A while ago I asked about this same issue and I think that it was Penelope Grey who said that said that they were working on a mod to correct the way medals are awarded in the game. I haven't seen anything about the mod since then so I'm assuming that real life commitments got in the way.
There have been a couple of careers where I've received the Iron Cross 2nd class at the end of one patrol, skipped over the 1st class and got the Fried Egg (German Cross) at the end of the next one. Had to wait until I finished another patrol before getting the 1st class.
