Croatian Einsatstafel badges.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Guys, we have touched upon one of these badges before in an old archived thread:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...read.php?t=357

New member Berhard has one of these badges the “Erinnerungsabzeichen der Deutschen Mannschaft in Kroatien” and also another one, the like of which I have never seen before? It would appear to be based upon the design of the standard black wound badge. Has anyone seen one of these before? Is it "real" or a post war fantasy design. I must admit that I like the overall design myself. These are Bernhard's pics.
Cheers, Ade.

[Adrian Stevenson]

The unknown "wound badge" style badge.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Reverse of both badges showing the same style clip used on both. Any info would be very welcome!
Cheers, Ade.

[John T]

Reverse of both badges showing the same style clip used on both. Any info would be very welcome!
Cheers, Ade.

HI Adrian...can you show pictures of the hinge assembly, which I believe is just the pin twisted into a circle, like part of a spring and soldered then onto the back of the badge...this is typical for some Croatian WW2 made pieces...as for the wound badge, it was supposed to have been awarded to members of the German racial community serving in armed forces at that time...the only period evidence of this piece that exists is a line drawing in a yearbook of that community from one of the war years...I am not sure if the wound badge actually was ever produced, and I have been seeing a number of them popping up on the market over the last two years and was told that none were ever made during WW2 and that all are copies based on the wartime proposed design....the honor badge of the ES certainly was produced and is listed as coming in two classes: silver and bronze....but all of the examples I have seen have an old brassy look to them...these are also highly reproduced...John

ps...I am still on the sidelines with regard to my opinion of the wound badge...as I said they have been popping up recently, but maybe a group were found, either dug up somewhere together, or in storage?

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi John, here are some more pics from Bernhard.
Cheers, Ade.

[Adrian Stevenson]

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[Adrian Stevenson]

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[John T]

HI Adrian:

This example matches up exactly with the examples that I have been seeing recently...same finish, same pin, same reverse. It has the Croatian style pin that I spoke of. More research needs to be done on these pieces to determine if they are fantasy pieces based on an original design, or if they are original pieces that have surfaced in small numbers within the last year or so.

John

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi John, thank you for your replies. I hope that Bernhard can add some more about his badges to this thread.

Cheers, Ade.

[Richard]

Hi Ade, Both these badges are listed in the "Guide of Croation Orders, Medals and Insignia 1941-1945" by Borna Barac and Sinisa Pogacic. The first is described as the Einsatzstaffel Commemoration Award, which, as John has mentioned, came in 2 classes (silver and Bronze). It could be worn by all the members of the ES who took part in its formation, who attended the the first junior officer's course in Zagreb from 28 September to 4 November 1941 and everyone who served in the ES for a continuous period of 18 months or were wounded during battle in the case of the silver. The bronze was intended for every ES member who spent a continuous period of 6 months in the ES. The Volksgruppenfuehrer could also award this to individuals who were not members of the ES if they provided meritorious service in the formation, education and equipping of he ES and for the protection of German areas within the independent state of Croatia.

The one depicted in the book has a horizontal pin that is at approximately the wing tips and top of the runes.

The second badge is the wound badge for the ES, awarded for wounds received in fighting against the partisans and Chetniks or those who had been wounded in the 1st World War. It was awarded even if the recipient had already received any type of wound badge previously. It came in 3 classes - Gold for 5 or more wounds, Silver for 3-4 wounds and Black for 1-2 wounds. Interestingly enough the book only contains a drawing of this badge leading one to beleive that what John has mentioned may be correct. It may never have been manufactured as the authors of this book were never able to locate a specimen to photograph and this is a very extensive book in 3 languages covering Croatian awards.

It lists values as of 1998 of $1200 for the Silver and $900 for the bronze ES Commemoration Award and has stars in the value column of the wound badge indicating extreme rarity or non-existence. Hope this helps.
Richard V

[historiknut]

Hello Richard, I would like to get your opinion about this badge. It does has a silver surface on the runes. Regards, Bill

[historiknut]

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[historiknut]

Not real good pictures of this.