Talk:René Belbenoît

Without making changes to the main article, I would like to make some notes about Belbenoit's military service, based on information in the Nook version of 'Dry Guillotine: Fifteen Years Amongst the Living Dead.' According to the introductory essay by Willaim LaVarre, written in 1937, Belbenoit joined the French army in Paris in 1914, soon after war was declared, and a month after his own father joined the army (page 8, Nook pagination). Belbenoit served for the entirety of the war as part of a fusil-mitrailleuse squad, receiving a promotion to Corporal in the town of Roulers, Belgium, just a few hours before Armistice was declared (page 9). Then as part of the French Army of Occupation, he joined the French Army of the East, and was deployed to Syria, where he received a promotion to Sergeant, and then a further promotion to Top Sergeant after the siege of Aleppo in 1920. At this point he fell ill with fever, was sent back to France, and was discharged from the French army in February, 1921 (page 9). Deshy2 (talk) 11:25, 18 August 2018 (UTC)

There are two military service records for René Belbenoit. The first record, from the Paris register, listed Belbenoit under matriculation number 5322. In France, conscripts were registered at their place of birth, which determined their military incorporation location by the administrative division called the "department." In this record, Belbenoit's occupation is recorded as "sailor." It states that he was supposed to join the 104th Infantry Regiment on July 15, 1918, at age 19. The French Chamber of Deputies had approved the early conscription of the 1919 class on December 28, 1917, advancing their incorporation to the spring of 1918, a year ahead of the usual schedule.

In this record, however, Belbenoit was dismissed on July 2, having enlisted in the Bouches-du-Rhône (Marseille) military station under matriculation number 4997 for the 1919 class.

The second record, from Marseille, lists his occupation as "café waiter" and notes his height as 1.62 meters. On July 12, 1918, he was assigned to the 40th Infantry Regiment as a second-class soldier (matriculation number 16964). The records of the 40th Infantry Regiment show that, from July to December 1918, they were active in the Armée d'Orient, fighting on the Macedonian front between Bulgaria and Romania.

On December 24, 1918, Belbenoit was transferred to the 97th Infantry Regiment (matriculation number 26036).

In the introduction to Dry Guillotine: Fifteen Years Amongst the Living Dead, Belbenoit mentions that he went to Belgium and was promoted to corporal of the 40th Regiment outside Roulers. This claim is impossible, as the Battle of Roulers took place during the Battle of Courtrai on October 14-15, 1918, when Belbenoit was still with the 40th Regiment, likely stationed at the regimental depot rather than with the Armée d'Orient in Eastern Europe. The 97th Infantry Regiment did earn the right to inscribe "Roulers 1918" on its regimental flag, which may have led Belbenoit to associate this honor with his service, mistakenly attributing it to the 40th Regiment.

Belbenoit was incorporated into the 409th Infantry Regiment on May 17, 1919 (matriculation number 6782). At that time, the 409th's location was centered around Sarrebruck, Germany.

As personnel transfers occurred before the dissolution of the 409th, Belbenoit was transferred to the 415th Infantry Regiment on August 7, 1919 (matriculation number unknown). Records suggest that transfers to the 415th IR for service in the Armée d'Orient were voluntary, at least for officers. On August 12, five men, possibly including Belbenoit, were transferred to the 415th regimental depot in Antibes, France. Another 123 men were sent to the depot at Lens, likely supporting the hypothesis that Belbenoit volunteered for service with the Armée d'Orient. The 409th was disbanded the 13th August 1919.

The 415th regiment was designated for Syria in January 1919 to establish French dominance over former Ottoman territories. Its units landed in Beirut from February 28 to April 12, 1919.

It belonged to the 3rd Levant Division, formed in early 1920, commanded by General Goybet, with headquarters in Damascus.

Starting in July 1919, it took part in the battles in Cilicia against Turkish nationalists. The first engagement of the 415th Infantry Regiment occurred during the incidents at Kadmous and Mrékeb on July 21, 1919. On October 30, 1919, violent events broke out in Mezrant ech Chouf; a company was dispatched there, and in December, another company was sent to garrison in Saida and Djedeide (Merdjayoum) south of the Chouf.

At the beginning of 1920, it was attached to the 3rd Levant Division and fought in Syria against the Arab kingdom. The Armistice of May 30, 1920, suspended hostilities with the Turkish nationalists of Mustafa Kemal, and now it was the Arab nationalists, supporters of Emir Faisal, who provoked incidents in Damascus. The 415th Infantry Regiment was one of the regiments involved in the Battle of Khan Mayssaloun on July 24, 1920.

Belbelnoit was reportedly discharged from the army in mid - 1920.

He was recalled by the 141st Infantry Regiment on May 3, 1921, but did not report. A route order was issued, requiring him to present himself between June 20 and July 5, but he failed to comply. On July 6, 1921, he was declared "missing" and later marked as "insoumis" (absentee or failure to report). He was removed from the absentee list on September 20, 1921, when he was arrested on September 12, 1921, for burglary.

Interestingly, Belbenoit’s address recorded on May 4, 1921, was listed as the Gendarmerie of Besançon.

Also his file show that he has apply for a service-connected disability pension, due to illness related with paludism and pneumonia and the case was recorded in this file on the 8st November 1921. He was awarded a 20% pension by special decision in Bordeaux the 26th December 1922 after his sentence of the 25th May 1922. A decision from 17th May 1933 reverse it to 10%.

Martosportos (talk) 20:22, 10 November 2024 (UTC)

Punctuation needed

A period is needed in the Burglaries/Scams paragraph, but I'm prohibited from editing. Please divide the following sentences: "Belbenoît had no particular criteria for the victims [period] In June 1921…" Madverb (talk) 16:20, 18 October 2024 (UTC)

I was able to add the period. All good! Madverb (talk) 16:22, 18 October 2024 (UTC)

Localisation of the store of René Belbenoit

Dick's Center Store in Lucerne Valley was located at the intersection of Old Woman Springs Road (State Route 247) and State Route 18, where the Shell gas station and Halleck's Market now stand. Desert Gazette

This site was previously home to René's Ranch Store, established by René Belbenoît in 1951. Internet Archive

Although this newspaper article from Leader (Lucerne Valley), Volume I, Number 8, 19 January 1956 [[1]] mention the shop was opened in January 1956.

After Belbenoît's death in 1959, Dick Grobaty moved his business, the Malt Shop, to this location and opened Dick's Center Store, serving the community for the next 30 years. Martosportos (talk) 16:26, 10 November 2024 (UTC)