I’m trying to get this French military citation translated. What is the most accurate translation site out there?
I don’t know what the best site is, but they might have a problem with a grammatical quirk of that text. Generally, the sentences leave out the subject as being understood, and open with the verb “A” meaning “has”. I’m not sure than an automated translation system will cope with that gracefully.
How precise do you want it? I’m sure some folks here can translate it jsut fine - my french is a little rusty but I can get a pretty good gist of what it says:
The General BOISSAU, Commander of the south-east Algerian front, cites:
- By the order of the Army Corps (?)
-The first lieutenant CASIMIR I. LENARD, of the first Reconnaisance Troop Division ALLEN.
“In the afternoon of March 21st, using the terrain to best advantage, succeeded in approaching within 1,800 meters of the enemy defensive position. Opened fire on the gun emplacement (Poste de tir could be a vague term, or have a specific military meaning - don’t know, but it is literally “firing position”). Brought back precious information under a very violent artillery fire.”
-Second Lieutenant LOUIS S. PEEK, of the first Reconnaisance Troop Division ALLEN.
“Brilliant reconnaissance officer (“decouverte” means discovery). Commander of an advance guard on March 21st, made contact with enemy infantry postions. Succeeded, thanks to his cool-headedness (sang-frois means literally “cold blooded” but without the negative connotations it sometimes has in english), brought back his entire detachment under violent artillery and automatic weapons fire.”
Staff Seargent WATKINS, of the first Reconnaisance Troop Division ALLEN.
“Skilled patroller and manouverer (that’s an awkward translation there). Permitted, on March 21st, thanks to his knowledge of the terrain, a very bold manouver of his detachment, bringing back precious information (in this context, probably “intelligence” is a better word) and saved all his materiel despite violent artillery fire.”
2nd) By order of the regiment (?)
Corporal KIROUAC Victor-Edmond, First Reconnaissance Troop First Division U.S.A.
“Liason agent with the French Troops. Filled (completed?) numerous missions with devotion and swagger, notably on March 21st, under a violent artillery barrage.”
Thanks a lot!
i would agree with that translation provided by Stormcrow, with two modifications: I don’t know much French military terminology, but I think that “À l’Ordre du Corps d’Armée” translates as “To the Order of the Corps d’Armée”, and that “À l’Ordre du Régiment” translates as “To the Order of the Regiment.”
In other words, the commander in the opening paragraph is citing them to those two Orders, respectively, in the sense of honourary Orders, not giving them Orders.
But I’d be interested if clairobscur or any of our other French Dopers could cast some light on it.
Yeah, those two bits really threw me more than anything else in the translation. I suspect they have a very specific French military meaning. It may be something akin to a medal of honor, I suppose, but I can’t find anything online to back that up.
Nope - “a l’ordre de” essentially means “To :” in this context, as in to the attention of which commander/HQ he recommends these men. It is not an “Ordre” in the sense of, say, “l’Ordre du Mérite” or similar medal.
Anyway, just for fun and practice, here’s my take on it :
General, I think they got the point. March 21, artillery. Violent. Did I mention there was artillery ? Cause there was violent artillery 
OK, checked a bit deeper, and I was wrong : “cité à l’ordre de X”, where X is an army subdivision, from the very top (“a l’ordre de la Nation”) down to it seems the regiment level, is a specific military formulation which basically establishes the level of heroism displayed, and therefore which kind of medal is to be awarded.
It apparently dates back to 1914-18, when the system of modern medals and awards was not quite yet what it is today and heroic soldiers were simply “cité à l’ordre du jour”, which translates as mentioned in despatches and meant just that : your name was put in the day’s news bulletin and told to other soldiers of your regiment/division/whatever, both as an inspiration to them, and an honor to you.
Since the brass felt it was not quite enough for people getting blown to bits and losing morale over it for some reason, they created the “Croix de Guerre”. It specified different levels of “granularity” in heroism - thus the different terms.
So, “cité à l’ordre de la division” literally means “the whole division will be made aware of what you did”, but in practice and in the context of the Algerian war it determined which kind of Croix de Valeur Militaire you got, i.e. how many leafs and stars and whatnot.
Interesting to see in the document that the person typing it didn’t have a French typewriter with accented letters, or else didn’t bother to do the accents while typing. They have all been added by hand afterwards (with a couple of mistakes.)
In April 1943 we could be talking about either troops of Vichy France or Free French troops attached to the Allied forces, but various aspects of the cititation - most obviously, reference to liaison with the US forces - suggest strongly that we are talking about the latter. In which case they are largely equipped and supplied by the British and the Americans. So, French troops but a British or American typewriter.
What the… whu ? Hey ! It *is *dated '43. I had assumed this was an Algerian War paper. Thanks for the involuntary heads up.
French troups coming under artillery fire in the Algerian war? American troop formations in the Algerian war? Staff Sergeant Watkins in the Algerian war?
I think not.
The General Boissau who issued the order is almost certainly Major-General Pierre-Félix Boissau, a carrer officer who had been attached to the Vichy forces in North Africa, but who - with his division, and indeed most of the Vichy Forces in Algeria - switched sides in 1942. In 1943 he was commanding a (French) division attached to the (British) First Army. There was also a US Army Corps, under General Bradley, attached to the First Army, and these citations seem to be commending American personnel who are liaising with the French forces.
It looks to me like this document was not the original, but was reproduced by an American official for American military records. It’s not signed by the French general, nor sealed, and in the bottom left corner, it says:
and then the handwritten initials: “L.G.” which I presume is the person who did the actual reproduction (by typewriter).