War Cross (Norway)

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War cross with sword

The war cross was donated on May 23, 1941 by King Haakon VII of Norway in exile in London . It is the highest ranking Norwegian award. The medal could originally be awarded to any person who had distinguished themselves in an outstanding way through personal bravery in the struggle for Norway's freedom during the Second War . If the honorable members were members of the Norwegian or foreign military forces , the medal was awarded with a scaled down sword that was attached to the ribbon. For comparable outstanding achievements in the service of Norway and its war efforts, which had not taken place in the military field, especially in the merchant navy , the order was awarded without the sword.

The medal

The medal ranks above all other Norwegian awards and can also be awarded posthumously . The sign of the order is a bronze clover-leaf cross and shows the national coat of arms of Norway in the medallion on a shield . The reverse is smooth. The award is worn on the left side of the chest on a red ribbon with a white-bordered blue central stripe.

Statutes

War cross with sword and star, before going over to the execution with two swords at the second award

Medal recipients who have earned other awards of the same importance can be awarded with one sword in addition to the standard version with up to two other swords. However, this is very rare: From far 279 awarded the Order of individuals were decorated only ten with a second sword, and the only carrier of the Order with three swords ( "War Cross with sword and two swords") is the resistance fighters Gunnar Sønsteby , which this Awarded by resolution of the Norwegian State Council on August 16, 1946.

The statutes of the order were modified after the end of the Second World War, on May 18, 1945, so that awards were now only permitted to military personnel; At the same time, King Haakon VII founded the Haakon VIIs Frihetskors ( Freedom Cross Haakon VII ) for civilians with comparable merits .

The award of the order initially ended in 1949. On June 26, 2009, however, the statutes were changed again, which means that bravery in actions after 1945 can be recognized with the order. As the first since 1949, Captain Eiliv Austlid was posthumously awarded the medal on October 2, 2009, but again for the fight against the German invaders in 1940. The first award for actions after the Second World War was on January 21, 2011, also posthumously, to the frigate captain of the marine hunter Trond André Bolle, who lost his life on June 27, 2010 in Afghanistan .

Awards

After the foundation of the order, two so-called “royal awards” were made on November 28, 1941 at the request of the Norwegian government, to King Haakon VII himself (1) and to Crown Prince Olav V (2). In February 1942 further royal awards followed to the British King George VI. (8) and his wife Elizabeth (9), the hosts of the Norwegian royal family in exile , and in March 1942 King George II of Greece (10), the cousin of King Haakon. These awards were made without the sword.

In total, the order has so far (as of December 10, 2011) been awarded to 277 people, 27 of them posthumously. 216 awards were made in the period from 1941 to 1945, 57 from 1945 to 1949, and four since 2009. There are also seven awards to troop flags from French units that fought in Norway in 1940.

From 1941 to 1945 a total of 101 Norwegians received the medal; 46 were added from 1945 to 1949, and since 2009 four more Norwegians have been awarded the order. 126 members of other nations were also honored, all between 1942 and 1949 and almost always for their deeds in the Norwegian War 1940–1945: 66 French (mostly members of the Foreign Legion or the Chasseurs Alpins who had fought near Narvik ), 42 British (including King Georg VII. And Queen Elizabeth), 13 Poles (members of the Independent Polish Mountain Rifle Brigade [ Samodzielna Brygada Strzelców Podhalańskich ], the so-called Podhale Riflemen ), 2 Americans , 1 Dane , 1 Canadian and 1 Greek (the courtesy ceremony to King George II .) In addition, on June 7, 1946, seven French troop flags were decorated with the medal by units of the Foreign Legion and the Chasseurs Alpins on Schlossplatz in Oslo :

  • The troop flag of the Chasseurs Alpins
  • The troop flag of the 13th Half-Brigade of the Foreign Legion
  • The troop flag of the 1st Battalion of the 13th Half-Brigade of the Foreign Legion
  • The troop flag of the 2nd Battalion of the 13th Half-Brigade of the Foreign Legion
  • The troop flag of the 6th Battalion of the Chasseurs Alpins
  • The troop flag of the 12th Battalion of the Chasseurs Alpins
  • The troop flag of the 14th Battalion of the Chasseurs Alpins

Overview of the awards made so far

nationality 1940-1945 of which without a sword 1946-1949 2009-present total
Norway 101 23 46 6th 153
France 56 - 10 - 66
United Kingdom 42 13 - - 42
Poland 13 - - - 13
United States 1 - 1 - 2
Canada 1 - - - 1
Denmark 1 - - - 1
Greece 1 - - - 1
total 216 36 57 6th 279

(As of December 2011)

See also

literature

  • Erik Gjems-Onstad (ed.): Krigskorset og St. Olavsmedaljen med ekegren. Grøndahl og Dreyers Forlag, Oslo, 1995, ISBN 978-8-25042-190-5 (norwegian.)
  • Paul Ohm Hieronymussen: Handbook of European Orders in Color. Universitas Verlag, Berlin 1975 ISBN 3-8004-0948-8

Web links

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ http://www.kongehuset.no/c33027/artikkel/vis.html?tid=33029
  2. ↑ Originally, when a second award was made, a star was placed on the ribbon for the sword. Since the statutes were changed in 1945, a second sword has been added instead.
  3. ↑ http://www.krigskorset.no/statuttene.html
  4. ^ Trond André Bolle tildelt krigskorset, Dagbladet, January 21, 1911
  5. ↑ The number in brackets indicates the number in the order in which it was awarded.
  6. ↑ Their fathers were the brothers Friedrich VIII of Denmark and George I of Greece, sons of Christian IX. from Denmark.
  7. ↑ http://www.krigskorset.no/tildelingsliste.html
  8. ↑ Krigskorset og St. Olavsmedaljen med ekegren, pp. 154–155