A 1961 ‘Bizerte Crisis’ French Médaille Militaire group of six awarded to Adjutant-Chef R. H. Boutin, French Forces

France, Republic, Medaille Militaire, silver, silver-gilt, and enamel, with trophy of arms suspension; Croix du Combattant, bronze; Colonial Medal, silvered-bronze, 1 clasp, Extreme-Orient; Commemorative Medal for the Second World War 1939-45, bronze, 2 clasps, Liberation, France; Indo-China Campaign Medal 1953, bronze; Medal for Operations in North Africa, bronze, 2 clasps, Tunisie, Algerie, mounted as worn, good very fine and better (6) £120-£160

Roger Henri Boutin was born in St-Jean d’Angeley, Charent-Maritime, on 6 February 1919, and served as a Chief Adjutant with the French Air Force. He was awarded his Medaille Militarire for his gallantry during the Bizerte Crisis in July 1961, when Tunisia imposed a blockade on the French naval base at Bizerte, Tunisia, hoping to force its evacuation- the city and naval base, a strategic port on the Mediterranean, had remained under French sovereignty following Tunisia’s independence in 1956. The crisis culminated in a five day battle between the French and Tunisian Forces from 19-23 July that resulted in the deaths of 24 French and 630 Tunisians, and eventually led to France ceding the city and naval base to Tunisia in 1963.

Sold with Certificate for the Medaille Militaire, named to Monsieur Roger Henri Boutin, Adjutant-Chef de l’Armée de l’Air, and dated Paris, 8 December 1961, in tube of issue addressed to the recipient at ‘Base Aerienne No. 156, Sidi Ahmed, Tunisia’; a Testimonial of Satisfaction from the Commander of the Air Base Aerienne, in which the recipient is personally cited for his ‘courage and sang-froid’ when Roland Garros Air Base at Sidi Ahmed was besieged in a battle that started on 19 July 1961; and a Testimonial of Satisfaction from the French Naval Commander-in-Chief at Bizerte for the same action, this last slightly torn.