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.

Pin marked with a mirrored kanji 塘 - Tsutsumi.

 

Specimen that was shown in the Dietrich Maerz book "The Iron Cross 1. Class" that was published in 2010 /p.419/.

Mark /mirrored- unmirrored/.

Note that mirroring mark (that is also positioned perpendicular to the pin) is highly unusual for Japanese manufacturers https://asiamedals.info/forums/marks-of-japanese-orders-medals-and-badges.877/. In fact it's the only known case of such mark. Alarming symptom ...

 

Third known cross of 1st type.

Mark.

 

Yet another cross of 1st type.

Mark.

 

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/.

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.​

 

Type 3 "Admiral Naokuni Nomura cross".

Admiral Naokuni Nomura/野村直邦 海軍大将

Naokuni Nomura (野村 直邦, Nomura Naokuni, 15 May 1885 – 12 December 1973) was born in Hioki, Kagoshima prefecture. He graduated from the 35th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy on 20 November 1907, ranked 43rd out of 172 cadets. He served his midshipman tour on the cruisers Itsukushima...

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