pre-WW2 Polish Cross of Valour No 7193 Legitimation Card – 12 Field Artillery Regiment Commander Axman Otto

Pre-WW2 Polish Cross of Valour Legitimation Card (award document) for Cross Number 7193, issued to Major Otto Axmann, commander of the 12 Field Artillery Regiment (Pułk Artylerii Polowej) stationed in Złoczów/Tarnopol from December 1921 to October 1925. The document is signed by General Stanisław Haller, murdered by the Soviet Russians in the Katyń Massacre in 1940.

Otto Axmann, born in Vienna and of German descent, acquired his military education at the Vienna Cadet School. He earned his officer ranks, up to and including captain, in Kraków, where he served in the 2nd Fortress Artillery Regiment. In 1903, he married Jadwiga Jaworowska from Nowy Targ, with whom he had a daughter named Jadwiga. Axmann became increasingly proficient in Polish. In 1911, he left Kraków for three years, but the mobilization of the 2nd Fortress Artillery Regiment in 1914 brought him back to the city. As the commander of a battery of 15 cm howitzers, he set off to the front with the 1st Army. After the autumn retreat, he took command of an artillery group in the Kraków Fortress and participated in the victorious battles against the Russians. He then became the commander of the 4th Artillery District of the Kraków Fortress.

In 1915, Axmann was sent to the Italian front, and a year later, he commanded the 15th Independent Motorized Mortar Battery Škoda 30.5 cm. This battery fought in Italy and on the eastern front, including at Brody and Zalozce. The end of the war in 1918 found Axmann serving as the commander of the artillery motor school in Vienna. In 1919, he officially applied to join the Polish Army. The army of the newly reborn Polish state needed experienced artillerymen. In December 1921, Otto Axmann took command of the 12th Field Artillery Regiment in Złoczów, which was part of the 12th Infantry Division from Tarnopol. He remained in this position until the autumn of 1925. Otto Axmann passed away in 1971, having lived for 95 years. Good condition as in photographs.