More Memorial sites

Annette Biazot was so kind as to refer me to two other Memorial sites you will want to check out.
The first is the Memorial Genweb linked with FranceGenWeb.

On this site you will find a database of monuments to the dead, soldiers and civilians, French and of various nationalities, who were killed or disappeared during war time.
As of 23 Nov 2009, the site numbers 2,755,906 entries.

You might be uncomfortable exploring a site in French, but it usually becomes rather self-explanatory once you see what the different buttons open up to your view.
Under "Base Memorial", you will find a Map of France, divided into Departements, of varied shades of blue. A quick look at the legend will tell you that the darker the blue the closer to being complete the database is.
On the left side of the screen, you will find three types of search
1. The "Recherche par nom" require that you give at least a name and nationality or cemetery location:
Nom - Last Name
Prenom - Given Name
You can check the box located beneath these fields if you are unsure of the spelling
Pick which war or leave the search on the default setting - which is Tous = All
Pick the location (Situation du monument) you want to check out or simply look for the person according to his/her nationality (Nationalite de la victime).
Then click "Chercher" = Search
2. If you have specific information about the soldier's unit, use "Recherche par unite" and type in the unit nunber
3. "Recherche par Conflit" will allow a search specific to the war, beginning as far back as the Hundred Year War and as close as the war in Afghanistan, including the American Civil War and the American Revolutionary War.

The complete listing of databases can be browsed as well by clicking under "Voir Aussi" at the bottom of the column. Your second option is by file number

You can narrow your browsing by selecting a Country under "Par Pays"
As of today there were 121 entries in a total of 100 villages
Click on a letter at the top of the page and pick a town where you want to look further.

Pick a monument to look at closer and see what names were listed on it then pick a name for detailed information on the individual.

Let's go back to the main page and take a look at the other buttons. Here again, some trial and error is likely to be the easiest way for you to learn to handle the site.

- "Base 1914-1918": under construction; already counts 394, 524 soldiers out of 1,300,000 along with 4,603 individuals pictures.


- "Lieux 1914-1918": 16,129 locationsas of 24 September 2009.

- "Deportes 1939-1945": Individuals deported between 1939 and 1945 - still under construction, so be preapred not to find what you are looking four.

- "Monuments regimentaires": 870 photos from 516 communes.

- "Cartes postales anciennes": 3,087 old cards from 2,491 communes along with 2,380 recent photos ( ie 77.1 %) - The images are categorized by Departement/country and by commune and a link redirects you to the corresponding abstract.

- "Galerie photos": slideshow of soldiers
- "Fiches a Verifier" invites you to check out data and submit supplemental information

The other Memorial site is more specifically designed to find deportees who died in concentration camps: Les Deportes Decedes en Deportation

The Ministère des Anciens Combattants (Ministry of Old Soldiers) estimates that 115,500 people died while having been deported. It is plain that this research is a long and tedious process.

You will be most interested in clicking on the buttons that follow:

- Les Deportes nes dans le reste du monde: Foreign born
- Les Deportes tries par ordre alphabetique: sorted by alphabetical order

Ex:

JO1988p13038-13039

Dinesman née Léwy (Alice)

le 12 mai 1892 à Anvers (Belgique)

décédée le 2 novembre 1943 à Auschwitz (Pologne)

et non le 28 octobre 1943 à Drancy (Seine)..

As you can see by the maps below, there are many entries for Belgium.

Hope this can prove useful information.
Happy Hunting!