A rare Great War period D.C.M. group of nine attributed to Gunner M. Kriz, a Czech Legionnaire

Czech War Cross 1918; Czech Revolutionary Medal 1918; Czech Victory Medal 1918; Czech F.I.D.A.C. Medal for Veterans of the Great War; Czech Commemorative Cross for Volunteers 1918-19; Czech Zborov Memorial Medal 1917-47; Czech Bachmac Memorial Medal 1918-48; Austria, Empire, Karl Troop Cross 1916; Great Britain, Distinguished Conduct Medal, G.V.R., unnamed as issued to foreign nationals, this last with refixed suspension claw, generally very fine or better (9) £1200-1500

As is nearly always the case, no verification has been found for this particular award of the D.C.M., but it is worth noting that Abbott & Tamplin state some 290 such decorations were issued to Czech Legionnaires.

Miloslav Kriz was born in Marsovicich, in the district of Benesov, near Prague in April 1888, and joined the Austro-Hungarian Army in 1910. Sent out to the Eastern Front on the outbreak of hostilities, he was wounded and taken prisoner at Tschemenovka in July 1915, and signed up for the Czech Legions at a P.O.W. camp near Kiev in October 1916. Assigned to the 4th Company of the 1st Gunner Regiment, he subsequently fought in the famous battle of Zborov in July 1917, and afterwards in the actions at Kungut, Omsk, Nikolsk, Usurrijsk, Perm, and Tagil, in addition to other skirmishes against the Bolsheviks. In February 1918, having been posted to a reserve unit, he participated in the engagements fought during the Siberian retreat, all the way to Vladivostok, and was finally demobilised back in Czechoslovakia in March 1920, having returned there via Canada and Western Europe. Kriz died on 18 March 1937, so presumably his Zborov and Bachmac Medals were issued posthumously at a later date.

Sold with his original Ministry of Defence, Czech Legions’ Office service certificate, bearing an official stamp, signature and the date 18 March 1937, together with a contemporary portrait photograph, in uniform, by F. Wokac of Roznov.