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Miniature bronze Maltese cross with ball-tipped finials on crown suspension; the face with a circular central medallion bearing the crowned cipher of Grand Duchess Charlotte; the reverse with a circular central medallion inscribed with the date ‘1940’; diameter 15.74mm (0.62 inch); on probably replaced ribbon. The Cross was instituted on 17 April 1945 to be awarded to members of the Luxembourg military and to members of the armed Resistance who had resisted German occupation and fought for the liberation of Luxembourg. German forces invaded neutral Luxembourg on 10 May 1940. The Luxembourg army consisted of a small corps of volunteers and the overwhelming German forces occupied the small country by the end of that day. Liberation came in September 1944, fifty-seven members of the Resistance having lost their lives during the occupation. The Cross is extremely rare, especially in miniature.
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