Germany, Wehrmacht. A War Merit Cross, I Class with Swords and Case, by Julius Bauer & Söhne visually-hidden RZM paper tag on reverse

RZM paper tag on reverse

from his posting at #1 Air Navigation School

a blue enamelled cross with clusters of smooth rays in each quadrant

centre finely crafted in gold

part of the leafing on the bottom sprig is missing

Germany, Wehrmacht. A War Merit Cross, I Class with Swords and Case, by Julius Bauer & Söhne visually-hidden RZM paper tag on reverse(Kriegsverdienstkreuz I. Klasse mit Schwertern und Etui). Constructed of silvered tombak, consisting of a Maltese Cross with crossed swords piercing the centrepiece, the obverse with pebbled arms, bearing a central wreathed mobile swastika, the reverse with a barrel hinge and flattened vertical pinback meeting a flat wire catch, the pinback maker marked with Prsidialkanzlei code 43 for Julius Bauer & Shne, Zella Mehlis, measuring 47. 98 mm (w) x 47.