Cross of Valour (Poland) awarded to Lieutenant Commander Ronald James Burch, DSO.

Lieutenant Commander Burch was awarded the Cross of Valour for services in Polish ships. He served on the Polish submarine ‘Wilk’ (Wolf), which had arrived at Rossyth 20 September 1939. After repairs she served on patrol duty in the North Sea and on 20 June 1940 rammed an unidentified submarine. She was then used as a training ship but because of her poor condition was decommissioned in 1942. She was towed back to Poland in 1951 and scrapped.

Burch subsequently command the submarine HMS ‘Narwhal’, which was lost in the North Sea or off Norway in July/August 1940. Both his DSO and Cross of Valour were presented to his next of kin.

The medal is in the form of a bronze cross with the crowned Polish eagle on the obverse within a central shield. On the arms of the cross are the words, ‘NA POLU CHWALY 1920’ (On the Field of Glory 1920). On the reverse is an upright sword piercing a laurel wreath. The inscription on the transverse arms reads ‘WALECZNYM’ (For the Brave). The cross is suspended from a purple and white ribbon.