Legion of Honor

"To my dear uncle"

Presentation of the Legion of Honor in Rouen to Second Lieutenant CASANOVA Jean Augustin Mathieu Toussaint of the 39th Infantry Regiment : around February 28, 1915.

He received this decoration for an act of bravery which took place on February 16, 1915 in Loivre.

Quoted in the Official Journal of March 20, 1915: "Mr. Casanova (Paul) *first name error*, second lieutenant in the 39th infantry regiment: of remarkable bravery, was able, although wounded in the arm, to cleared by killing 4 Germans with revolver shots. Then returned to the trenches under machine gun fire."

He left the 39th RI on September 28, 1915, assigned to the 403rd Infantry Regiment.

It will be distinguished later:

-March 2, 1916 in Somain: wounded by gunshot

-October 19, 1916 in Eparges: concussion caused by a mine.

He ended his campaign with a Legion of Honor and 3 citations.

He will have taken part, as an officer:

-Battle of Charleroi

-Battle of Guise

-1st Battle of the Marne

-Battle of Malmaison.

He continued his military career in Algeria in 1919 then in Upper Silesia.

Ultimately, during World War I; he will have gone through:

-39th Infantry Regiment

-403rd Infantry Regiment

-274th Infantry Regiment on May 25, 1916

-74th Infantry Regiment and promoted to Captain on December 31, 1916

-General Staff of the 5th Infantry Brigade on June 16, 1917

-General Staff 27th Infantry Division on June 27, 1917 where it will end the war.

France

infanterie

between the 1915-02-16 and the 1915-04-05,world war one

A.-V. Benjamin