Polish Cross of Independence.

[leigh kitchen]

Just the two in my collection:

Instituted on October 10, 1930, the Cross was conferred on those who took an active part in the struggle of independence of Poland before and during World War I, & between 1918 and 1921 (excluding Polish-Soviet war).

It was conferred in two grades - with and without swords & a bronze Independence Medal was awarded as a lower grade.

The cross with swords was awrded to those who participated in an armed struggle for the cause of Independence before World War I (e.g. veterans of the 1863 uprising against Russia), or those who commanded such a struggle.

Although a decoration & not an order, the Independence Cross took a prominent place in the Polish decoration system, ranking before the Officer class of the Order Polonia Restituta, & the medal had preceddence before the silver Cross of Merit.

The recipients of both the cross and the medal were entitled to numerous privileges - including discounted travel fares, as shown in this booklet.

The Cross is a black enameled Greek cross 42 x 42 mm with a gilt strip along the center.

On the horizontal stripes runs the motto BOJOWNIKOM NIEPODLEGLOSCI.

On a square gilt shield in the center is a crowned eagle, The reverse is plain & without enamelling.

The Independence Cross with Swords is surmounted by a pair of crossed gilt swords.

The ribbon - 37 mm wide, black with twored side stripes. After WWII those entitled to theCross with Swords could wear gilt crossed swords on the ribbon bar, unofficially.

Cross of Independence with Swords, 1817 awarded, without Swords: 35271.

Edited March 28, 2007 by leigh kitchen

[leigh kitchen]

The front of the booklet, reverse of the Cross.

The front of the booklet is in the colours of the decorations ribbon & impressed with a design of the Cross & its date of inauguration: 1930.

Often mistaken for an award document, these booklets were in fact issued to authorise certain privileges - the 33% printed at the bottom left of the inside cover refers to a discount on travel fares.

Edited March 28, 2007 by leigh kitchen

[leigh kitchen]

The Cross of Independence with Swords - although they appear to have long been married to the Cross, these are not the Swords as actually issued for this decoration, but are slightly different - the shape of the suspension is different & they have detail only on the front & not the reverse as well.

[leigh kitchen]

The reverse:

Edited March 28, 2007 by leigh kitchen

[leigh kitchen]

Temporary award certificate :

[Ed_Haynes]

Nice ones, Leigh. Thanks for sharing these. I always like seeing new things and learning!

[GregK]

Hi Leigh,

I echo Ed's comments. Very beautiful sets you have. Both very complete and very RARE!!! In fact I can count on one hand how many of the books I've seen to accompany these medals. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,

Greg

PS. If you haven't had the paperwork translated yet and need someone to do it then I would gladly oblige.

Edited March 29, 2007 by GregK

[leigh kitchen]

Yes please - somebody's bought me a "translation pen" but apparently the software does'nt include the Polish language - & I won't get my hands on it for a few weeks anyway.

[heusy68]

Hello Gentlemen,this is a real one Cross of Independence with Swords.Real one are not easy to get at all (the first one I owned was a fake of the 50ies like the one posted above).Very sad is that the picture in Vernon book's is of that similar fake.I'd later bought polish specialised books and I realised my error.

As you can see the suspension to ribbon with typical curvy line and quality is extremely good.

Size : 40 x 40 millimeters for the cross itself & 67 millimeters from bottom to top of suspension.

The ribbon is 37 millimeters wide and of very good quality (on the later fake,the ribbon is almost flimsy (weak)....)

Emmanuel

[Odulf]

I came across this past topic and realised that I have a portrait of an officer wearing this particular decoration.

Can any one identify the uniform of this man, please (I presume it is Polish)?