Although there was no documentation with them, as is so often the case with French medals, these two medals came from the same source and there is no reason not to assume that they were probably awarded to the same man. The nice thing about this Médaille du Mérite de l’Afrique Noire, which is an extremely scarce item, is that it was clearly worn by its recipient, who cut off a little piece of the riband to make himself a ribbon bar.
Instituted by the Vichy government on 26.6.1941, this rather nice-looking decoration was awarded to white and black soldiers alike for bravery in combat against British and Gaullist forces in French Equatorial Africa, Madagascar and Somalialand. The Gaullist Comité de Libération Nationale in London outlawed the Medal of Merit of Black Africa along with other Vichy decorations and service medals on 7.1.1944. Struck in bronze and appropriately hallmarked on its rim, the medal was also awarded for distinguished or loyal service.
The Colonial Medal appears to be a non-French striking and is as-issued, with the CÔTE DES SOMALIS bar instituted by the Vichy government on 13.9.1941 for a period of six months of unblemished service – no chasing local girls or being drunk on duty – from 25.6.1940, when French Somalialand declared itself loyal to the French government in Vichy.
Following the British occupation of Italian East Africa in November 1941, the Royal Navy allowed Vichy ships through to resupply the garrison in Djibouti, which annoyed General de Gaulle, who felt that, under pressure, French Somalialand might rally to his cause. Vichy forces in French Somalialand held out for more than a year, until December 1942, when British and Free French forces occupied Djibouti and the rest of the colony following a three-month blockade by the Royal Navy. Vichy also issued a 1940 CÔTE DES SOMALIS 1941 bar, intended as a replacement for the CÔTE DES SOMALIS bar. The 1940 CÔTE DES SOMALIS 1941 bar was outlawed by the January 1944 CLN decree from London.
