Spanish Medals Awarded to Germans

[Stormfighter]

I am interested in learning more about two Spanish medals that were awarded to Adolf Galland during his service in the Spanish Civil War. According to his book, The First and the Last, he received the "Medalla Militar" and the "Medalla de la Campaña". From what I have been able to learn, the full designations for these awards were Medalla Militar Individual de España con Diamantes and Medalla de la Campaña de España. I would like to know if this is correct, and if so, if the following English translations are correct:

Militar Individual de España con Diamantes (Spanish Medal for Individual Valor with Diamonds)

Medalla de la Campaña de España (Spanish Campaign Medal).

Lastly, does anyone have a photo of the Militar Individual de España con Diamantes? If so, I would like to see it. Please post your responses here or e-mail me at Feldpost@aol.com

Barry

[McCulloh]

Have you tried the OMSA database?

Are you the Barry who met Gunsch with Bill Shea many years ago perchance?

[Stormfighter]

Have you tried the OMSA database?

Are you the Barry who met Gunsch with Bill Shea many years ago perchance?

No, I have no checked the OMSA data base. Can you give me the link. Yes, I am the same Barry Smith who visited Otto Guensche with Bill Shea.

[McCulloh]

Hey! You are a big name in collecting! Glad to meet you.
I have a picture of you!
Bill gave it to me.

We would LOVE to hear about Guensch sometime.

[Scott C.]

Barry,
A quick review of some threads from the GMIC SCW forum indicate the Medalla Militar with diamonds was a custom made/private purchase item; however one or more of the top LC commanders (general officers) may have been presented the diamond award by Franco. Nothing in the GMIC forums I could find indicates anyone below a LC General Officer (may have) received the diamond award -- although I'm not disputing what your source says. Interesting to note that most LC members wore their Medalla Militar ribbons with crossed swords even though crossed-swords was not an approved Spanish device for the award (it could only be awarded for combat action/leadership, and therefore the addition of crossed swords would be redundant).

This photo was one I had in my archive (I don't know who it was awarded to). Note the addition of the stones around the inside arc, the small details at the upper sides, and possibly the suspension device.

[Scott C.]

Photo of the "diamonds" in wear. A slightly different configuration than the eample in my previous post

[Scott C.]

Speerle on LC Parade day. You can see the glint of the diamonds from his Spanish Cross, but there doesn't seem to be anything "brilliant" on his Medalla Militar. Of course, there's always the possibility he may have received one with stones later.

[Scott C.]

Richtofen with his award. Hard to tell anything difinitive about his award here, but the normal suspension ring woud not lead one to believe his award was 'special' (i.e., with diamonds).

(photo GMIC)

[Scott C.]

The award document calls it simply the "la Medalla Militar."

(photo: Jacques @ GMIC)

[Scott C.]

The award doc for the campaign medal is "la Medalla de la Campana."

(photo Jacques @ GMIC)

[Stormfighter]

Thanks a million Scott! This is just the information I was looking for. I was especially happy to see the photos of the original documents. Galland definitely received both of these awards. He mentions them in his book, The First and the Last, at least in the German edition. During his interrogation in 1945, his interrogator copied down all of his awards that were entered in his Soldbuch and both awards are noted. Again, thanks! This is why I love the forum.

Regards,

Barry

[Gernika81]

Wow Scott! You're an expert in Spanish military awards! Great pics.
By the way, the photo of the infamous Richtofen, the responsible for the bombing of the village of Gernika , after which I'm named in this forum to honor that little and beautiful place from Biscay (my region), and located 50 km from home. It was the first bombing over a civil population in history. Worth a visit!

[Scott C.]

Thanks gents -- I wish I could take credit. However, much (if not all) of what I posted came from the GMIC SCW forum, and the knowledgable folks there .

One last shot of Galland showing his ribbon bar with the two SCW awards discussed...

[Stormfighter]

Scott, I have the same photo of Galland (a relatively common postcard) and noticed something bizarre about your example. You'll note that Galland wears the insignia of an Oberstleutnant, yet the description says that he is an Oberst. On my postcard, the rank is given as Oberstleutnant. A small little detail, but I think it makes your example a little more rare.

Barry

[Scott C.]

Barry, I noticed the same thing - for the first time - after I posted it here