Great Militaria - Top
Display your banner here
Page 25 of 31 FirstFirst ... 15 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 ... LastLast
Results 241 to 250 of 305

Cross of Valour (Krzyż Walecznych) – Pre-WW2 Types

Article about: by IvanPutski Here's another little tidbit on that cross.... It was awarded to a fighter pilot. Hello Ivan, OK, the suspense builds . . . so now how about giving us the name? The award lists

  1. #241

    Default

    Wojtek, wonderful crosses. Especially 3071, which has the rarely seen 7-segment sword hilt. Thanks for sharing.

    3071 is almost the lowest numbered Knedler series cross I have seen. Beaten only by this close relative:

    Cross of Valour (Krzyż Walecznych) – Pre-WW2 Types

    Please also post pictures of the obverse if possible.

    Regards,
    Tony
    All thoughts and opinions expressed are those of my own and should not be mistaken for medical and/or legal advice.

    "Tomorrow hopes we have learned something from yesterday." - John Wayne

  2. #242

    Default

    Greetings,

    Here's a recently acquired Knedler Type 2 (small) KW that might be a “mosiądzowany” plated KW. I say "might be" as one cannot rule out the possibility that a prior owner decided to have it plated. The Type 1 was previously discussed in post #163:

    Quote by A.J. Zawadzki View Post
    . . . This is quite likely an example of the unusual “mosiadzowany” plated cross identified by Krogulec as variant # 4b.a. While plating the KW seems to push the boundaries established by the government where the finish of the cross is clearly specified, apparently a quantity of newly minted crosses were plated by Knedler (or perhaps sub-contract producer Gontarczyk) using a lighter coloured metal. I have seen an example that borders on silver, and both numbered and unnumbered large and small pattern crosses that have been plated. Exactly why this was done is unknown and one could speculate possible special order request by the recipient - ?? A recognized variant of the PSZ issue cross (# 24) also underwent a similar plating with the light bronze coloured finish being quite similar to that on this cross. Another mystery to ponder . . .
    The Krogulec catalog lists the smaller plated version under number 5a.a. This one has a lighter colour plating to the cross in post #163. Here it is pictured next to a standard KW:

    (click on pic to magnify view)
    Cross of Valour (Krzyż Walecznych) – Pre-WW2 Types

    Regards,
    Tony
    All thoughts and opinions expressed are those of my own and should not be mistaken for medical and/or legal advice.

    "Tomorrow hopes we have learned something from yesterday." - John Wayne

  3. #243

    Default Orders & Medals Research Society – KW Article Part 1

    Ladies and Gents, some interesting reading for y’all. Part 1 of a two part article from a recent issue of the Orders & Medals Research Society periodical. This article was authored by a longtime friend and KW connoisseur and posted here with his permission. Part two will be posted once I’ve prepared the images. Please click on each image for a magnified view:

    Cross of Valour (Krzyż Walecznych) – Pre-WW2 Types

    Cross of Valour (Krzyż Walecznych) – Pre-WW2 Types

    Cross of Valour (Krzyż Walecznych) – Pre-WW2 Types

    Cross of Valour (Krzyż Walecznych) – Pre-WW2 Types

    Cross of Valour (Krzyż Walecznych) – Pre-WW2 Types

    Cross of Valour (Krzyż Walecznych) – Pre-WW2 Types

    Regards,
    Tony
    All thoughts and opinions expressed are those of my own and should not be mistaken for medical and/or legal advice.

    "Tomorrow hopes we have learned something from yesterday." - John Wayne

  4. #244

    Default

    Part 2 of Orders & Medals Research Society KW Article posted here - Post # 285:

    Cross of Valour (Krzyz Walecznych) - Exile Types
    All thoughts and opinions expressed are those of my own and should not be mistaken for medical and/or legal advice.

    "Tomorrow hopes we have learned something from yesterday." - John Wayne

  5. #245
    ?

    Default

    Tony, thanks for posting. One thing that struck me is that the article states that SGM Kazimierz Hermanowski fought in the 3rd Brigade of LP and was interned during the Oath Crisis. However, the picture of his awards includes the Kaniow Cross, which was for members of the II Brigade under Haller that were not interned. Something seems fishy to me...

    Brandon

  6. #246

    Default

    Thanks Brandon. Good observation and a worthy question. I’ve yet to let Adrian know that the article is now posted here. He’s a WRF member, so stay tuned for his reply.

    Cheers,
    Tony
    All thoughts and opinions expressed are those of my own and should not be mistaken for medical and/or legal advice.

    "Tomorrow hopes we have learned something from yesterday." - John Wayne

  7. #247

    Default 7-Segment Sword Hilt Variant and Die Failure

    With the kind permission of a KW collector based in Poland I am posting this first pattern government issue Knedler from his collection. This is a cross produced from the reverse side stamping die that is known to have failed during the production run. In collectors circles these are often called “Die 1" crosses.

    Cross of Valour (Krzyż Walecznych) – Pre-WW2 Types

    This variant is most easily identified by the 7-segment sword hilt. See post #168 earlier in this thread.

    Cross of Valour (Krzyż Walecznych) – Pre-WW2 Types

    Die 1 vs Die 2:

    Cross of Valour (Krzyż Walecznych) – Pre-WW2 Types

    Yet again we are forced to repeat the familiar refrain to collectors of pre-WW2 Polish militaria: “little to no recorded information exists”. What we do know is that Die 1 was utilized for both government issue (serial numbered) crosses, and also non-serial numbered crosses made for private sale. Based on my observations of early numbered crosses, Die 1 crosses make up the bulk of the first 2000 (number range 3000 – 5000).

    The vast majority of the remaining 38,000 large pattern government issue crosses in the first pattern run are from Die 2. I do not know if there was only a single Die 2, or if duplicate dies were also used. I suspect the former for several reasons, one being G. Krogulec’s comments about die deterioration and resultant flaws in the higher numbered range of crosses just before production was switched to the smaller 36mm version of the KW. See post # 133 earlier in this thread.

    Die 1 crosses do crop up intermittently in the later number range as evidenced by the cross featured here. I also know of a Die 1 cross numbered in the 18K range. For some unknown reason a small quantity of the Die 1 crosses were stragglers on their way to be manually finished and prepared for issue.

    This particular cross is important because it displays strong evidence of the Die 1 deterioration, in particular with the “CZYM” text on the right side right arm of the cross.

    Cross of Valour (Krzyż Walecznych) – Pre-WW2 Types

    Here’s a non-numbered cross displaying die deterioration in the same area, although to a slightly lesser degree:

    Cross of Valour (Krzyż Walecznych) – Pre-WW2 Types

    Interestingly, despite Knedler’s reputation for high quality badges and VM’s he was not averse to allowing the issue of KW’s that fell short of his usual standards. This can be seen here, and also with number error over-stamps, and in the final series of first pattern crosses (post #133).

    Regards,
    Tony
    All thoughts and opinions expressed are those of my own and should not be mistaken for medical and/or legal advice.

    "Tomorrow hopes we have learned something from yesterday." - John Wayne

  8. #248

    Default

    Sold today for 3338PLN = 840USD = 691GBP. Here’s a case where the ribbon is the star of the show and represents a good 80% of the hammer price. The cross is a common Type 1 Knedler government issue. The rare Herse made ribbon is covered earlier in post # 166 of this thread.

    Cheers,
    Tony
    Click to enlarge the picture Click to enlarge the picture Cross of Valour (Krzyż Walecznych) – Pre-WW2 Types   Cross of Valour (Krzyż Walecznych) – Pre-WW2 Types  

    Cross of Valour (Krzyż Walecznych) – Pre-WW2 Types  
    All thoughts and opinions expressed are those of my own and should not be mistaken for medical and/or legal advice.

    "Tomorrow hopes we have learned something from yesterday." - John Wayne

  9. #249
    ?

    Default

    Apparently this diploma just sold on Italian eBay. Besides in the Krogulec book, I have not seen one of these before especially up for sale. Given that it was awarded to an Italian colonel, I am suspecting they were given almost exclusively to foreigners. In any case, wish I would have gotten my hands on it!

    Cheers,

    Brandon

    Cross of Valour (Krzyż Walecznych) – Pre-WW2 Types

  10. #250

    Default

    Hi Brandon, thanks for the post . One of the holy grails for KW collectors. Exceptionally rare documents. And this does suggest these were likely issued almost exclusively to foreigners.

    Regards,
    Tony
    All thoughts and opinions expressed are those of my own and should not be mistaken for medical and/or legal advice.

    "Tomorrow hopes we have learned something from yesterday." - John Wayne

Page 25 of 31 FirstFirst ... 15 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 ... LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. TeNo HOME BASE Cloth-Metal-Uniforms, et al

    In Non-Combat Uniforms and related insignia of the Third Reich
    11-02-2020, 03:56 PM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Virtual Grenadier - Down
Display your banner here