Featuring a highly recognizable design and a list of recipients that runs the gamut from an Academy Award-winning actor and a Nobelist author to some of the most famous names in 20th-century military history, the French Croix de Guerre was originally established on April 8, 1915 to honor individuals who were mentioned by name in military dispatches during World War II. Following the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, the medal was re-established using the same design as the World War I version, but with the dates “1939” and “1945” inscribed on the reverse side.
Different devices are authorized for wear on the suspension or service indicating at what organizational level the award was made. A bronze star means the award was issued at the regimental or brigade level, a silver star indicates a division, and a silver gilt star means the award was issued by a Corps commander. A bronze palm, on the other hand, means the recognition is from an Army commander, with a silver palm taking the place of five bronze ones. Unique among the appurtenances is a silver gilt palm: it is reserved for those mentioned by commanders in the Free French Forces.
Four-star General George Patton was not only honored with the Croix de Guerre for his actions during World War II, but also received the 1939-1945 version for the leadership he displayed as commander of the Third Army during the liberation of France in 1944. Other recipients from the U.S. military include General Curtis LeMay, who helped formulate bombing strategies used in the European and Pacific Theaters and who later went onto become Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force; General George Marshall, the Army Chief of Staff during World War II who later earned acclaim for his eponymous European economic recovery plan; and three-time awardee Audie Murphy, the most decorated American soldier of World War II.
As a member of the Free French Army, Prince Rainier III (famously wed to actress Grace Kelly) was awarded the Croix de Guerre for his actions in holding back a desperate German counteroffensive in Alsace in 1944. Dancer and entertainer Josephine Baker was honored with the medal for her work in the French Resistance movement, as was renowned undersea explorer and SCUBA pioneer Jacques Cousteau. And beloved American actor Jimmy Stewart was also pinned with a Croix de Guerre, not for the type of "war effort" work that many actors performed during World War II, but for actually leading bombing raids on German industrial facilities in 1943 and 1944.
Related to the Croix de Guerre is the fourragère, a corded device awarded to units that have been honored with two Croix de Guerres. Units that receive four Croix de Guerres wear a distinct fourragère based on the colors of the French Medaille Militaire.