WW2 POLAND WARSAW MILITARY UPRISING & RESISTANCE BRAVERY MEDAL & CASE

33mm wide gilt bronze circular medal with loop for ribbon suspension; the face with the Arms of Warsaw circumscribed ‘1939 1945’ and ‘ZA WARSZAWE’ (for Warsaw); the reverse inscribed ‘RP’ (Republic of Poland) ‘OBRONCOM BOJOWNIKOM OSWOBODZICIELOM’ (To the defenders, warriors, liberators) above an oak leaf cluster; slight wear to the reverse; on correct ribbon in award case.

The medal was instituted on 26 October 1945 by decree of the National Council (Krajowa Rada Narodowa) and awarded to those who participated in the defence of Warsaw in 1939, the resistance movement of 1939 to 1944, the uprising of 1944 and the liberation of 1945.

As it was awarded by the Communist authorities, most of the members of the Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa), who had fought with quite exceptional bravery, were excluded.