VINTAGE & RARE FRENCH MEDAL FOR SERVICE IN THE KOREAN WAR FRANCE

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36mm wide circular bronze medal with ribbon suspension bar in the form of the roof of a pagoda; the face with the arms of Korea imposed on an upright flaming torch within the olive wreath of the United Nations, all on a rayed ground; the reverse inscribed ‘MEDAILLE COMMEMORATIVE FRANÇAISE DES OPERATIONS DE L’ORGANISATION DES NATIONS UNIES EN COREE’ (French commemorative medal for operations of the United Nations in Korea), circumscribed ‘REPUBLIQUE FRANCAISE’, with Paris Mint bronze assay marks at the base; on original ribbon.

The medal was instituted on 8 January 1952 to be awarded to French forces serving in the Korean theatre of war. A total of 3,421 men served in the French battalion during the course of the war; French naval participation was limited to the Tropical Type Sloop F.M.S. La Grandière. The medal is not often seen.