Orders, Decorations and Medals

An interesting Second World War ‘Kriegsmarine’ Iron Cross together with related badges and documents awarded to Gustav Ludemann a crew member of the Battle Cruiser Gneisenau

Iron Cross, Second Class, 1939, with award certificate ‘Kommando Schlachtschiff, Gneisenau, 14 June 1940’ (probably for the attack on Norway); High Seas Fleet Badge, reverse with makers mark, with award certificate ‘Gneisenau, 4 October 1941’; Minesweepers Badge, reverse with makers mark, with award certificate ‘30 March 1945’; Engineers trade cloth sleeve badge; ‘Ostsee Station Fuhrungbuch’, containing comprehensive personal and service detail from 1 April 1936-3 June 1944, including photograph of recipient; photograph album, 30cm by 23cm, the black cover with an image of the Iron Cross and entitled ‘Ehren Chronik’, containing approximately 61 original photographs, including pictures of Hitler and Raeder visiting the Gneisenau, various scenes aboard ship whilst at sea, night time gunfire and the sinking of a freighter; a soft bound illustrated memorial booklet, 24pp, 25cm by 17cm, entitled ‘Dem Gedenken Unserer Kameraden’, listing the names of fallen comrades during the British air attack on the Gneisenau on the night of 26-27 February 1942, medals and badges good very fine or better, the documentation in good condition £800-1000

The German Battle Cruiser Gneisenau, sister ship of the Scharnhorst, went into service on 21 May 1938, having been ordered secretly under the 1934 programme before Hitler abrogated the Versailles treaty. It was a main participant in the famous ‘Channel Dash’, played a major part in the attack on Norway in 1940, and was accredited with the sinking the aircraft carrier H.M.S. Glorious.