicating the promotion of capitaine FOUCHER to chef de bataillon.
This nicely explains why in the 1934 listing he is still mentioned as captain and on the postcard sent on 16-08-1934 he is addressed as chef de bataillon.
