Beuzeville. After refusing to mention Death for France, Anthony is ready to fight

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It all started when Anthony Boscher's stepfather found, in his attic, a photo and a cover bearing the name of Clément Delahaye with numerous documents, gathered at the time by the soldier's widow, fighter of the First World War, died in 1920.

She had failed in this same process of obtaining the mention Death for France. “She did the same thing as us,” remarks Anthony Boscher, resident of Beuzeville (Eure).

Request refused

A few months ago, the thirty-year-old filed a request so that his wife's great-grandfather, Marie-Laure Beautier, received the recognition posthumously.

At the beginning of October 2024, “we received an unfavorable decision from the National Combatants Office and war victims on the grounds that our request did not meet the conditions set by article L.511-1 of the Army Code,” he explains.

This article of law indicates that the mention “Death for France” is attributed to soldiers who died on the front, but also to those “died from illnesses contracted in service ordered in time of war.

Pulmonary tuberculosis

However, for Anthony Boscher, Clément Delahaye fell ill during his service. The tuberculosis was common among soldiers and easily transmissible, and according to himi inhalation of toxic gases in combat would have weakened Clément Delahaye's lungs, favoring the development of the disease.

“According to the National Combatants Office, he died of illness but they do not necessarily link this directly to the conflict. However, we have medical certificates which show that he was hospitalized twice during the war, for pleurisy (inflammation of the lung).

Tenacious, Anthony Boscher, supported by his family, is preparing to file an appeal against the refusal of the mention, what he must do before the Lisieux judicial court. It constitutes a new file.

“With the elements in our possession, there is reason for it to be re-studied,” believes the war history enthusiast. He contacted new people, like the mayor of Saint-Pierre-de-Cormeilles where Clément Delahaye was born.

A duty to remember

The RN deputy Kévin Mauvieux is “the only one who was willing to help me” by writing a letter to support his request, and he also received a little support from the deputy Christophe Blanchet (MoDem) of Calvados, the department in which the soldier lived his last months.

Memory is almost no longer transmitted. And there, we are not far from being treated like a number.

He and his wife would like to see the name of the soldier with many decorations, who fought from 1914 and remained mobilized until 1919inscribed on a monument. “He died six months after quitting. »

If he is recognized as having died for his country, the State will have to maintain his grave. Anthony Boscher does not know if his descendants can receive “a remaining pension”, but in any case, “the family doesn’t want to receive anything at all” if not the recognition of their ancestor.

If his appeal is unsuccessful, Anthony Boscher is ready to do even more: “I will walk to the Ministry of the Armed Forces to give my papers! » projects the Beuzeville resident suffering from ankylosing spondylitis. Presented at several festivals, the documentary on his boxing fight will soon be screened for middle school students at the Cidrerie.

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