cdr Posted 23 August , 2014 Share Posted 23 August , 2014 re 641 This is Frederik Valdemar Olsen born in 1877 in Kalundborg, Danmark. After a stint as lieutenant in 1st Danish regiment of artillery he joined the notorious Force Publique of the Congo Free State. He stayed on when the Congo became a Belgian colony. In 1914 he was commander of the Force Publique in the Katanga region. Elements of his units supported British forces in Abercorn and Saisi. In 1916 he was commander of the Brigade Sud of the Force publique. He captured Kigoma, Ujiji and entered Tabora on 19/09/1916. In 1920 he took the Belgian nationality Carl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ridgus Posted 23 August , 2014 Share Posted 23 August , 2014 Carl Well I think you'd have had to wait a long time for any of us to find that chap! I'd got as far as a non-Belgian Belgian somewhere in the tropics but that was it. Yet another fascinating story to add to the mix. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ridgus Posted 23 August , 2014 Share Posted 23 August , 2014 Time for a moustachioed French General I think. A hundred years ago this chap had just turned up in France at the head of his troops just in time to be deployed at the Battle of the Marne David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 23 August , 2014 Share Posted 23 August , 2014 And to keep the pot boiling, this chap will be simple, I suspect. However, I discovered an interesting fact today about his dad, who suffered a notable unique achievement. Any ideas? Oh, while we're at it, what was the subject of the photo's "first"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Davies Posted 23 August , 2014 Share Posted 23 August , 2014 The title you have given the photograph helped remind me I saw his VC in their museum earlier this year. It's Billy Congreve whose old man also won the VC but I don't think that's the unique achievement you mention. I have no idea what Billy C's first was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 23 August , 2014 Share Posted 23 August , 2014 And to keep the pot boiling, this chap will be simple, I suspect. However, I discovered an interesting fact today about his dad, who suffered a notable unique achievement. Any ideas? Oh, while we're at it, what was the subject of the photo's "first"? Is he OBLI? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 23 August , 2014 Share Posted 23 August , 2014 A Greenjacket, but not OBLI. Rifle Brigade. The title you have given the photograph helped remind me I saw his VC in their museum earlier this year. It's Billy Congreve whose old man also won the VC but I don't think that's the unique achievement you mention. I have no idea what Billy C's first was. Good as far as it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Davies Posted 23 August , 2014 Share Posted 23 August , 2014 Clearly the tour guide wasn't up to snuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 23 August , 2014 Share Posted 23 August , 2014 I throw this in for free: about 30 years ago, Billy Congreve's daughter decided to sell her dad's medals, which were on loan in the museum, on the open market. This was, IIRC, just after Nicholson's Battle of Britain VC sold for silly money and I think the lady expected a pretty good wodge. An appeal was mounted, to which I chipped in a tenner, and the medal collection sold (to the regiment) for an amazingly low sum (about £10k, I believe), which was, I think, less than the museum had offered her before she went to auction. Not sure if that tale can be verified. Anyway, his "first" ad his dad's "unique" achievements, anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 23 August , 2014 Share Posted 23 August , 2014 William Congreve, the first in GW to be awarded VC, DSO and MC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ridgus Posted 23 August , 2014 Share Posted 23 August , 2014 William and Walter were the only father and son to win the VC when in the same regiment David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 23 August , 2014 Share Posted 23 August , 2014 William Congreve, the first in GW to be awarded VC, DSO and MC. Yes indeed. That's him sorted. William and Walter were the only father and son to win the VC when in the same regiment David Maybe, but dad (Sir Walter) achieved a very memorable unique thing during the GW, after Billy had been killed. Something no other Corps Commander managed (according to the regimental museum). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ridgus Posted 23 August , 2014 Share Posted 23 August , 2014 Yes indeed. That's him sorted. Maybe, but dad (Sir Walter) achieved a very memorable unique thing during the GW, after Billy had been killed. Something no other Corps Commander managed (according to the regimental museum). The only Corps Commander to be wounded. He lost his left hand in an artillery barrage David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Clifton Posted 23 August , 2014 Share Posted 23 August , 2014 Time for a moustachioed French General I think. A hundred years ago this chap had just turned up in France at the head of his troops just in time to be deployed at the Battle of the Marne dri 256.jpg David Joseph Gallieni? I think that he had served in Indo-China.Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ridgus Posted 23 August , 2014 Share Posted 23 August , 2014 Joseph Gallieni? I think that he had served in Indo-China. Ron Gallieni was already in post as military commander of Paris. My chap came to help him from AfricaDavid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 24 August , 2014 Share Posted 24 August , 2014 The only Corps Commander to be wounded. He lost his left hand in an artillery barrage David Cigar for that man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 24 August , 2014 Share Posted 24 August , 2014 As things have gone very quiet, perhaps it is time for a WAIWA. Which Great War General is John Buchan describing here: "There was something loose in his habits of thought, and his imagination made no proper contact with realities. I remember how at St. Omer in the summer of 1915 he used to prophesy. I wrote his prophecies down in a little book and most were wildly wrong. The whole man lacked discipline, both intellectual and moral. Sometimes he was dangerous, for he was very vain; he had a gift, too, of making a situation more clear than God intended it to be, and therefore he had an undue influence upon civilian minds at home. More often he was simply futile, a brilliant child bombinating in the void. But if his defects were obvious so were his qualities, his courage, his humour, his unflagging gusto." ? ? ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ridgus Posted 24 August , 2014 Share Posted 24 August , 2014 No grip on reality? Gusto? Vain? Influence at home? Henry Wilson? David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveMarsdin Posted 25 August , 2014 Share Posted 25 August , 2014 Whilst I continue to search for David's Frenchman, who is this ? He's buried not five miles from where I'm writing this. Hopefully you can't read his name at the bottom ? Edit: 07.57 to remove the name, just in case you can ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Clifton Posted 25 August , 2014 Share Posted 25 August , 2014 Cardinal Mercier? Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ridgus Posted 25 August , 2014 Share Posted 25 August , 2014 He looks a bit well fed for Cardinal Mercier, Ron. However his clothes look a bit grand for my suggestion of Columba Marmion, so what do I know?! David Edit: On reflection the picture looks very post war, perhaps he was a young priest at the time of the war? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveMarsdin Posted 25 August , 2014 Share Posted 25 August , 2014 The photo was taken during the inter-war period. I am still in Jamoigne. He isn't buried in a civil cemetery. He was truly a man of three persons. Jamoigne is within 5 miles of Rossignol and Bellefontaine. Not all of these clues will help although Carl will no doubt need none of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveMarsdin Posted 25 August , 2014 Share Posted 25 August , 2014 David, I'm struggling with your Frenchman, he has a resemblance to a young Dubail but I can't find a photo with glasses and he didn't come straight from Africa !!! Can we have a clue ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 25 August , 2014 Share Posted 25 August , 2014 No grip on reality? Gusto? Vain? Influence at home? Henry Wilson? David Wilson, yes. Buchan continues: "He used to tell how he once overheard some Frenchmen discussing his appearance and trying to find the mot juste. "Ce monsieur," said one at last, "a une physionomie à part." The whole man was à part. I never met anyone in the least like him, and that long, lean, whimsical face, like a good-natured pike, will not soon be forgotten by his friends." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveMarsdin Posted 25 August , 2014 Share Posted 25 August , 2014 I'm just about to set off back to the UK and won't be online again until tomorrow so here's a further clue: "my favourite tipple in Skindles" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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