Croix de guerre

The Croix de guerre is a military decoration of both Belgium and France which was first created in 1915. The decoration was awarded throughout World War I and again during World War II. The Croix de guerre was also commonly bestowed to foreign military forces allied to France and Belgium.

Criteria

The Croix de guerre may either be bestowed as an individual medal or as a unit award. The Croix de guerre medal is awarded to those individuals who distinguish themselves by acts of heroism involving combat with enemy forces. The medal is also awarded to those who have been "mentioned in dispatches", meaning a heroic deed was performed meriting a citation from an individual's headquarters unit.

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The unit award of the Croix de guerre was issued to military commands who performed heroic deeds in combat and were subsequently recognized by headquarters. During the First World War, France was the only nation to issue the unit award of the Croix de guerre. In World War II, both France and Belgium provided a unit decoration.

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