Germany, Wehrmacht. A War Merit Cross I Class with Swords and Case, by Klein & Quenzer Newly Listed on full-length neck ribbon)

on full-length neck ribbon)

was salvageable and could have been repaired

The battery at the time was being heavily shelled

Both of the top pockets are overlaid by vertically-arranged threaded loops for the accommodation of decorations with vertical pinback

Germany, Wehrmacht. A War Merit Cross I Class with Swords and Case, by Klein & Quenzer Newly Listed on full-length neck ribbon)(Kriegsverdienstkreuz I. Klasse mit Schwertern und Etui). Constructed of silvered zink, consisting of a Maltese Cross with pebbled arms and with crossed swords piercing the centrepiece, the obverse bearing a central wreathed mobile swastika, the reverse with an integral hinge and tapering vertical pinback meeting a rounded catch, the pinback maker marked with Prsidialkanzlei code 65 for Klein & Quenzer, Idar Oberstein, measuring 47. 48 mm (w) x 47. 48