✚7552✚ German WW1 Oldenburg Friedrich August Cross military medal non combatant

Original German / Oldenburg WW1 Friedrich August Cross II. Class (non combatant VERSION), IN VERY WORN / CORRODED CONDITION, ON GOOD RIBBON

HISTORY OF THE AWARD:

OLDENBURG - Friedrich August Cross, II class (Friedrich August-Kreuz, 2. Klasse, am Kämpferband), 1914-1918 - Blackened iron cross pattée with laurel wreath between the arms, with loop for ribbon suspension; the face with a circular central medallion bearing the initials ‘FA’ (for Grand Duke Friedrich August), the Oldenburg crown on the upper arm, the lower arm bearing the date ‘1914’; the reverse plain. The cross has a magnetic or non magnetic core and is thus an early issue (later awards were in zinc alloy ‘Kriegsmetall’). The Cross was instituted on 24 September 1914 for all ranks and was the Grand Duchy’s equivalent of the Prussian Iron Cross for bravery in the field.