Japanese-made Iron Crosses/鉄十字日本製

Allegedly these crosses were manufactured by the Japanese workshops for the Kriegsmarine personnel, serving in the Pacific. Note that the authenticity of crosses of 1st and 2nd type is questionable since there are currently no direct empirical evidence (i.e. authentic awarding group) that these are indeed period pieces. This is especially true for the crosses of 1st type.

Type 1 "塘/Tsutsumi".

Size 44 mm.

塘  Tsutsumi.jpg
塘 Tsutsumi.jpg

Pin marked with a mirrored kanji - Tsutsumi.
 
Third known cross of 1st type.

Japanese Made EK 1 .jpg
Japanese Made  EK 1.JPG


Mark.

Mark.JPG
 
Yet another cross of 1st type.

Fake Japanese Made EK 1.jpg
Fake Japanese  Made EK 1.jpg


Mark.

Mark.jpg
 
Type 2 "Solid Silver".

Silver, black paint.
Size 44.22 x 44.12 mm.
Weight 23.8 g.

Specimen from the ex Roger Bender collection. Very same cross was shown in Gordon Williamson’s book "The Iron Cross of 1939" that was published in 2002 /p.133/.

Japanese-made 1939 Iron Cross 1st class.jpg


Japanese-made  1939 Iron Cross 1st class.jpg


Reverse engraved "Blsmt K.Metzner" for Oberbootsmannsmaat Konrad Metzner. Metzner was a crewman aboard the Kriegsmarine auxiliary cruiser "Michel", which sailed from Yokohama on 21 May 1943 on a lengthy route around the coasts of South America, Australia, and South Asia to raid Allied merchant vessels. After a five-month voyage during which "Michel" sank three Allied ships, the raider was just 80 km from the port of Yokohama before being spotted by the United States submarine “Tarpon” on 20 October. Four of eight torpedoes fired by "Tarpon" struck "Michel", sinking it with the loss of 290 crewmen, including the captain. 116 survivors successfully returned to Japan in lifeboats. According to Dietrich Maerz book "The Iron Cross 1. Class" , only 25 of these survivors were awarded the Iron Cross I Class for their actions on the voyage and the vessel’s sinking.​

Engraving.jpg
 
Type 3 "Admiral Naokuni Nomura cross".


EK1.jpg
 
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    eisernes kreuz 1.klasse hergestellt in japan eisernes kreuz hergestellt in japan eisernes kreuz i. klasse iron cross 1st class marked with hieroglyph iron cross 1st class marked with hieroglyph 塘 iron cross 1st class marked with kanji 塘 japan made iron crosse japanese-made 1st class iron cross japanese-made iron cross てつじゅうじ ドイツ語 鉄十字 鉄十字日本製
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