The Croix de Guerre ( War Cross ) 1943, also known as the Algiers or Military Cross Giraud-type is Very Rare and was instituted in Algiers on March 16, 1943 by General Henri Giraud for the troops under his command in North-Africa. The obverse medallion of the badge shows two crossed flags and on the reverse the date "1943 " is on the central medallion.  It was usually suspended from a 1914-1918 CdG Style Ribbon, but on occasion they have been seen on a varying WWII Ribbon Patterns.  These ribbons are usually made of a very course and crudely woven Theatre-Made material, along with the planchets which were also crudely cast in theatre.  It is estimated that less than 1000 were produced and awarded in the North African Tunisian Theater.

The Croix de Guerre (sometimes lowercase in French, Croix de guerre, meaning "Cross of War") is a military decoration of both France and Belgium, where it is also known as Oorlogskruis (Dutch).  It was first created in 1915 in both countries and consists of a Square-Cross medal on 2 Crossed Swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins in the form of Gold, Silver, or Bronze Stars and Palms. The decoration was awarded during World War I, again in World War II, and in other conflicts. The Croix de Guerre was also commonly bestowed to foreign military forces allied to France and Belgium.  There is also a variation created during WWII by Luxembourg, which was again issued during the Korean War.

The Croix de Guerre may either be bestowed as a unit award or to individuals who distinguish themselves by acts of heroism involving combat with enemy forces.  The medal is also awarded to those who have been "mentioned in despatches", meaning a heroic deed was performed meriting a citation from an individual's headquarters unit.  The unit award of the Croix de Guerre was issued to military commands that performed heroic deeds in combat and were subsequently recognized by headquarters.

In 1939 a new croix de guerre was created by PM Édouard Daladier. It was abolished by Vichy Government in 1941, which created a new croix de guerre. In 1943 general Giraud in Algiers created an other croix de guerre. Both Vichy and Giraud croix were abolished by General DeGaulle and his provisional French Government in London on January 7, 1944, who reinstated the 1939 croix.

Source: Ebay auction 1/2008 selling for $695.00