Correct spelling for René Pomier-Layrarques or René Pomier Layrarques; hypen or not?

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

For the EoE project, we've recently revised our 5 June 1940 entry to correct the spelling of René Pomier-Layrarques:

"5 June 1940 Western Front Amend: Stab III./JG53 Messerschmitt Bf109E-4. Shot down by S/Lt René Pomier-Layrargues of GC II/7 and crashed and exploded at edge of woods on ‘Ferme du Villerseau‘ at Canly, west of Compiègne, 5.15 p.m. FF Hptmn Werner Mölders (Gruppenkommandeur) baled out landing between Blincourt and Sacy-le-Petit and captured unhurt – later released. Aircraft Black <◄ + I 100% write-off"

Now we're faced with a further dilemma about the correct presentation of his last name. Many French publications put a hyphen between Pomier and Layrargues.

For example:

S/Lt René Pomier-Layrargues in Ils étaient là … by Jacqueline & Paul Martin (Aéro Editions 2001)
S/Lt René Pomier-Layrargues in Les Victoires De L’Aviation De Chasse Francaise by Arnaud Gillet (Imprimerie Félix 2005)
S/Lt René Pommier-Layrargues in Les Pertes De La Chasse De Jour Allemande En France 1939-1945 Vol.1 by Pierre Watteeuw (Hors-Série No.10)

However, another French source says: "There is no doubt whatsoever for PL’s own brother, rear-admiral Jean Pomier Layrargues, gave me his visiting card in Paris..." Note the absence of a hyphen between the two-part last name. I realize that punctuation on this may have changed within the family since the war, and we want to use the name as it was spelled at the time of the event. Does anyone have access to René's French wartime military personnel records which would give us a definitive answer to the question of how to correctly present his full name?

Our revised Luftwaffe and British "Eagles over Europe" loss data bases for 1939-40 are now completed, although still undergoing continuous updating as much new information is still coming in on an almost daily basis. We are now beginning to tackle a complete revision and updating of the French losses/damages/casualties records as originally published a few years ago by Peter Cornwell in his "Battle of France: Then & Now". If anyone has information to correct or add data to this listing, I'd appreciate hearing from you.

Regards,

Larry Hickey
EoE Project Coordinator

[Rémi Baudru]

Hello,

The right spelling of his name is René POMIER-LAYRARGUES.

Regards.

RB

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Don't know which is correct but on the "Plaque commémorative des As de Guerre" at Le Bourget, his name is written as "POMIER LAYRARQUES" without hypen, while other names on the plaque have hypens included.

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

This is the problem that we're dealing with, and so hopefully we can go back to his original military record file for the 1940 period and see how it was listed. That seems to be the only way to definitively resolve this, unless someone has a better idea.

Regards,

Larry Hickey
EoE Project Coordinator

[Bertrand H]

Larry,

If you check with the French directory "Les pages blanches" :

http://www.pagesjaunes.fr/pagesblanches

You will find that the correct spelling is Pomier-Layrargues

and there are any PomierLayrarques

HTH

bertrand

[Larry Hickey]

Bertrand et.al.,

The phone directory in Paris is one approach but a quick geneology search in France quickly turns up 20 people with the name Pomier Layrargues with no hyphen. We know that the calling card of his brother, a French Admiral, shows his name without the hypen. So now it's down to René's military records. That is the only way to settle this. It is an incredibly small point, given the probably 10,000 names that we're dealing with in the EoE Project from about ten different countries, but we want to get this right.

Someone who has access to his military records can settle this once and for all.

Regards,

Larry Hickey
EoE Project Coordinator

[CJE]

Hi Larry,
In France, it's quite unusual not have an hyphen between a "double name", because usually one comes from the mother (or grand-mother) and the other from the father (or grand-father or even further up) or the other way round.
I'd favour Pomier-Layrargues.

Chris

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

Just to bring everyone up to date on this line of research. The birth certificate for René says René Pomier-Layrargues. Seems to solve the problem, right? However, on the same birth certificate his father's name is listed as Henri Marcel Victor Pomier Layrargues (without a hyphen), which could easily have just been a clerical error at the time. The French Air Force seems to prefer writing the name without a hypen. Our EoE team is still trying to obtain his official military records for a decisive resolution, so stay tuned.

Regards,

Larry Hickey
EoE Project Coordinator

[FrankieS]

Bon soir!

In the end it will remain a philosophy I guess.
I think the birth certificate is the valid document
and also on the military file there could be an error, given
that also the birth certificate shows this father/son discrepancy
which shows in the end:
a) that even officials can err (and military officials maybe too? ;-))
b) it's a good thing to be as accurate as possible for your project, but maybe this issue not so important, could however potentially change the order of this person in an alphabetical index.

best wishes,
FrankieS

[FrankieS]

here, alas, quite a few names WITHOUT hyphen

http://www.google.ch/search?q=Pomier...og&sa=N&tab=wi