Légion d'honneur D.P.L.V.

The Légion d'honneur D.P.L.V. (Décorés au Péril de Leur Vie, meaning "Decorated at the Peril of Their Lives") is a French association founded on 25 January 1927 by Maurice d'Hartoy, a veteran of the First World War who later founded the Croix-de-Feu. Its members are all recipients of the Legion of Honour—military or civilian—who were awarded the decoration for acts of bravery involving risk to their lives in the service of the nation. The association was founded as a reaction to what was seen in the years following the First World War as an excessive distribution of the Legion of Honour. It is governed by the French law of 1 July 1901 on associations and placed under the symbolic and lofty protection of the Unknown Soldier; it is non-political and non-denominational. The association's aims are to uphold the prestige of the decoration, to defend the principles summed up in the motto "Honneur et Patrie" (Honour and Fatherland), to take part in the duty of remembrance toward younger generations, and to provide assistance to members who may find themselves in physical or moral difficulty. Its headquarters are in Paris, and it has regional or departmental sections in metropolitan France, in the overseas departments and territories (DOM-TOM), and in certain foreign countries. Members are divided into full members and hereditary members (spouses, ascendants or descendants of full members). The association's insignia, designed by the sculptor Paul Moreau-Vauthier, is a Legion of Honour cross whose centre—contrary to the common belief that it is a skull—symbolically represents a "broken face" (gueule cassée, i.e. a facially disfigured veteran). The association's first bulletin, La France héroïque, appeared one year after its founding and set out the founder's declaration of faith. Its successive presidents have included Senator Colonel Prosper Josse and, more recently, Air Force General Bernard Nicolas. Its board of directors consists of 15 members and honorary presidents, among them General Maurice Schmitt, Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour and former Chief of Staff of the Army and Chief of the Defence Staff.

The association was founded in the aftermath of the First World War, at a time when the attribution of certain Legion of Honour crosses was contested. Maurice d'Hartoy, a 1914-1918 veteran twice wounded in combat, who would later become a minister plenipotentiary and officer of the Legion of Honour, decided with a few friends to create in 1927 the Association of members of the Legion of Honour decorated at the peril of their lives. The association was created in Paris at the headquarters of the "grands mutilés" (the severely disabled), 10 rue Saint-Louis-en-l'Île. D'Hartoy received the support of Léon Démogé, president of the "plus grands invalides de guerre"; Georges Scapini, president of the "aveugles de guerre" (war blind); Colonel Yves Picot, president of the "gueules cassées" (facially disfigured veterans); Colonel Jean Fabry, president of the "officiers mutilés"; Lucien Garans, a severely disabled war veteran; and Charles Vaillant, a radiologist who had lost both arms in the service of science, who was designated honorary president of the association. The statutes were filed at the Paris prefecture on 25 January 1927, and a year later the association's first bulletin, La France héroïque, made known the initial declaration, a true profession of faith of the founders, on the basis of which the statutes were to be defined. Its head office was located at 14, rond-point des Champs-Élysées, in the premises of the daily Le Figaro, owned by François Coty, patron of the association. The association was presided over by Colonel Prosper Josse, a senator. Created in Paris at the headquarters of the "grands mutilés", the association adopted as its insignia a cross of the Legion of Honour bearing at its centre what is not, as is often said, a skull but symbolically a "gueule cassée". While circumstances are no longer quite the same today, civilian and military legionnaires decorated at the peril of their lives still feel the need to count themselves, to know one another, and to contribute through their example and action to the defence of the prestige of the Order to which they are particularly proud to belong. They are well aware that the Legion of Honour was not created for them alone and, far from claiming to monopolize merit, they do not contest those who have been admitted to the Order for other reasons, notably for eminent services rendered to science, the arts, industry and, more generally, to the country. The association admits only legionnaires who can prove that their nomination, or one of their grades in the Order, was obtained in reward for acts of courage performed in the service of France and at the peril of their lives. If its main vocation is not social, it does not disregard the fate of its members and strives to protect and help them in all circumstances. The association is currently presided over by Air Corps General Bernard Nicolas. Its board of administration comprises 15 members plus three honorary presidents and one honorary president: General Maurice Schmitt, Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, former Chief of Staff of the Army (CEMAT) and Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces (CEMA) and corps commander of the 8th RPIMA; and General Michel Guignon, Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour.

• 1928

  First bulletin of the association, La France héroïque, published.

• 1927

  Association founded in Paris by Maurice d'Hartoy; statutes filed at the Paris prefecture on 25 January 1927.

A non-political, non-religious French association dedicated to Legion of Honour recipients decorated at the peril of their lives, under the symbolic patronage of the Unknown Soldier.

• Membership

  Titular and heir memberships for Legion of Honour recipients decorated at the peril of their lives and their families.

• La France héroïque

  The association's bulletin, first published a year after its founding.

• DPLV insignia

  A Legion of Honour cross designed by sculptor Paul Moreau-Vauthier, bearing a symbolic 'gueule cassée' at its centre.

1. 1Accueillegion-honneur-dplv.fr
2. 2Légion d'honneur D.P.L.V.fr.wikipedia.org
3. 3Légion d'honneur D.P.L.V.wikidata.org