Hello Mike,
Some good questions there. Let’s take them one at a time:
In late 1920 into 1921, after the first 3000 non-date crosses made by Albin Rozycki was delivered. The official contract was awarded to Jan Knedler, and some of the production was supposedly sub-contracted to another Warsaw firm of Wiktor Gontarczyk.
According to the Krogulec reference this variant was made some time in the second half of the 1920’s, in France. These were made as duplicates ordered by recipients of the crosses for ‘daily wear’ on uniforms, or in some cases to replace lost originals. Owning a foreign made decoration (or a saber for example) was considered a bit more ‘deluxe’ than one made in Poland.
There were other Bertrand variants made into the 1930’s and supposedly even post war. Bertrand crosses are scarce and sought after. And equally scarce is information on them. Very little exists.
I will need to get around to posting some Bertand examples from my collection. Stay tuned . . .
It’s a safe bet that they will contain very little information on this cross. Certainly no more than is already included here in the two parallel threads running on this forum (one in the Pre-WW2 section and one in the Armed Forces in Exile).
The best reference book on the Polish Cross of Valour remains Grezgorz Krogulec’s "Krzyz Walecznych”, only available in the Polish language. A useful book, but sorely in need of updating with better photographs and organization. I know of an updated English language book that is in the works, but still likely several years away from publishing.
Regards,
Tony
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