Awards and insignia: how does your group award them?

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Guys, I was wondering about how different groups regulate the wearing of awards and qualification insignia?
As you know I belong to two groups, one British and one Soviet.

Our British Airborne airborne group, "Summer of '44", has several rules concerning this. Being an airborne group we wear "wings". Our ruling on this is that it is prefered that you do a Parachute course and complete at least one jump (not tamdem) to enable you to wear the wings. Several of us did ours with the Parachute Regt's display team "The Red Devils" at Joint Services Parachute school, Netheravon. We have only a few members now who have not done this. But all have at least done a jump from the "Fan". This involves jumping from a training tower 60 foot high. If a member refued to do this I would not allow them to wear the wings. I have even done 5 glider flights in order to wear my glider troopers cuff badge.
We do not allow medals ribbons full stop.

The Soviet group, "2nd Guards Rifle" has rules concerning the awarding of the Guards badge. In order to be allowed to wear this badge you have to take part in 5 weekend public shows. On completion of your 5th event a parade is held and the badge awarded in true Russian style. This involves putting the badge into a large glass of Vodka. The awardee then has to drink the vodka in one gulp and catch the badge in his or her teeth
The badge is then pinned on by the Sgt. Major. I do not know know if it is the Vodka or the kiss from the Sgt. Major that causes the red faces!
Medals can be worn after meeting the following criteria:
Combat Merit Medal: 4 weekend private "Battles"
Stalingrad Medal: Exemplary service to the unit.
Caucasus Medal: Awarded to founder memebers.
Order of the Red Star: 10 years service to the unit.
Anniversary of the RKKA Medal: 20 years service to the unit.
No others can be worn. At present only three members wear awards, the Capt. and the two senior NCO's.

Cheers, Ade.

[Brian M]

Ade,
we don't issue many awards either. the idea is that that's not why we do this and it would look rediculous if we were all strutting around with a Hermann Goering chest full of medals, etc.

full members are the only ones entitled to wear awards, candidates are not. the para badge is purchased after full membership is attained (attending 3 combat events and being voted into full membership). the Luft. ground assault badge after 9 combat events. no cufftitles are allowed.
the tank destruction badge is awarded for a confirmed kill of an enemy armored vehicle and surviving.
EK1 and EK2 are awarded occasionally for exemplary performances in the field or significant service to the unit.
long service awards are also issued after so many years of full membership.
wound badges are issued if an injury occurs which requires a hospital visit or visit to a doctor.
Bri

[J Melvin]

Ade, we have a fairly basic structure of awards. Most require sometime in the hobby to obtain. An exception is made for an individual that has been in the hobby for several years, but with another unit. He may bring one award, up to the level of ground assault with him if he was awarded that by his former unit. But, here is a breakdown of our scale:

Wound Badge - Actual Injury Requiring Medical Attention (this has been awarded 3 times - we are a hazardous lot);
West Wall - Attendance at 15 Western Front Tacticals or Public Events (this takes about 3 years of diligent attendance to accomplish for most)
Eastern Front - Attendance at 7 Eastern Front Tacticals. Considering that at most we have two of these a year, this again can take almost 4 years in the hobby.
Ground Combat Badge - Requires Attendance at 15 Events of any type
Close Combat Clasp - Requires Attendance at 45 Events of any type
EK2 - Commander's Discretion
EK1 - Commander's Discretion

As far as rank, there is none to earn. We maintain one NCO and one Gefreiter. The sole purpose of these two is to give the unit some "clout" at events. Silly, but you'd be surprised how you are treated if you show up at a unit commanders' meeting wearing one gull.

[Rick Research]

Question from an enthusiastic observer but not participant:

Obviously you don't want to look like "Where Eagles Dare" with everyone in a 14 ribbon bar, KCIC, GCiG etc etc etc but shouldn't you be looking as much as is possible (given that the average reenactor is actually too old and too well fed) like the actual unit then?

An elite unit should, as period photos show, have "basic" awards like assaults and EK2s in fairly wide distribution. If you are portraying veterans, you should be wearing what someone who had SERVED a number of war years typically had, so as not to look like replacements who had never seen action, yes?

I think you need to be a LITTLE more "liberal" with those sorts of awards. While squishing that natural tendency to over-display it seems like you are actually UNDER-dressed.

Well, except for the Brits, who were really stingy with awards in reality.

[J Melvin]

Rick, you know you are the antithesis (or is it anti-christ???) to most reenactors. There is a generally held belief among many reenactors that we shouldn't wear medals at all. We have done nothing to "earn" them and disgrace those that have fought and died for those that they have. Frankly, in my opinion, nobody should wear a RK among German reenactors. But, that is simply my opinion.

Members of my unit automatically can wear a trade patch once they are members. This is to reflect their prior service within the actual flying branch for those doing the impression of a former "mechanic"/"signalman"/etc. now converted to ground pounder.

I think you are right though. I wear my ornamentation into the field. As a NCO, it would be unnatural for me to be awardless. And, from period photos, it would appear that the wear of medals in the field was quite common among the German ranks.

[Brian M]

I completely agree with Jack's sentiments. those who do hand out Ek1's and RK's like candy are a disgrace to the hobby and to the veterans. we for the most part do not take the awards lightly, or what was necessary to actually have earned them. I am not comfortable wearing my Jump badge as I have never taken a live jump (although I desperately wish to) not only to do it, but to justify in a sense wearing the badge.
I wear a trade badge as unit armorer, but for my weapons experience and extent of my service to the unit in that activity, it is accepted and warranted. I and many of my comerades will be awarded the Ek2 next weekend at Reading by the commander of German forces that was at FIG for our tactical actions there. this was not a unit decision, but came from higher up. in normal circumstances within the unit an EK would be difficult to earn.
and we are not doing the hobby to earn awards with little merit behind them. we do it because as a whole we love the history and want to preserve it and the memories of those who fought and died on both sides for generations to come.
Brian

[Rick Research]

We're at cross purposes (pardon the pun! ) here. As a non-reenactor, I do not see the normal, expected awards found on the actual soldiers to be things granted as membership pins or attendance prizes, but as something which BELONGS on an accurate portrayal, absolutely no different from correct insignia, buttons, etc--yes?

You would not reenact in sneakers... you should not be portraying 1944 veterans of 4 years combat with no awards, right? The correct proportion of usual awards to particular units as seen in every period photo are part of what makes your potrayal ACCURATE, yes? Just as too many awards is not right, too few is not right either.

I am an incredibly picky viewer of movies. Drives me crazy when they don't get things right. Entire squads of middle aged guys with no awards would also not be correct for the period. Too little is as bad as too much.

Here's a 1940-41 field artillery company officers and NCOs group photo. It's early in the war, for a branch that did not acquire assault badges normally. They do not all look the same. Decorations, long service ribbons, the odd Anschluss medal, sports badges, etc are sprinkled among them the way, obviously, they SHOULD have at the time.

[Sebastian Bianchi]

As a non-reenactor, I do not see the normal, expected awards found on the actual soldiers to be things granted as membership pins or attendance prizes, but as something which BELONGS on an accurate portrayal, absolutely no different from correct insignia, buttons, etc--yes?

As another non-reenactor, I would have to agree with Rick here. If you come up with a "persona", and this person is old enough to have been in WW I, then you should have the apropriate awards. I can see the mine field here, where everyone would want an award and that becomes a problem, but indeed too little is as bad as too much. Just an observation.

[Paul_Mullins]

awards

Guys I agree there is a lack of awards within the German side of re-enacting. However there has to be some rules because most guys will walk around wearing enuff stuff to look like a Nazi Christimas Tree. Most people in this hobby are way too old anyway to be privates so I think they should at least have some rank to fit the look.

I personally only wear awards for what my impression would have worn at being my rank and age. I personally refuse to wear any awards such as a EK1 or 2. I havent done anything heroic to deserve that in my mind.

[Rick Research]

If they want to look like the "Gestapo" major in "Where Eagles Dare" in an Allgemeine SS uniform with German Cross, Close Combat etc etc (gag retch splutter) then... just beat them up.

I always think "If only I could have been the Technical Advisor" on such and such a movie:

ABSOLUTE ACCURACY is the totally commendable point, right? And that means looking EVERY bit the correct part.

There seems to be some sort of "perception divide" here between participants and enthusiastic onlookers: YOU are NOT "you"-- you are the 1944 character. And HE had 4 years duty in, not YOU. "You" are not wearing HIS awards-- "he" is. Yes?

I'm 46 (tho' with my yout'ful looks, could pass as younger), so if I was able to "do" 1944, I would be... born in 1898. Two years of WW1 and as an average private, would have had a 1914 EK2 and likely a 1918 wound badge. (Maybe another nice WW1 ribbon if I'm not Prussian. So many more OPTIONS with Imperial!!! ) As a waaaaay over the hill rear area/support 1944 Unteroffizier or Feldwebel, beyond my Hindenburg Cross X for WW1, chances are I'd have nothing beyond a KVK2X and an Ostmedaille, tops.

But nobody is reenacting the 905th Standeschützen sort of unit, which is where I'd fit in accurately. That or the Herr Oberst. (I'd also go with M1941 "universal" collar tabs so unit branches could be switched only by changing shoulder straps, but I'm cheap, too. )

[J Melvin]

I tell you guys, I am agreeing with Rick on this one. I've always been one that wanted decorations to be something "earned" in a unit. But, what he says makes entire sense.

[Sebastian Bianchi]

I havent done anything heroic to deserve that in my mind.

Agreed. But you also didn't go through basic training, so why do you wear a Wehrmacht uniform? Men earned the right to wear the uniform, earned the right to be called a paratrooper. You have to be consistent, if you can wear the uniform, you can wear the medals that would have belonged in that uniform.

It is because of the sacrifices these men made that you are honoring him by acting as "him" in living history. Rick is right and summed it up great with the "you" are not "you", you are the guy you made up (life story and all!).

[Rick Research]

Moderation In All Things, Or-- No, You Can NOT Be This Man!

As long as everybody remembers that not ALL original period photos make for good role models!!! (even Imperial! )

[DJT]

I have never done re-enactment but am very interested in trying it (or maybe even doing a Living History display) with a serious and realistic group someday. Ade if I lived in the UK I would join your group in a heart beat! (You might have room for an S.A.S. liasion? ). I love how you actually try and do some jumps. Thats the mark of a great and dedicated re-enactment group in my view.

From what I have seen though at re-enactment events and displays along with the accurate and realistic re-enactors there are definitely alot of lets just say "strange guys" involved in the hobby. Alot of guys strutting around (Herr Flick wannabes) looking similiar to that gestapo guy in where eagles dare with chestfuls of tin. That kind of stuff really makes me cringe.

I can understand what the guys have been saying here about medals and decorations. They definitely should`nt be handed out like confetti. However when you look at films and tv series like Band of Brothers you see actors wearing things they never earned. Are they disgracing the veterans memory? No I think most people would say the opposite so I definitely think there are 2 sides to this topic. Its a difficult one though.

I have a question for our re-enactors. Do you think guys who have had military service prove to be better re-enactors? I have done military service and find it hard to imagine civilians really getting into the mindset of a soldier. How to carry themselves, understand discipline, tactics etc.... Is this an issue or not? I`m curious.

Regards,

Des

[Rich G]

Ade,

I fully understand that re-enactment is meant to be as realistic as possible, and that for someone to wear Para wings should have made at least 1 jump. BUT, is it not going to make the financial aspects of it too expensive for many people to afford? I've no idea how much a jump course costs but I'd guess it isn't cheap.

I realise that one doesn't have to do the jump course and therefore cannot wear the wings but it does seem an excessive rule as it's only re-enacting. (I'm not mocking here by saying 'only re-enacting' because I realise you guys take it very seriously)

It would be like saying one couldn't wear the krim shield because they haven't spent 3 months in the Crimea...but if the regiment they are portraying spent most of it's combat time there we would expect the soldier to be wearing that shield.

I'm not criticising, just pointing something out

Rich