War Merit Cross 1st Class 1939 with Swords

[brownshirts]

rear of war merit cross

not the best photo but i hope the pin detail helps

[Robert P.]

From the files I have, and the WMC book I would say it has a chance of being a '62' K&O. I could be wrong. Is it marked under the pin?

Robert

[brownshirts]

war merit cross with swords

hi robert,

it is a 52 or 62 on the pin...my eyes are not that great.....

the case is marked on the white silk part....deschler & sohn munchen.

this help?

regards
matthew

[Robert P.]

Yes, it does help, Matthew. Can you take a photo of the underside of the pin where the maker mark is, and post, please? I'd really like to see the mark.

Thanks,
Robert

[Frank K]

That's right Robert, mm62 Kerbach & Osterhelt. Looks ok to me but I'd also like to see the underside of the pin.

[brownshirts]

war merit cross with swords

hope this photo is ok....im not the best at close up shots.
but the 62 can be seen on the pin.

with the maker known can you date this item early/mid/late war?


regards

matthew

[Robert P.]

There...Gordon's new book has already been helpful to me as anticipated.

Robert

[Frank K]

Photo is fine Mathew

Yours is a tombak cross so I'd say early to mid war.

[Jim Baker]

Matthew,

I'm not certain if Deschler & Sohn used the same dies for their latewar zinc crosses as they did for their tombak crosses. I see some differences in your cross, and the cross I own here, an early tombak version. The metal at the arrow points of your cross is excessive, and the butts of the handles on yours look larger than mine. Your cross may be original to the case, I don't know. Like I say, I'm not certain if they continued using the same dies later in the war. A look at the reverse pin assembly of your cross should help a lot.

Robert

Robert,

That may be the prettiest WMC I have ever seen. Beautiful!

[brownshirts]

war merit cross with swords

many thanks robert,frank.....for info on my cross.

is this the wrong case then or was deschler & sohn munchen the shop that made JUST the case/supplier?


best regards

matthew

[Frank K]

is this the wrong case then or was deschler & sohn munchen the shop that made JUST the case/supplier?

You're welcome, Mathew

The cross and the case has been put together at some point so you can say that it's the "wrong" case but this has happened a lot of times.

Deschler & Sohn is another maker of crosses. I don't know if each maker of crosses produced their own cases but I doubt it. Probably somebody produced the cases and distributed them. A few were marked on the inside of the lid, eg Deschler, S&L and Kerbach & Osterhelt but the majority were unmarked.

[Robert P.]

Robert,

That may be the prettiest WMC I have ever seen. Beautiful!

Thanks Jim,

I can thank Herr Weitze for this. I wrote him personally when this horde came to the public, and asked him for the very nicest piece. But, I'm certain many are in this same condition as well.

Thanks,
Robert