War Merit Medal (Paperback)

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The War Merit Medal (German: Kriegsverdienstmedaille) was instituted on 19 August 1940 to recognize outstanding service by civilians in connection with the war effort. The medal was restricted to civilians - both German and non-German - and was awarded predominantly to those working in war factories.The medal, designed by Professor Richard Klein of Munich, was bronze bearing the design of the War Merit Cross on the front, and the inscription "For War Merit 1939" (in German) on the reverse. It was suspended from a ribbon colored like the ribbon of the War Merit Cross, except for a thin red vertical strip added to the center of the black portion