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The War Cross (Belgium)
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[/vc_column_text][vc_separator css=”.vc_custom_1526473075957{padding-top: 16px !important;padding-bottom: 16px !important;}”][vc_column_text]The War Cross (Croix de guerre / Oorlogskruis) is a military decoration of the Kingdom of Belgium established on 25 October 1915 by royal decree and primarily awarded for bravery or other military virtue on the battlefield, or for three years or more of service on the front line, or good conduct on the battlefield. It was only awarded to individuals.
The award was reestablished on 20 July 1940 by the Belgian government in exile for recognition of bravery and military virtue during World War II. The decoration was again reestablished by royal decree on 3 April 1954 for award during future conflicts.
The War Cross was also awarded to volunteers after a minimum of 18 months of service, to escaped prisoners of war rejoining the armed forces, and to military personnel who were placed on inactive duty because of injury.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1590656067244{padding-top: 24px !important;}”]
The War Cross (1915) Design
WW1
The War Cross from WW1 is a 40mm wide and 65mm high bronze Maltese cross with 3mm balls at its eight points.
On its obverse, it has a 14mm central medallion bearing the relief image of a lion rampant. On its reverse is the royal cypher of King Albert I. Two 37mm long crossed swords point upwards between its arms. A 14mm high “inverted V” between the two points of the top cross arm is secured to the inside of a high royal crown, and the ribbon’s suspension ring passes through the top orb of the crown.
The ribbon of the WW1 War Cross is red and measures 38 mm (1.5 in) wide, with five 2 mm (0.079 in) wide light green longitudinal stripes, three at the center separated by 3 mm (0.12 in) and one on each side 3 mm from the edges.
When the person being awarded was mentioned in despatches, the distinction was denoted by a device worn on the ribbon, either a small lion or a palm adorned with the monogram “A”.
WW2
The WW2 War Cross shows slight changes to the reverse of the central medallion (the royal cypher was that of King Leopold III) and the ribbon. Because the award was now also authorized as a unit award, those presented to a unit were denoted by a ribbon of the war cross being affixed to the unit colors.
The new ribbon was still red with light green stripes but there were now six, 1mm wide, and positioned three on each side 2mm apart beginning 2mm from the edge of the ribbon.[/vc_column_text][vc_raw_html css=”.vc_custom_1590656126997{padding-top: 40px !important;}”]JTNDaW5zJTIwY2xhc3MlM0QlMjJlcG4tcGxhY2VtZW50JTIyJTIwZGF0YS1jb25maWctaWQlM0QlMjI1ZWNmN2M3OGM2NWQ2MDQ3MmIxYTYzY2MlMjIlM0UlM0MlMkZpbnMlM0U=[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1590504426327{padding-bottom: 24px !important;}”]
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