Italy, Kingdom. A Twentieth Anniversary Combatants Meeting At Rome Medal 1938 Newly Listed Mertsch won the German Cross

Mertsch won the German Cross in Gold in September 1943 and would go on to be the artillery commander of  XIII SS-Armeekorps and finished the war commanding a Kampfgruppe in Czechoslovakia

1st October 1938 Commemorative Medal

The reverse depicts a central Brandenburg Gate

The leather uniforms provided a certain protection against fire when the tanks got hit by Allied shells

with its period original full length non-combatant’s ribbon

Italy, Kingdom. A Twentieth Anniversary Combatants Meeting At Rome Medal 1938 Newly Listed Mertsch won the German CrossIn bronze gilt, obverse illustrating an upward pointing bayonet and a branch of oak leaves fronted by a helmet, surrounded by the inscription "ASSOCIAZIONE NAZIONALE COMBATTENTI" and engraver marked "S. A. PAGANI", reverse illustrating a floating female warrior, a sword in her right hand, above a cluster of Italian flags, engraver marked "MISTRVZZI", inscribed "ADUNATA NAZ PER IL VENTENNALE DELLA VITTORIA" above and "ROMA 4 NOV 1938 XVII" below,