A Vichy Era Légion d’Honneur Conferred Ten Years after the Original Award, Légion d’Honneur, Fourth Republic issue, Officer’s breast badge, in silver-gilt and enamels, with original brevet named to Capitaine de Frégate Marie Joseph Benoit Lapierre, dated 7 May 1951, upper limb chipped, otherwise good very fine; together with Vichy Croix de Guerre 1939-40; copies (4), comprising: Croix de Guerre (3), 1944, De Giraud type and for French Volunteer Legion in Russia and Medal of Merit for French African subjects, generally good very fine (6) Marie Joseph Benoit Lapierre (1898-1996) was commissioned into the Navy in 1918, and in 1921 he was serving aboard the military transport Vinh-Long. It is not known where he was still with her when on November 16, 1922, she caught fire, exploded and sank off Stefano, in the Sea of Marmora. In November 1927 Lapierre entered the Ecole de navigation sous-marin, at Toulon, for instruction and was certified to serve aboard submarines in March the following year. On December 27, 1930 he was nominated Chevalier in the Legion d’Honneur, and in December 1931 he was second in command of the Bourrasque class of destroyer Orage, when he was assigned to the command of the submarine Requin, out of Toulon. In 1936 he was with the Diane-class submarine Méduse. The year following he was posted to his penultimate command, the 17th Division of submarines out of Toulon, with command of 2nd Class submarine Vestale, by which time he had been promoted Capitaine de Corvette. His final posting was in March 1938 when he was named to the command of the 6th Division of submarines out of Brest, with the command of the 1st Class submarine Persée. He was in command of the Persée, on September 23, 1940, when British naval squadron accompanied by General De Gaulle appeared off Dakar and demanded its surrender. The governor refused and in the ensuing combat the Persée was lost from British gunfire. Lapierre was transferred to the reserve on December 28 that year and was promoted to the grade of Officer in the Legion d’Honneur on August 1, 1941. This brevet was conferred ten years later [with copied research].

Estimate: GBP 200 - 300