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Wiki - Germany - War merit cross

 

 
Established on October 18, 1939, it consisted of 3 categories and each of them could be with or without swords.
 
 
 
The cross was awarded to people who had performed meritorious actions, either in a purely military context (with swords) or in rearguard, economic, social, diplomatic...(without swords).
 
 
 
Its categories are:
 
 
 
The knight's cross of the Cross of war merit (with or without swords).
 
cruz_caballero2 cruzcaballero
 
The cross is 52mm in diameter, was made of silver and was worn around the neck.
 
 
 
120 crosses with swords and 160 without swords were awarded.
 
 
 
War merit cross 1st class (with or without swords).
 
kvk1_ce1 kvk1_se1
kvk1_ce2 kvk1_se2
 
The cross is 48mm in diameter, was made first in tombak and then in mid-war in zink and had a silver plating, it had a clip on the back with which it was attached to the left pocket of the war jacket.
 
 
 
483,000 crosses with swords and 91,000 without swords were issued.
 
 
 
War merit cross 2nd class (with or without swords).
 
kvk1 kvk2_se1
ClipDrop_2022-07-28_at_15.35.02 kvk2_se2
 
The cross is 48mm in diameter, was made first in tombak and then in mid-war in zink and was bronze plated, the cross was hung on a ribbon.
 
 
 
A total of 6,135,000 crosses with swords and 1,600,000 without swords were issued.
 
 
 
Medal of the War merit cross
 
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The medal is 32mm in diameter, hung on a ribbon.
 
 
 
Approximately 5,000,000 medals were awarded to civilian personnel.
 

See III Reich decorations in the online store