Article about: Dear friends, I would like to propose posting a new thread with regards to the Krzyz Waleczny or Cross of Valour. i love this medal it is a personal favourite of mine. What i hope hope to ac
Re: Cross of Valour (Krzyz Walecznych) - Exile Types
Here is 3 KW I have, one of them have Legitymacja but I don’t know much about it. The middle one looks slightly bigger than the first one, but is much thinner. The last KW is smallest, and darkest, and has No 58878. Can you tell me more about thou KW since I don’t have sets for them, I don’t know if there original of fake?
Mariusz
Re: Cross of Valour (Krzyz Walecznych) - Exile Types
Mariusz the 2 exile ones look ok,But Im confused on the pre-war one it doesnt have the proper ribbon that ribbon is for the Cross of Merit.And the numbering looks weird to me but,Ive never handled a Cross of Valor so I cannot be sure.
Re: Cross of Valour (Krzyz Walecznych) - Exile Types
by robert odulinski
Here is a picture of my other English KW im not sure which type it is.
Hi Robert,
This is a British made Cross of Valour, sometimes called the Spink Type 2, although nowhere have I seen it stated that Spink was the maker. According to Krogulec this series of crosses was stamped from re-machined dies, and because of this the eagle details are distorted. And indeed you can see that the eagle is rather poorly executed in comparison to other versions of this decoration.
Another way to identify these crosses is from the small dot hovering above the tip of the sword on the reverse. See close up below. Also, these crosses are often found lacquered, as yours appears to be.
This is the most common exile issue Cross of Valour. Production ran from roughly 1943 to 1945.
Attached below is one of my examples of this cross along with its original issue packet.
Re: Cross of Valour (Krzyz Walecznych) - Exile Types
by A.J. Zawadzki
Hi Robert,
This is a British made Cross of Valour, sometimes called the Spink Type 2, although nowhere have I seen it stated that Spink was the maker. According to Krogulec this series of crosses was stamped from re-machined dies, and because of this the eagle details are distorted. And indeed you can see that the eagle is rather poorly executed in comparison to other versions of this decoration.
Another way to identify these crosses is from the small dot hovering above the tip of the sword on the reverse. See close up below. Also, these crosses are often found lacquered, as yours appears to be.
This is the most common exile issue Cross of Valour. Production ran from roughly 1943 to 1945.
Attached below is one of my examples of this cross along with its original issue packet.
Regards,
Tony
Dear Tony,
Thankyou for clearing that up for me this is the first medal i had ever bought as a collector. When i received it iwas disappointed thinking it was fake.
Any ideas to whom these were awarded??
Secondly who would have been responsible for commissioning these medals, the British govt. or the polish Govt in exile?
Re: Cross of Valour (Krzyz Walecznych) - Exile Types
by Mariusz
Here is 3 KW I have, one of them have Legitymacja but I don’t know much about it. The middle one looks slightly bigger than the first one, but is much thinner. The last KW is smallest, and darkest, and has No 58878. Can you tell me more about thou KW since I don’t have sets for them, I don’t know if there original of fake?
Mariusz
Hi Mariusz,
The two that appear similar are in fact the same Near Eastern type. Both are genuine. The tips of one of them are either worn, impacted or filed off which gives the illusion that one is smaller. If you measure them you’ll find that they should be the same size. As far as the difference in thickness, this is not unusual. These crosses may have been produced a year or more apart and from different sheet metal stock.
And sorry to say, but the pre-war cross on wrong ribbon (which Emil correctly identified as belonging to the Cross of Merit) is a fake of the small pattern Knedler. These are quite deceptive, and yours truly still has the one purchased when I first started collecting. This one will be eventually covered in the pre-war Cross of Valour thread.
Re: Cross of Valour (Krzyz Walecznych) - Exile Types
Thank You Tony now I know what I have. I did not pay for KW just got them from friends. They know I like history so it is how I got most of my stuff.
Mariusz
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