Circular bronze medal with loop for ribbon suspension; the face with a kneeling Czech soldier in Alpine uniform holding a rifle and circumscribed ‘ČS.DOBROVOLECKY SBOR V ITALII 1918’ (Czechoslovak Volunteer Corps in Italy, 1918); the reverse with an Alpine hat on a linden branch surmounted by the figure ‘30’, circumscribed ‘PAMĚTNÍ MEDAILE’ (Commemorative Medal) and dated ‘1918-1948’; on original ribbon mounted for wear. By the end of World War I the Czechoslovak Legions in Italy numbered some 20,000 volunteers, drawn mainly from Czech and Slovak prisoners of war from the Austro-Hungarian army. The purpose of the Legions in the Allied countries was twofold – to hasten the defeat of Austria-Hungary and to strengthen in the minds of the Allies the case for the post-war creation of an independent Czechoslovak Republic. A good example.
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