Germany, Imperial. A Life Saving Medal Certificate to Senior Policeman, 1917

The Life Saving Medal certificate is named to Obergendarm (senior policeman) Heinrich Gelchsheimer of the Fortress Police in Straßburg (Alsace), dated to Berlin on August 6, 1917. Measuring 204 mm (w) x 325 mm (h), presenting two folding creases and light scuffing of the edges, remains better than very fine.

The document is accompanied by a newspaper clipping from April 8, 1917, giving the following account of the deed: a 6 year old boy broke through the ice on the Rhine Marne channel. Gelchsheimer, who happened to be close to the site of the accident, jumped in the channel and managed to pull the boy out alive. Unfortunately, the boy died half an hour later from cardiac arrest.