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Cross for Military Valour
Croix de la Valeur Militaire
This cross was instituted 12th October 1956 and replaced the Medal
for Military Valour1 ( Medaille de
Valeur Militaire) which itself had only came into existence 6 months
earlier. The cross (and the earlier medal) were awarded for Mentions
in dispatches initially for service in North Africa2
( Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco) with a similar award criteria as the
Croix de Guerre (see TOE, 14 -18 and 39 - 45 types) and the same
ribbon emblem scheme, but with the geographical limits previously
mentioned. In reality most of the "North African" crosses were
awarded for service in Algeria3
since French involvement in Morocco and Tunisia had drawn to a close
by the time of the institution of the cross.
Description: The cross design and size are similar to the
Croix de Combattant - apart from the variant effigy of la
Republique on the obverse and the reverse inscription which reads "
CROIX DE LA VALEUR MILITAIRE."
Ribbon; red with a three white stripes - two thin stripes near the
edges and a wider central one.
notes.
1. the short lived initial circular medal version is
quite scarce.
2. various later decrees have
gradually extended the award to Mauritania, Chad, Zaire, Lebanon,
Former Yugoslavia and the Gulf.
3. i.e. the French-Algerian
War AKA The Algerian War of Independence |
