EK 1939 Engraved 1939 Iron Cross First Class

[Brian R]

While studying engraved crosses from the First World War can be a challenge - and is often a matter of "comfort" - engraved crosses from World War II can be far more of a mystery. There seem to be very few "real" engraved crosses from the WWII era relative to the amount engraved and personalized by recipients and jewelers during and immediately after World War I. I have four attributed EK1s from the Third Reich era but only one is engraved - this one below to a Karl Heinz Gröpper. It is a nice, unmarked vaulted cross made by Klein & Quenzer and includes the date of September 13, 1942 and reference to a place called Bili Bor. I have no definitive information about the specifics of this cross but by best guess is that it is a reference to fighting Partisans in the Bor region of Serbia. It appears that 704. ID was the unit in the area at the time but there is no specific evidence, that I am aware of, that there were actions in this area on or shortly before this date. It is also possible that the engraving is actually in reference to Biely Bor in Belarus, but that remains a mystery as well. If it is, then this scenario is also related to fighting Partisans as the frontline of Army Group Center was much farther east at the time.

Nevertheless, this is a neat cross. And the odd location name on the back adds to me comfort level that it is a period inscription as most fake engravings include famous battles, units or recipients.

[Glenn R]

That's a lovely piece Brian. I'm afraid I can shed no further knowledge on the location etc but I totally agree that the obscurity of the subject is one highly unlikely to be faked.

Aside from that, my experience and interest in engraving leaves me in no doubt at all. Lovely to see such a rare thing as this. Most genuine WW2 engravings I've seen tend to be little more than hand scratched "field" engravings.

I'm quite envious!

Glenn.

[Brian R]

Thanks, Glenn. I really like it and would love to find a couple more engraved 1939 EK1s for my collection. Someday...

[lew]

This is one special cross, nice.