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    Belgium Croix de Guerre


    Guest Darrell

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    • 6 months later...

    WWI type with bronze palm and silver (!) lion device replacing 5 bronze lions.

    Oops ! I made a mistake here :unsure: : it's only 5 bronze palms that get replaced by a silver one ...

    Gilt palm : replacing 5 silver palms - Silver palm replacing 5 bronze palms

    Bronze palms are awarded for citations in the Order of the Day of the Army - Gilt, Silver and Bronze lions for resp. citations in the Order of the Day of a Division, a Brigade and a Regiment.

    Generally speaking, these citations would involve an act of bravoury but over the years regulations were relaxed and included many other possibilities e.g. good conduct during min. 3 years in the trenches, being invalided out because of severe war wounds, etc.

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    • 6 months later...

    And here is mine...

    Got it with a group with also knights of Leopold II and order of the crown.

    But also the french Croix d'Guerre with palm :P

    Hallo Hendrik , nice Cross :jumping::jumping:

    Can you confirm that the mini lion device is an unofficial device and if so what does it mean??

    Kevin in Deva. :beer:

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    The mini-lion isn't an unofficial device, it is OFFICIAL!!!

    The belgian had 6 devices for the Croix d'Guerre.

    Gold palm for 5 Silver palms

    Silver palm for 5 bronze palms, so a gold palm for 25 bronze palms.

    A Bronze palm was for a Citation in the order of the day of the army,

    then a gold, silver and bronze lion,

    which were for devision, brigade and regimental mention in the order of the day.

    *oops, hendrik did already mention it, 4 post before this.... *

    :cheers: to hendrik for his post and my excuses for being rude :blush:

    Edited by Jacky
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    The mini-lion isn't an unofficial device, it is OFFICIAL!!!

    The belgian had 6 devices for the Croix d'Guerre.

    Gold palm for 5 Silver palms

    Silver palm for 5 bronze palms, so a gold palm for 25 bronze palms.

    A Bronze palm was for a Citation in the order of the day of the army,

    then a gold, silver and bronze lion,

    which were for devision, brigade and regimental mention in the order of the day.

    *oops, hendrik did already mention it, 4 post before this.... *

    :cheers: to hendrik for his post and my excuses for being rude :blush:

    Hallo Jacky & Hendrik, :jumping::jumping:

    sorry but I missed the line about the lions :blush: need new glasses I guess, and NO not the ones for drinking with :P, you both have some nice crosses and nice devices :beer:

    Kevin in Deva. :D

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    Thanks Kevin :beer: ,

    Special for you... My other Croix d'Guerre WW1 with 2 palms.

    Did you know, lions are quite rare, because after a certain time

    veterans were allowed to change their lions for palms, a little upgrade!!

    Possibly because of the amount of ribbon needed to have a lot of lions on your CdG.

    Changing them for palms means that you could use the gold / silver / bronze palms.

    Bearing in mind that one gold palm is already 25 mentions in the order of the day......

    Silver palms denoted 5 mentions in the order of the day.....

    And having 25 citations in Lions is quite a lot!!! Maybe hendrik know's someone having awarded so many??

    or..... he owns one such palm...??? :o:love:

    Thanks for your :beer:

    Edited by Jacky
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    Kevin,

    Found someone with a lot of palmes and lions

    Baron Willy Coppens de Houthulst

    This man had been awarded a lot of Croix d'Guerres, poland, Italia, France, Portugal .....

    But for his belgian Croix d'Guerre he had;

    27 palmen and 13 bronze lions

    Which means 1 gold palm and 3 silver palms....

    But If I were him, I would stick to my 1 gold palm, 2 bronze palms and 13 lions ;)

    Will translate this webpage soon...

    Edited by Jacky
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    ... he owns one such palm...???

    Jacky,

    I think you need to check my website on occasion :P ... that's where the picture below of silver and gold palms can be found :D:D Alas, no paperwork so no idea who the recipient was ...

    [attachmentid=43194]

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    Stunning pieces.. where do you find them ;)

    Would love one too :lol:

    And yes, would have to take a look again on your website and read every bit of your information and pictures!!!

    :beer:

    Edited by Jacky
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    Stunning pieces.. where do you find them ;)

    Would love one too :lol:

    And yes, would have to take a look again on your website and read every bit of your information and pictures!!!

    :beer:

    Never ask Hendrik were he finds them ;) He just does!

    @ Hendrik: good luck hunting next Saturday! Hopefully there's something more interesting than the beer :beer:

    Edited by ErikMuller
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    Hummm

    That might be true...

    But still, if it never had been awarded...

    How can it bear a palm or a lion??

    Are the manufacturers allowed to sell official medals??

    If so, then I could walk in and buy this cross along with a grandcross or grand chordon???

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    Hummm

    That might be true...

    But still, if it never had been awarded...

    How can it bear a palm or a lion??

    Are the manufacturers allowed to sell official medals??

    If so, then I could walk in and buy this cross along with a grandcross or grand chordon???

    In Belgium you're not awarded the medal, but only a certificate. You have to buy your medal(s) after that. So there is no such thing as an 'officially' fabricated medal. That's also why there are so many variations of a same medal in Belgium. Each dealer strikes his medals a little bit different.

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    But still, if it never had been awarded...

    How can it bear a palm or a lion??

    Are the manufacturers allowed to sell official medals??

    If so, then I could walk in and buy this cross along with a grandcross or grand chordon???

    Jacky,

    Both palms and lion devices have also been created for the 1954 cross so they can be worn on this decoration when awarded.

    And confirming Erik's reply : Belgian manufacturers are indeed allowed to sell official medals freely to anyone who asks for them. However, the quality of newly made items is far below what was produced in earlier years...

    Cheers,

    Hendrik

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    @ Hendrik: good luck hunting next Saturday! Hopefully there's something more interesting than the beer :beer:

    Erik,

    I doubt there will be anything nice to be found on Saturday ... I'm not going to bother and will just have that beer at home :beer:

    Cheers,

    Hendrik

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    Humm, Maybe should I try to walke some shop in and ask for a croix d'guerre 1954 with lions (I love lions ;))

    Any hints for me??

    But I thought that the national orders aren't to be sold freely ???!!

    Because I see people being awarded the medal and not getting a certificate..

    Hendrik,

    Good hunt saturday at the MEDEC-Beurs. :beer:

    Edited by Jacky
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    Humm, Maybe should I try to walke some shop in and ask for a croix d'guerre 1954 with lions (I love lions ;))

    Any hints for me??

    But I thought that the national orders aren't to be sold freely ???!!

    Because I see people being awarded the medal and not getting a certificate..

    You could try with Fibru in Brussels ... try Google for their address etc. Never went there myself but they should have some "stuff".

    National orders : no, it's the other way around ... a certificate is delivered but the recipient has to go and buy the actual decoration.

    Cheers,

    Hendrik

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