Military scholars interested in Polish Orders, especially the Virtuti Militari, the highest honor awarded during a time of War for personal bravery, have always wondered why there are irregularities in the disposition of the Order, especially in the 5th class.

The Polish Ministry of Military Affairs ordered 10,000 silver, 5th class Crosses of the Order of Virtuti Militari between the years 1920- 1923 from Polish jewelers.  They were to be awarded for the Polish War of Independence against the Germans and the Soviets between the years 1914-1923.  Some of these original numbered Crosses were awarded by the Polish Government in Exile during the years, 1939-1941.  In addition, the awarded Crosses did not follow a numerical sequence corresponding to the period of the award..  For example, Crosses serial numbered 8209-8331 were awarded by the Polish Government in Exile during World War II, while Crosses numbered 9704-9924 were awarded between 1922-1923.

The first presentation of awarded Crosses was made on 22 January 1920 to the highest ranking officers of the Temporary Order Chapter, (Kapitula Orderu) with insignia and documents.  However, the Order in the form of the 5th class silver Cross was not distributed to the soldiers in the field, only the ribbon.  The reason being that the Crosses were not available at that time..  In July 1920, during the first ceremonies, soldiers decorated with the Order were given a short piece of the Virtuti Militari cloth ribbon to wear on their uniform with an accompanying award document.  The insignia in the form of the Cross was to be issued at a later date.

The production of the Cross was first awarded by the Polish Ministry of Military Affairs to the jewelry firms of Krupski & Matulewicz by a process of lowest bidder in September 1920.  The first Crosses were distributed in the field during the summer of 1921.  The Crosses in sterling silver were made especially for foreigners and high ranking officers.  Dissatisfaction was expressed by the Ministry with other Crosses because of their low quality.  Most of the Crosses were made from brass materials with silver or gold plate.  The harsh economic times and very limited defense budget, forced the Ministry to accept the lowest bidders as the manufacturers of the highest military decoration.

The firms of Knedler and Gontarczyk were selected as prime contractors for the 5th class Crosses while the firm of Krupski and Matulewicz won the contract to produce the first three higher classes of the Order, subcontracting the 5th class to Gontarczyk.  For a time the firms of Reising and Wabinski produced several hundred Crosses delivering them to the Ministry on 4th of October 1921.  100 specially made sterling silver Crosses with gold center disks were made by Gontarczyk and delivered on 23 November 1922 which were to be distributed to foreigners with an addition lot of the same type made by Krupski with Cross serial numbers 9700-9799.
 
 In addition to the five official manufacturers of the regular government issue Crosses with machine pressed serial numbers, there were over 20 other so-called jewelers versions made in Poland before 1939.  These Crosses were sold to recipients as replacements and duplicates for wear.  Since regulations required all personnel to wear the Order at all times, some were lost, misplaced and duplicates were necessary.  These jeweler's Crosses were in many cases identical to the government issue except that they were un-numbered.  Many recipients ordered duplicate Crosses in sterling and gold.  These Crosses bore the jewelers initials, hallmark and assay marks.  The serial number was hand engraved.  Government awarded Crosses were issued to the recipient free of charge, but duplicates had to be purchased directly from the jeweler.

The original government issue machine stamped Virtuti Militari 5th class silver Crosses are extremely rare.  The majority of the original government issued Crosses had an uneven number stamped on the lower reverse arm.  The reason for the uneven stamping was the fact that some were hand stamped.  The other reason was that the technology of the stamping machine employed at the time was not very efficient.  Current copies of Virtuti Militari Crosses are found with perfectly straight lined, uniform machine stamped numbers and some are even hand engraved.

When the Polish Government departed Warsaw to London in 1939, it took with it the remaining un-awarded 1501 Crosses.  They were awarded in the West with the first award made to Air Force Lt. W. Peski, serial number 8200.  By early 1941 the supply of the original Crosses made between 1921-1923 was exhausted.  The Polish Government in Exile commissioned several firms to make new dies for the Crosses.

The firm of Spink & Son in London made three different versions (see Wesolowski Fig. 79,80,81).  The Italian firm of Picciani & Barlachi located in Florence made one version (See Wesolowski Fig. 83), and F.M. Lorioli located in Rome made another (See Wesolowski Fig. 85).  A Middle East firm of M. Rubin in Tel-Aviv also made one version (See Wesolowski Fig. 82).  These Crosses resembled the pre-WW II models.  The Crosses produced by Spink & Son were made in sterling silver and of the highest quality followed by Picciani & Barlachi and Lorioli.  The Middle East Palestinian version of M. Rubin was made from silver metal in gold or silver plate and of very low quality and design.  4,800 un-numbered silver 5th class Crosses were produced and awarded between 1941-1990.  The numerical sequence of awards was maintained for control and recipient identification purposes.  The last original pre-WW II Warsaw made silver Cross awarded in the West was number 10,000.  After that, unnumbered Crosses made in the West were used for decorating Polish soldiers.

The distribution of the 5th class of the Order up to number 8199 during the years 1920-1923 was without major problems, except that 65 duplicate Crosses were made and awarded.  This may have resulted from errors made during the stamping of serial numbers, or when the dies were transferred from one jeweler to another.  The new jeweler did not know the last serial number the former jeweler used, or a clerical error was made in the recording.  The list of Cavaliers for the II Republic has 316 unknown recipients of the Order who's names was impossible to locate at the present time.

The sequence of awarding the Orders was complicated.  Cross number 8200 was the first awarded by the Polish Government in Exile.  However, Crosses with serial numbers 8701-9741 and 9704-9924 were found to have been already awarded.  It was theorized that the 41 unknown recipients were a group of secret agents or foreigners which the government was not at liberty to disclose or their names were lost during the last 70 years.  Similar assumptions were considered for the other 220 Crosses.  After some serious research and deduction, the mystery of the sequential awarding irregularity was discovered.  Because of a clerical error in 1923, a group of 41 Crosses were pulled out of storage bins ahead of the numerical sequence which should have followed Cross number 8200.  The Crosses were awarded to Veterans of the November 1863 Insurrection.

It was also decided by someone in 1922 to use the serial numbers 9704-9924 and award them to foreigners.  The remaining 1501 Crosses were kept in reserve in case there was a need to award more Orders to Poles and foreigners for the 1914-1921 War.  When the awarding of the Virtuti Militari was abruptly halted in 1923, the Ministry was left with a surplus of numbered Crosses.  They remained in the Ministry until the outbreak of World War II and in September 1939 taken to London.  The following is a statistical analysis of the disposition of the 5th class insignia of the Order produced between 1920-1923 and distributed by the Republic of Poland between 1920 and 1923 and the Polish Government in Exile located in London between the years 1939 and 1914.
 

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF AWARDED ORDERS OF THE VIRTUTI MILITARI

The following statistics are based upon the actual count from the enclosed list of awarded Orders of the Virtuti Militari.  The statistical analysis presented is based upon the actual number of awards made by different classes in each era of Polish history.  These statistics may be of interest not only to military historians, but sociologists.  The characteristics of a nation are reflected in many ways and carry over even in the military ranks as well as in the awarding of military honors.