Légion d'Honneur
(Officer Class)

Croix de Guerre
(1914-1918)

Médaille d'Honneur
avec Glaives

Médaille Militaire

Ordre du Mérite agricole

With military awards for gallantry in action limited to the Legion of Honour and the Médaille Militaire, there was felt a need for a lower award, particularly for those who had received a citation a l'ordre, ie. a mention in despatches, so that a decoration could be awarded immediately by the commander-in-chief on the field of battle. As a result the Croix de Guerre (War Cross) was instituted by a law of 8 April 1915, to recognise, from the outbreak of hostilities, individual mentions in despatches of armies, army corps, divisions, brigades, and battalions or corresponding units. It could be conferred on both Frenchmen and foreigners, and also on civilians who had been the subject of a citation. For maritime personnel, similar regulations applied.
The cross was also awarded, automatically, to recipients of the Legion of Honour for gallantry in action or the Waffle Militaire, whose award was gazetted in the Journal Officiel, equivalent to a citation a l'ordre.
The decoration is a bronze St. George cross, 37mm across. The arms have a pitted sunken surface with plain raised edges; the obv central medallion has the head of La République, right, with REPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE and conventional laurel branches in the surrounding circle. The rev of the medallion bears two dates, 1914 above and dates between 1915 and 1918 below, according to when it was struck. Between the arms of the cross are two crossed antique swords. Suspension is by a ring through a ball and ornamental double curl fitting.
For the ribbon, a modern weave of the St Helena Medal ribbon was used – 37mm green with five narrow red stripes and narrow red edges – but with a brighter green than that of the earlier ribbon.
On the ribbon one usually finds one or more emblems, according to the nature of the `mention'; for a mention in an Army despatch, a bronze palme or laurel branch (and known as Croix de Guerre avec palme); for five bronze ones, a silver palme could be substituted according to a decree on 8 January 1917, but in practice most recipients preferred to have five small palmes on their ribbon; for an Army Corps mention, a gilt star was awarded; for Division, a silver star; for Brigade, Battalion, or similar unit mention, a bronze star was worn.
The cross was widely awarded, although the exact number is not known; according to an official publication, some 2,055,000 citations had been made up to
1 March 1920, to which must be added those accompanying awards of the Legion of Honour and the Médaille Militaire, and also posthumous awards.
A large number of towns and villages in France, and some abroad, were awarded the cross, and it was also awarded collectively to certain regiments, whose officers and men were allowed to wear the fourragère, or lanyard, in red and green, on the left shoulder.
There were many British recipients, in all branches of the forces, and groups of medals including a Croix de Guerre should be checked against the London Gazette for verification of the award. A note of these is sometimes given in regimental histories, but their data is not always complete or accurate.

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