WW1 Medal Bar with 25 Year Commendations.

[martyboy]

I have recently acquired a set of WW1 medals and believe the veteran who earned these
continued fighting into WW2.

I feel sure they are authentic but would like confirmation of this.

Could the WW1 pair be from the then fledgling U Boat arm?

Thank you, Mart.

[Adrian]

It's a mix of WW1 medals and Third Reich medals. From left to right you have:

Iron Cross 2 class awarded in WW1.
The Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918. Also commonly referred to as the Hindenburg Cross.
Prussia Long Service Cross. (Other members may be able to provide more information as it's outside of my collecting area)
Third Reich Long Service Civil Cross for 25 Years in Service.

So your man was a combatant in WW1 who then went on to serve in a civilian capacity in the Third Reich era.

Everything appears authentic. What makes you think the medal bar is related to the U-boat service?

Unless you have any provenance for the medal bar, it's really hard to say how or when the medals were awarded and for what.

I'm talking about the Iron Cross specifically, the others were obviously awarded for taking part and long service.

[VtwinVince]

Adrian has nailed it, genuine bar with dual long service awards, I would guess an NCO in WW1. Sometimes the backing cloth can indicate branch of service, so blue for navy, but this wasn't a rule.

[martyboy]

Thank you for the info-I'm waiting on some relevant paperwork but believe they were donated to a museum by a grand-nephew of a U Boat Captain. This of course doesn't mean these medals belonged to him but I'm curious
as to whether it's possible.

Mart.

[Chopperman]

A nice authentic long service medal bar.