WW1 WW2 ITALY MILITARY CROSS OF WAR MERIT MEDAL ROYAL ISSUE

Description

Offered is an original Italian Military War Merit Cross.
45mm high oxidised bronze Greek cross with laterally-pierced ball and angled loop for ribbon suspension; the face with the crowned cipher of King Vittorio Emanuele III on the upper arm, an upright sword with oak branch on the lower arm, the lateral arms inscribed ‘MERITO DI GUERRA’, signed ‘B’ at the base; the reverse with a central five-pointed star on a rayed background; on original ribbon, the face age-faded.
The Cross was instituted by Royal Decree 205 on 19 January 1918 to be awarded to those whose military conduct deserved public recognition.