Cross of Valor (Poland)

Cross of Valor
The People's Republic of Poland version of the medal and ribbon.
Awarded by the Republic of Poland
Type	Single-grade medal.
Awarded for	Deeds of valor and courage on the field of battle.
Description	Obverse bears the words, "NA POLU CHWAŁY" ("ON THE FIELD OF GLORY"), while the reverse bears the word, "WALECZNYM" ("TO THE VALIANT"), and the date "1920" or "1944," depending on date of institution.
Statistics
Established	11 August 1920.
Precedence
Next (higher)	Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland.
Next (lower)	Military Cross.
Polish-Soviet War period medal

The Cross of Valor (Polish: Krzyż Walecznych) is a Polish military decoration. It was first introduced by the Council for Defense of the State on 11 August 1920. It is awarded to an individual who "has demonstrated deeds of valor and courage on the field of battle." It may be awarded to the same person up to four times.^[1] The medal is given only in wartime or shortly after.^[2]

History

Polish-Soviet War

The medal was introduced in 1920 at the height of the Polish-Soviet War, shortly before the climactic Battle of Warsaw. Initially it had no Order Council and was awarded personally by the Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Army. Later the option was added of delegating the medal's granting to front and division commanders.

Through 29 May 1923, when the last medal for the Polish-Soviet War was awarded, the Cross of Valor had been granted to some 60,000 soldiers.

Apart from individuals who had participated in the Polish-Soviet War, the medal had also been awarded retroactively to some soldiers of the Polish Legions, of World War I military units, of the Silesian Uprisings, of the Great Poland Uprising, and to members of the Polish Military Organization. It had been awarded, as well, to veterans of the January 1863 Uprising and to the city of Płock.

World War II

In January 1940 the Polish Commander-in-Chief, Władysław Sikorski, issued an order reintroducing the Cross of Valor. On 20 September, the President of Poland agreed to award the medal to eligible individuals who had already been awarded it four times during the Polish-Soviet War.

People's Republic of Poland

In 1943, after the Battle of Lenino, General Zygmunt Berling, commander of the Soviet-backed Polish 1st Corps, awarded the Cross of Valor to several soldiers. The medal itself was approved as a military decoration by order of the Home National Council on 22 December 1944. Until 1947, some 40,000 of the medals had been awarded to Polish soldiers fighting alongside the Red Army.

Ribbon bars of the Cross of Valor
	original design	used in the Polish Armed Forces in the West since 20 Sep. 1941
1st award
2nd award
3rd award
4th award

Notes

1. ^ The only soldier ever to receive more than 4 Crosses of Valor was Stefan Grot-Rowecki, commander of the Polish Home Army during World War II, who had reached his quota of 4 crosses during World War I and the Polish-Soviet War, yet was awarded 4 more crosses on 1 May 1943. See: (Polish) Łukasz Leszczyński (2005). "gen. dyw. Stefan Grot-Rowecki". Łukasz Leszczyński. http://www.grot.rowecki.prv.pl/biografia.html. Retrieved 2007-06-11. 
2. ^ Zdzislaw P. Wesolowski, Polish Orders, Medals, Badges and Insignia: Military and Civilian Decorations, 1705–1985, pp. 22–24, 41–42, 58.

References

• Zdzislaw P. Wesolowski, Polish Orders, Medals, Badges and Insignia: Military and Civilian Decorations, 1705–1985, Miami, 1986.