French Dogtag/ID Chain

[Edelweisse]

Hi Folks:  Recently found at French flea market…ID chain ..assuming WW1 due to name and 1915 on front. Home town and ser# on reverse.  Has age & wear.  Found with two medals…but unknown if they belonged together.

 

Wondering if he survived WW1.

[Edelweisse]

I found out on Wehrmacht Awards forum from a French member..he survived 

 

Hello,

Soldier Mangin was enlisted in the 69th Infantry Regiment on December 19, 1914. Reported missing on April 9, 1916, in Haucourt (Meuse). Eventually found to be a prisoner of war in Güstrow.

Best regards

 

https://archivesenligne.archives.cg54.fr/ark:33175/s0054f9527b37900/54f957e455fd6.fiche=arko_fiche_62bc4ea02e111.moteur=arko_default_62bc69358b041

 

just queried French 69th infantry regiment WWI and read about the battle around Haucourt...WOW

The defence of then Haucourt sector had cost the French heavy casualties. The 26eme R.I. had lost 20 officers and 800 men. The 69eme R.I. had lost 30 officers and 1300 men all in the period of the 5th-6th of April.

 

Additional info about 69th Infantry Regiment 

On the D18 road about ten miles north-west of Verdun is the site of Haucourt, one of the villages destoyed in 1916, although there are still farm buildings here toay. There is a memorial constructed on the remains of a blockhouse, located on the left hand side of the road as you travel south.


The bunker memorial at Haucourt

The plaque on the front of the memorial blockhouse shows that it is in memory of six companies of the French 69th Infantry Regiment who disappeared entirely between the 30th of March and the 5th of April 1916, whilst engaged in defending Haucourt and the nearby village of Malancourt. It is also in memory of their 'brothers-in-arms' of the 79th US Infantry Division, who fell here later in the war, in September 1918.

 

 

 

Pictures of monuments