The shape of the Knights Iron Cross is basically taken from the Grand Royal Cross awarded by 1870 (also known as the Cross in German). The most important significance represented by the appearance of the Knights Iron Cross in the German medal system is that as long as there is great meritorious service in the battle, such a noble medal can be awarded to soldiers of any class, regardless of the rank, so that everyone has the opportunity to become a "national hero" and is particularly respected and treated by people around him and even the chief executive. The Medal of Honor of the United States Congress has a similar design in terms of award conditions. In this way, the medal of breaking ranks barriers was introduced to encourage non-commissioned officers to bravely kill the enemy in battle and strive for excellent military achievements. In fact, among the 73,665,438+0 Knights Iron Cross winners (including 43 foreign winners), many of them won this honor with outstanding, even incredible, brilliant combat performance. As far as encouraging military achievements is concerned, this medal does have its role.
For the air force, the requirement of the Knights Iron Cross is based on the number of enemy planes shot down. In order to reach the standard, the navy takes the tonnage of sinking enemy ships as the standard, and the ground troops need to continue to complete their tasks in the battle, or they can apply for victory in the battle because of proper command and careful planning. In the later period of the war, the following high-level medals were successively designed and promulgated, as follows:
Iron Cross of Oak Leaf Knight RITTERKREUZ DES E K MIT EICHENLAUB The Iron Cross of Oak Leaf Knight was officially awarded on June 3rd. 1940. Originally, Hitler thought that the war would end soon, and the Knights Iron Cross should be enough. I didn't expect the war to continue. The army has made achievements on all fronts, so it is necessary to introduce higher medals to reward more and more war heroes. Therefore, a silver oak leaf emblem was attached to the original Knights Iron Cross to represent a higher rank. The design is the same except that the original iron ring above the knight's iron cross is for the ribbon to pass through, and this one is changed to the back of the oak tree. According to official documents, 890 Iron Cross of Oak Leaf Knights were awarded during World War II.
In fact, the practice of upgrading the rank of the Iron Cross by adding oak trees follows the design concept of "Celebrating the 25th anniversary of Bangui Celebration" issued as early as 1895, and "Praying for Merit" in World War I. Only during World War II, Hitler added four ranks to the Knight Iron Cross, which pushed the Knight Iron Cross system to the extreme, but at the same time, it devalued the already high honor symbol in disguise. Because before World War II, only nine people were awarded the Grand Cross, followed by the Knights Iron Cross, and no other honors were attached to it. The highest medal of the Knights Iron Cross, the oak-leaf diamond-encrusted sword and the gold oak-leaf diamond-encrusted sword, was awarded by 28 people. It can be seen that the Knight Iron Cross itself can no longer represent the highest honor at that time during World War II.
The Knight Cross in the Iron Cross is a very high honor, and in some cases it is equivalent to the American Medal of Honor. Sometimes, it is awarded to military commanders as a commendation for heroic acts of the whole army, as opposed to commending individual heroic acts. The Knights Cross will also be awarded to foreigners, and 43 foreigners were decorated throughout World War II.
Iron Cross of Oak Leaf Knight
Double Sword Silver Oak Leaf Knight Iron Cross
The Double Sword Silver Oak Knight Iron Cross is a higher military honor than the Silver Oak Knight Iron Cross mentioned later. Only 160 winners in the whole World War II proved the sublimity of this honor. Like the Silver Oak Knight's Iron Cross, the Double Sword Silver Oak Knight's Iron Cross will be awarded to foreigners (the only winner is Japanese Isoroku Yamamoto) and the commander of an army as a commendation for the heroic actions of the whole army.
Silver Oak Knight Iron Cross
Silver Oak Leaf Knights Cross is a higher military honor than Knights Cross. Only 890 victors in World War II proved this point (you know, at the peak of World War II, the number of German troops exceeded10 million! )。 Like the Knight's Cross, the Silver Oak Leaf Knight's Cross will also be awarded to foreigners and the commander of an army as a recognition of the heroic behavior of the whole army.
Knight's iron cross sword with oak leaf diamonds
Diamond Double Sword Silver Oak Leaf Knight Medal
The Diamond Double Sword Silver Oak Leaf Knight Ten Medal is a military honor second only to the Gold Double Sword Gold Oak Leaf Knight Medal. It is also the highest military honor awarded by the Third Reich except one person. It was only used to reward the most outstanding heroic performance of the German armed forces, and 27 people won this honor. Just like the cross of the knight with the oak blade mentioned later. When Varna Moldes was first renovated, it was not formally established!
Gold oak diamond-encrusted sword with knight's cross
Goldenem eichenlaub schwertern and brillanten
Knight's Cross with golden oak leaves, swords and diamonds is the highest knight's cross in the Iron Cross. It is also the highest honor given by the Third Reich to the warriors on the battlefield. It was awarded only once in the whole World War II (contrary to the original honor principle-65,438+02, the most outstanding officers and men in any unit or auxiliary unit and organization of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS were awarded at the end of World War II when the Axis countries won the final victory), and the winner was Hans-Ulrich Rudel in recognition of his incredible and unparalleled heroic behavior. His achievements include destroying 5 19 tanks, 150 artillery positions, nearly 1000 other vehicles, 70 landing ships, 2 La-3 fighters, 1 il -2 fighters, and sinking the wounded battleship Mara. At the same time, it was shot down 32 times and recorded 2530 sorties (more than once a day on average for six years, no vacation and no rest! )。
These medals are used to recognize more special combat exploits, but basically these medals are "different versions of luxury" in the knight cross system.
Knight Iron Cross is bigger than the first-class medal of Iron Cross, about 48.2-48.4 mm, and it is tied around the neck with a red, white and black ribbon with a width of 45 mm Knight Iron Cross is struck with pure silver, and the silver content is detailed. On the front, there is an X-shaped emblem and the number of the year when the medal was officially awarded 1939. Different from other medals, it is stipulated to be hung at the neckline of the uniform, and the recipient can open the top two buttons of the uniform when necessary, which is convenient for people to show. In order to facilitate preservation and avoid damage and loss in battle, the medal giver can buy medals at designated stores with the medal certificate so as to wear them at ordinary times.
infantry assault badge
Infantry assault medal (Infanterie-sturmabazeichen) is a special medal, which is specially awarded to infantry combatants who have made special performance or meritorious service in combat. This medal was first created on 1939 and 65438+February 20th, 2009. The Silver Infantry Assault Medal was specially designed for the Army and the ground troops armed with the SS in Sineitai, and another bronze Infantry Assault Medal was awarded on June 1940, specifically for the motorized infantry of the Army.
The "Infantry Assault Medal" is awarded as follows: fighters have participated in more than three attacks, armed reconnaissance, armed search, or witnessed close hand-to-hand combat, or have continued to participate in front-line position recapture battles for more than three different periods. It is precisely because of its extremely strict reward standards and the deeds of risking their lives to commit crimes that it is regarded as the first important honor awarded to the army infantry.
Infantry assault medal and honorary certificate, the name of the medal is clearly written on the certificate. The name, class, position, subordinate unit, award date, signature and award of the medal shall be carried out by the head of the delegation. Usually when the infantry assault medal is worn alone, it is stuck in the middle of the left chest pocket of the uniform. If you need to wear other medals (such as the Iron Cross Medal) at the same time, this chapter will be moved to the lower left in the middle according to the rank order. Infantry assault medals are solid and hollow.
The German armed forces have many ways to reward troops and individuals who have made outstanding achievements in World War II, including medals, medals, honorary awards and various medals on military uniforms. In fact, since the19th century, Germany (Prussia and other vassal countries) has awarded various honorary awards to troops and individuals. Before the reunification of Germany in 1872, and even until 19 18, most honorary awards were awarded by states (vassal states) in various forms, and there was no unified standard in Germany as a whole. Since the establishment of the Third Reich, Hitler decided to change this situation. He announced that in the future, all honorary awards should be issued by the state in a unified way, with the same standards. Many past honor awards have been abolished, new ones have been established, and some traditional honor awards have changed their styles. Hitler himself has the right to award all honorary awards, but in the case of war, the right to award military honors is often delegated to commanders at all levels according to the content of the awards. Some awards (such as Knights Cross) must be awarded by Hitler himself and the Armed Forces Command (OKW) most of the time, while the second Iron Cross and other awards are often decided and awarded by the army commander. All the military honors were awarded by Hitler and the Germans in in the name of people, and they were all national. The law has very strict regulations on the design, release, manufacture, distribution and sale of these military medals, including how to wear and display them. Penalties for improper wearing and illegal possession are very severe.
The honor award of the German Armed Forces is deeply rooted in German history, combined with many traditional patterns, and influenced by the Nazi Party, using symbols such as party emblem. In any case, these honorary awards are one of the most influential symbols of the 20th century, trying to point out what are outstanding citizens, outstanding party member and good soldier. But at the same time, it is also an affirmation of individuals, proving that they have met or even far exceeded the expectations of the country when it is needed. Generally speaking, statistics show that most military honors are awarded fairly. The best example is that until today, members of the former German armed forces are still allowed to wear and display their military medals of honor, while in today's Germany, it is illegal to wear and display political medals won in Nazi Germany, which fully proves that winning these military awards is a very lofty honor.