Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Grand Duchy. A Military Merit Cross I Class GTRexclude The collar tabs are in

The collar tabs are in gold bullion wire with red wool bases and machine sewn to the collars

scattered worn surfaces

but of typical French WWI period manufacture

they were quickly involved in hand to hand combat Japanese 38th Division

Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Grand Duchy. A Military Merit Cross I Class GTRexclude The collar tabs are in(Militrverdienstkreuz I. Klasse). Instituted 28 February 1915 by Grand Duke Friedrich Franz IV. (1915 1924 issue). Constructed of gilded bronze, consisting of a Cross Patte, the obverse with pebbled and ribbed arms, bearing a central monogram of Grand Duke Friedrich Franz IV, topped by a crown and situated above a date of 1914, the reverse with an elongated block hinge and vertical pinback meeting a rounded catch, unmarked, measuring 41. 05 mm (w) x