Jump to content
News Ticker
  • I am now accepting the following payment methods: Card Payments, Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal
  • Latest News

    Croix de Guerre


    Recommended Posts

    Posted

    For years I've enjoyed viewing and collecting the Croix de Guerre.

    I like the variety found as it seems there were no regs stipulating the placement of stars and palms.

    1915

    • Replies 82
    • Created
    • Last Reply

    Top Posters In This Topic

    Posted

    Croix de Guerre with 8 palms.

    Sorry for the quality, I just can seem to get a good shot while medal is attached to the tunic.

    Posted (edited)

    Hello ccj. One doubt whit palms:

    If five bronze palms are one siver palm, ?Is possible to wear in the ribbon eigth bronze palms?. ?Was it a real habit or is an arbitrary combination?. Anyway a man with a eigth palms in his croix have to be a big heroe... Congratulations for your collection... :cheers: is a decoration really nice.

    Have you ever seen a CdG with the palms sewn on each end like the one I have with 8 palms? What level soldier received army level only awards?

    Another question, did many generals receive the CgG and if so were they aways with palm?

    ******** Can anyone post images of Cdg Medals with multiple palms and stars? ********

    Edited by ccj
    Posted

    Hello Boris and Charles,

    Theoretically 5 bronze palms had to be replaced by 1 silver palm. However, recipients in many cases preferred stacking their bronze palms and there seems to have been little objection to their doing so.

    Eight palms almost certainly indicate an ace pilot (1 palm per air victory) ... the ordinary trench warfare soldier would nearly never survive that long.

    I've never seen palms mounted that close together, usually they were spaced out a bit more on - if necessary - a super long ribbon.

    The cross and its citations are mainly bravery awards but not strictly so, exceptional war service or leadership (for generals) also led to awards.

    As requested, some more pictures coming up ...

    Posted

    Note the silver palm in the left picture (top palm) ...

    And now for some specials :

    A silver cross instead of the usual bronze one, non-official, of course.

    Posted

    And, currently residing in the Paris L?gion d'Honneur Museum :

    If I recall correctly, it once belonged to a chap called Joffre ... you may have heard the name before :rolleyes:

    Cheers,

    Hendrik

    Posted

    And, currently residing in the Paris L?gion d'Honneur Museum :

    If I recall correctly, it once belonged to a chap called Joffre ... you may have heard the name before :rolleyes:

    Cheers,

    Hendrik

    WOW!!! Would Joffre have worn that version on his uniform? I wonder if it's a private purchase by Joffre or given to him by the gov't.

    Posted

    When the pins of the palms broke they could be sewn. Or they might even be sewn simply to make them safely attached to the ribbon. No special orders on that count.

    A CdG with that many palms (if it is was really earned by whoever had it prepared) could possibly be a flyboy. Some of the fighter pilots had up to 20 palms + ...

    Hundred of thousands of men earned a CdG during the Great war. All kinds of combinations of stard and palms existed. I am afraid the question as to how many generals received one will remain unanswered. Usually an officer received a citation from an authority of higher command. Therefore, it could well be they received Divisionnal or Army Corps or Army citations, with the according ribbon device.

    But this is part guesswork on my part. Frankly, I don't think French collectors mind much about that. They would rather be interested in knowing who was the recipient of a given cross, with the attached citations.

    Hope this does not sound discourageing. Best regards

    Veteran

    Posted

    When the pins of the palms broke they could be sewn. Or they might even be sewn simply to make them safely attached to the ribbon. No special orders on that count.

    A CdG with that many palms (if it is was really earned by whoever had it prepared) could possibly be a flyboy. Some of the fighter pilots had up to 20 palms + ...

    Hundred of thousands of men earned a CdG during the Great war. All kinds of combinations of stard and palms existed. I am afraid the question as to how many generals received one will remain unanswered. Usually an officer received a citation from an authority of higher command. Therefore, it could well be they received Divisionnal or Army Corps or Army citations, with the according ribbon device.

    But this is part guesswork on my part. Frankly, I don't think French collectors mind much about that. They would rather be interested in knowing who was the recipient of a given cross, with the attached citations.

    Hope this does not sound discourageing. Best regards

    Veteran

    Rollet appears to be wearing a WW1 Cd with 7 bronze palms and one silver star. Wonder why he chose not to wear a silver. Maybe one or two are silver but they look bronze.

    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now



    ×
    ×
    • Create New...

    Important Information

    We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.