IMMEDIATE POST WW1 ESTONIA WHITE CROSS OF THE CIVIL GUARD 3RD CLASS MEDAL

Immediate post WW1 era Estonian honour decoration of the Home Guard 3rd Class.

Features a 45mm high white enamel Latin Maltese cross with loop between the upper arms for ribbon suspension; the face with a centrally-imposed oxidised silver eagle with wings outstretched, a sword in its right claw, an escutcheon bearing the three blue lions of Estonia in its left, an upright gilt sword behind; the reverse with a circular central white enamel medallion bearing the date ‘11 XI 1918’ (11 November 1918); on original ribbon with sewn in safety pin for wear.

The Order was established on 19 June 1929 to be awarded to members of the Kaitseliit (Estonian Civil Guard) for distinguished service and on 7 October 1936, the Decorations Act passed by the Riigikogu (Estonian parliament) made it a national award. The Kaitseliit was founded on 11 November 1918 to maintain order in the new state of Estonia and to resist Soviet Russian attempts to subvert newly-won Estonian independence The Order was suppressed after the Soviet occupation of 1940, some 6,000 awards having been made, but reinstated in 1991. We have been told by an Estonian authority that this example is from the period 1929 to 1940.