Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. This is a fantastic framed set, it is not often at all that we find a French Croix de Guerre with an original citation, but this is a great set of citations to a Corporal in the French Chasseurs who was awarded the medal three times! Corporal Frederic Massot, 9th Company, 52nd Battalion, Chasseurs Aplins. The chasseurs alpins (English: Alpine Hunters) are the elite mountain infantry force of the French Army. They are trained to operate in mountainous terrain and in urban warfare.

The left citation is type-written but is so heavily faded that it’s near impossible to read. This one is dated October 1918. The middle citation is dated August 1916 and is hard to translate, but we can make out that he acted graciously with great calmness and energy, constantly going ahead of his unit to scout. The final citation is for the 230th Infantry Regiment, dated February 1919, and is also named to Massot.

The frame measures 18½ x 28”. This is a tremendous framed citation grouping, definitely worthy of further research! This is the first original French Croix de Guerre we’ve offered to a 3-time recipient. Comes ready to display.

The Croix de Guerre

The Croix de Guerre is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World War I, again in World War II, and in other conflicts; the croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieures ("cross of war for external theatres of operations") was established in 1921 for these. The Croix de Guerre was also commonly bestowed on foreign military forces allied to France.

The Croix de Guerre may be awarded either as an individual award or as a unit award to those soldiers who distinguish themselves by acts of heroism involving combat with the enemy. The medal is awarded to those who have been "mentioned in dispatches", meaning a heroic deed or deeds were performed meriting a citation from an individual's headquarters unit. The unit award of the Croix de Guerre with palm was issued to military units whose members performed heroic deeds in combat and were subsequently recognized by headquarters.