Iron Cross First Class

Included in the mount is this original First World War Iron Cross 1st Class.

The medal has a pin back which was used to faclitate mounting, no glues were used or alterations made in this process.

Max Immelmann was born on 21 September 1890 in Dresden, to an industrialist father who died
when Max was young. In 1905 he was enrolled in the Dresden Cadet School. He joined the
Eisenbahnregiment (Railway Regiment) Nr. 2 in 1911 as an ensign, in pursuit of a commission.
When World War I started Immelmann was called to active service, transferred to the German
Army's air arm and was sent for pilot training at Johannisthal Air Field in November 1914.
He was initially stationed in northern France.

Two very early examples of the Fokker Eindecker fighters were delivered to Immelmann’s unit,
one Fokker M.5K/MG production prototype for Oswald Boelcke's use, with Immelmann later in
July receiving a production Fokker E.I for his own use. It was with this aircraft, armed with the
synchronized lMG 08 Spandau machine gun, that Immelmann gained his first confirmed air
victory of the war on 1 August 1915, a fortnight after Leutnant Kurt Wintgens obtained the very first confirmed German aerial victory on 15 July 1915 with his own Fokker production prototype Eindecker.

Immelmann was one of the first German fighter pilots, quickly building an impressive score of air victories he flirted with the position of Germany's leading ace, trading that spot off with Oswald Boelcke. Immelmann was the first pilot to be awarded the Pour le Mérite, Germany's highest military honour, receiving it on the day of his eighth victory, 12 January 1916. The medal became unofficially known as the "Blue Max" in the German Air Service in honour of Immelmann. His medal was presented by Kaiser Wilhelm II on 12 January 1916. Oswald Boelcke received his medal at the same time.

In the late afternoon of 18 June 1916, Immelmann led a flight of four Fokker E.III Eindeckers in search of a flight of eight F.E.2b fighter/reconnaissance aircraft of 25 Squadron Royal Flying Corps over Sallaumines in northern France. The British flight had just crossed the lines near Arras when Immelmann's flight intercepted them. After a long-running fight, scattering the participants over an area of some 80 square kilometres Immelmann brought down one of the enemy aircraft, wounding both the pilot and observer. This was his 16th victory claim, though it went unconfirmed.

At 21:45 that same evening, Immelmann encountered No. 25 Squadron again, this time near the village of Lens. Immediately, he got off a burst which hit RFC Lt. J. R. B. Savage, pilot of F.E.2b pusher serial 4909, mortally wounding him. This was his 17th victory claim, though Max Mulzer was later credited with the victory. The second aircraft he closed on was piloted by Second Lieutenant G. R. McCubbin.

McCubbin was credited by the British with shooting Immelmann down during this encounter. On the German side, many had seen Immelmann as invincible and could not conceive the notion that he had fallen to enemy fire. The German Air Service at the time said the loss was due to friendly anti-aircraft fire. Others, including Immelmann's brother, believed his aircraft's gun synchronisation had malfunctioned with catastrophic results. Early versions of such gears frequently malfunctioned in this way and this had happened to Immelmann twice before, although on each occasion he had been able to land safely.

Immelmann was given a state funeral and buried in his home city of Dresden. His body was later exhumed and cremated in the Dresden-Tolkewitz Crematorium.

Anton Herman Gerard Fokker was born in Blitar, Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), to Herman Fokker, a Dutch coffee plantation owner and Johanna Hugona Wouterina Wilhelmina Diemont. When he was four, the family returned to the Netherlands and settled in Haarlem in order to provide Fokker and his older sister, Toos, with a Dutch upbringing.
Fokker was not a studious boy and did not complete his high school education. However, he showed an early interest in mechanics, and preferred making things, playing with model trains and steam engines, and experimenting with model aeroplane designs.

Fokker's interest in flight stemmed from Wilbur Wright's exhibition flights in France in the summer and fall of 1908. In 1910, aged 20, Fokker was sent by his father to Germany to receive training as an automobile mechanic, but his interest was in flying, that same year Fokker built his first aircraft "de Spin" ("the Spider"), which was destroyed when his business partner flew it into a tree. He gained his flying certificate in his second "Spin" aircraft, which shortly thereafter was also destroyed by the same business partner, prompting Fokker to end their cooperation.

In 1912, Fokker moved to Johannisthal near Berlin, where he founded his own company. At the outbreak of World War I the German government took control of the factory. Fokker remained as director and designer of many aircraft for the Imperial German Army Air Service, including the Fokker Eindecker and the Fokker Dr.I, the triplane made famous in the hands of aces such as Manfred von Richthofen. In all, his company delivered about 700 military aircraft to the German air force as well as supplying the German navy and Austria-Hungary.

Fokker himself was a skilled pilot, demonstrating his aircraft on many occasions. On 13 June 1915, Fokker demonstrated the new Eindecker at Stenay in the German 5th Army Sector in front of the German Crown Prince and other VIPs. Max Immelmann, later to become a high-scoring flying ace with the Eindecker, commented in a letter written shortly after this event that: "Fokker, especially, amazed us with his skill".
Fokker was a popular and charismatic figure with service pilots, and could charm even senior officers. This charm enabled him to deal with the first major crisis of his German career when his newly delivered Fokker Dr.I triplanes began to experience sudden fatal accidents in late 1917, and the type was temporarily grounded as too dangerous to fly. Fokker was able to prove to the German high command that the basic design was not at fault, but the German military inquiry concluded that shoddy workmanship due to poor supervision and quality control at the Fokker factory were to blame. Fokker received a stern warning about future conduct.

After the war Fokker returned to Holland, taking with him (in a dubious fashion) several train loads of complete D.VII and C.I military aircraft and spare parts with which he established his new business, the Dutch Aircraft Company. He concentrated on civil rather than military aviation at this time.

In or about 1926 or 1927, Fokker moved to the United States. Here he established the North American branch of his company, the Atlantic Aircraft Corporation. The company gained high visibility in daring exploits by pilots. The Fokker F.VII aircraft was used by pilot Richard E. Byrd and machinist Floyd Bennett to fly over or near the North Pole on 9 May 1926. In June 1928, Amelia Earhart crossed the Atlantic to Wales in a Fokker F.VII/3m trimotor, and in 1930 Charles Kingsford Smith circumnavigated the globe in another.

Fokker's Dutch and American companies were at the peak of their success in the late 1920s, but he lost control by going public to sell stock. In 1929, General Motors took over Fokker Aircraft Corporation of America, and merged it in the General Aviation Corporation. Fokker was appointed director of engineering but resigned in 1931. Fokker designs were increasingly outdated and in 1934 General Aviation discontinued their production. Fokker died in 1939 in New York at the age of 49.