with “Die Heimat Dankt Den Tapferen Soldaten” (The Homeland Thanks The Brave Soldiers) and an outline of an Iron Cross 1939 First Class on the reverse
below wreath a scroll bearing the regimental designation “Ottawa and Carleton Own Rifles”
flying reconnaissance and bomber missions until the end of the war
rose cut diamonds (of average quality)
Germany, Wehrmacht. A War Merit Cross, I Class With Swords And Case, By Deschler & Sohn Auction Archive with “Die Heimat Dankt Den(Kriegsverdienstkreuz I. Klasse mit Schwertern und Etui). Constructed of silvered tombak, consisting of a Maltese Cross with crossed swords piercing the centrepiece, the obverse bearing a central wreathed mobile swastika, the reverse with a crimped barrel hinge and banjo style vertical pinback meeting a flat wire catch, the pinback maker marked with Prsidialkanzlei code 1 for Deschler & Sohn, Munich, measuring 48. 55 mm (w) x 48. 39 mm (h), weighing