The Médaille militaire (, "Military Medal") is a military decoration of the French Republic for other ranks for meritorious service and acts of bravery in action against an enemy force. It is the third highest award of the French Republic, after the Legion of Honour, a civil and military order, and the Order of Liberation, a Second World War-only order. The Médaille militaire is therefore the most senior entirely military active French decoration.

During World War I, 230,000 médailles were awarded, when 1,400,000 French Army soldiers were killed and 3,000,000 wounded. For comparison, the UK Military Medal was awarded on 115,000 occasions in World War I, when 673,375 British Army soldiers were killed and 1,643,469 wounded. There were 628 awards to 627 recipients of the Victoria Cross, the United Kingdom's highest military decoration.

The award was first established in 1852 by the first President of the French Republic, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte who may have taken his inspiration from a medal established and awarded by his father, Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland.

After the First World War, the Military Medal was also temporarily awarded for wounds received in combat.

Statute

Like many other French awards, the médaille can be awarded for different reasons. It can be awarded to foreign nationals serving with or alongside the French armed forces. (posthumous)

  • World War 1 African American fighter pilot Eugene Jacques Bullard
  • Sergeant Louis-Ferdinand Céline
  • Sergeant Eugène Chavant
  • Yvonne Chollet (posthumous)
  • Marshal of France, Great Britain and Poland, Ferdinand Foch
  • Prime Minister Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill
  • USMC Sergeant Major Daniel Joseph "Dan" Daly
  • Private Herman Davis
  • First sergeant Samuel "Sam" Dreben
  • President Dwight D. Eisenhower
  • Rene Joyeuse FFL / OSS (Captain)
  • Corporal François Faber (posthumous)
  • Colonel René Paul Fonck
  • Corporal Edward Foster VC
  • Russian flying ace Viktor Georgiyevich Fyodorov
  • Jean Gabin
  • Police prefect Louis Lépine
  • General of the Army Douglas MacArthur
  • Capitaine Georges Felix Madon
  • World War 2 fighter ace Paul-Joseph de Montgolfier
  • Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein
  • Norwegian Crown Prince and Chief of Defence Olav V
  • Marshal and Prime Minister Alexandros Papagos
  • Marshal Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain
  • Corporal Thomas A. Pope
  • Father of the French Air Force, General Pierre Auguste Roques
  • President Franklin D. Roosevelt (posthumous)
  • Master corporal Pierre-Auguste Sarrus
  • Master corporal Pierre Schoendoerffer
  • Partisan leader and Prime Minister Josip Broz Tito
  • Susan Travers - French Foreign Legion
  • Marthe Cohn
  • Corporal Clarence Van Allen

Recent Recipients for Valour

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Name !! Unit !! Rank !! Date of effect !! Notes

|-

|Adrien Moulard||Army, Armored Cavalry||Master Corporal (brigadier-chef)||20 November 2013||WIA

|-

|Renan Thierry||Army, Armored Cavalry||Master Corporal (brigadier-chef)||20 November 2013||WIA

|-

|Thomas Guillebaut||Air Force||Master Corporal (caporal chef)||13 December 2013||KIA<br /><small>Also knight of the Legion of Honour</small>

|-

|John Conte||Army, Foreign Legion||Private First Class (soldat de première classe)||29 April 2014||WIA

|-

|Geraldino Hoareaeu||Army, Foreign Legion||Private First Class (soldat de première classe)||29 April 2014||KIA<br /><small>Also knight of the Legion of Honour</small>

|-

|François Fernandez||Army, Signal Corps||Warrant Officer (adjudant)||5 December 2014||WIA

|-

|Rémy Boullé||Air Force||Master Corporal (caporal-chef)||16 January 2015||WIA

|-

|Ludovic Sailly||Air Force||Warrant Officer (adjudant)||30 January 2015||WIA

|-

|Damien Legrand||Air Force||Staff Sergeant (sergent-chef)||30 January 2015||WIA

|-

|Aurélie Salel||Army, Corps of Engineers||Sergeant (sergent)||18 March 2015||WIA<br/><small>Later died from her wounds and made Knight of the Legion of Honour</small>

|-

|Florian Dumont||Army, Corps of Engineers||Master Corporal (caporal-chef)||4 May 2015||WIA<br/><small>Later died from his wounds and made Knight of the Legion of Honour</small>

|-

|Nicolas Caron||Army||Staff Sergeant (sergent-chef)||16 October 2015||WIA

|}

See also

  • Ribbons of the French military and civil awards

Notes

References

  • France Phaléristique
  • Médaille Militaire information held by the Grande Chancellerie de la Légion d'honneur