Hello ,

I was wondering if somebody could give me some history regarding the Vichy uniface groix de Guerre.
It does seem a starnge design to me, so could anyone shed any light on this for me.

Thanks

Jim

Hello Tunneler

What do you mean by "uniface" ?
Do you have a picture of it ?

regards
Bison

Hello ,
Perhaps our friend Tunneller speak about this one, which is for sale on Ebay :

The ribbon seems to be very new, and sure is not original.
The cross is authentic, but not the ribbon with it ! We can find it only with "1939" ribbon (green and red).
I hope you'll understand ... my english is very poor !
Best regards.
CONTOUTOS

Contoutos, thankyou, yes, that is the medal I talk of. Is it an official award , and if so can someone tell me about the manufacture and design of the medal.

Thanks

jim

Hi Jim ,

With some delays, I'll try to provide you my opinion about this model of our Croix de Guerre, already shown upside by Contoutos...
This is not an official medal given by the french governement, but an unofficial one, made by a private maker.
All official Croix de Guerre werre issued by the military authorities, and were made by the official mint, la Monnaie de Paris.
Here, you have this type for the "Vichy" model:


(the ribbons green and black are the right ones, the central one having been changed probably in 1944 or 1945)
The monoface model is a private type, probably made for employment in souvenir frames, but also often mounted as a real medal, with 1914-1918 or 1939 Croix de Guerre's ribbons.
The model shown by Contoutos is a monoface model, mounted with a recent ribbon, like the 1939-1940 one, and can be considered as a fake...made with a real (but non official) cross and a ribbon supposed to give a more efficient value!

Just have a look on this excellent post concerning 1939 and 1939-1940 french War Crosses: http://www.forum-insignes-medailles.net/les-medailles-f9/les-croix-de-guerre-1939-et-1939-1940-t1072.htm?highlight=1940

With regards ,