Here's a SWB I would like you guys to have a look at. It looks okay to me, does the finish look original? Would this type of badge been a WW1 issued badge or a post war. I don't have it to know if it's magnetic but i have asked the seller. I read somewhere that if they are magnetic they have a better chance of being issued during WW1? I know that the wound badge production started in 1918 so it seems like it would be pretty hard to know for certain if it was produced during WW1. Please let me know, I don't know much about the WW1 wound badges except what to look for in some of the details and the difference between a cast or not.
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Looks fine to me, probably war time.Comment
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Hi,
for me looks OK, too. An early type - but I don't suppose, that anybody can determine, if the badge was produced in 1918 or 1920
Don't forget, that mostly VWA badges were awarded already after the war - and they were officialy awarded up to middle 1930's. So, even the later produced badges could be awarded originals.
greetings
TomaszComment
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A nicee one.pseudo-expertComment
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I just found out that the badge is not magnetic, does that mean anything?Comment
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Hi. It is probably post 1918 as I believe war time production badges were magnetic. Regards, Ron.Originally posted by stephen grund View PostComment
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They made some from zinc during the war but they are not common.
However, I am not sure if this rule that only magnetic examples are wartime is correct. They made the aircrew badges and U-Boat badges from nickel-silver, tombak and brass during the war so why not the wound badge especially for officers ?
ChrisComment
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I'm going under the assumption that war time WB production far out paced the badges you mentioned that were made from strategic materials such as nickel or brass and were made of steel. At any rate, it is my understanding that most Imperial combat awards were produced post war.Originally posted by 90th Light View PostComment
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It is an interesting un-researched question Ron,Originally posted by Ron P View Post
what WW1 wound badges were made before 11 November 1918 and which ones were made after ? I can not answer it. All I can add is what I have discovered in my time as a collector.
1/ German industry could get access to damaged, thin, spent shell casing and war material made from brass in 1918. By 1915, there was a serious shortage of new brass. However by 1918 there was used brass in Germany piling up as their Industry struggled to recycle it due to other shortages such as fuel, coal, skilled workers and even food. In limited cases, a badge maker could get sheet brass to stamp out a badge from spent shell cases deemed too thin from use to be safe to reload. Such used casing were piling up in 1918 awaiting melting and reprocessing.
2/ New Zealand soldiers who returned to NZ in 1918 and 1919 bought WW1 wound badges back with them as souvenirs. When news of the Armistice was received on 11 November, most of the New Zealand Division was billeted at Beauvois and Fontaine. Having been vanguard troops in the final 100 days preceding it, over-running many front line German positions and capturing a lot of German prisoners including supply depots. On 28 November they began their march towards the British occupation zone around the industrial city of Cologne. On 19 December, after a 240-km march, the New Zealand Division entered German territory. The infantry then boarded trains and arrived in Cologne next day, followed on Boxing Day by the artillery units.
From late December, New Zealand soldiers who had volunteered in 1914-15 and those who were married were sent back to England and from there to New Zealand. When it became clear that Germany was not capable of resuming combat, the repatriation process sped up. On 25 March 1919 the last draft of New Zealand soldiers left Cologne for home.
3/ The majority of these wound badges that I have seen in WW1 soldiers estates or officially documented in museums have been made from painted steel. But the odd example was made from brass or zinc. Several museum examples came via the official New Zealand war trophy committee. This committee that had the task of collecting at least two of every thing the Germans used for the building of a national war museum in NZ. The national museum was never built and the material was distributed to the regional local bodies in the 1920's. This committee got their hands on everything, even a WW1 German tank captured by the New Zealanders. Sadly the tank was left on the wharf in England because the UK government wanted too much money to ship it to NZ. The Australians got their tank sent earlier before the freight charges were applied and it was free to ship such trophies.
Based on what I have collected or observed, a WW1 wound badge made before the end of March 1919 can be made from Steel, Brass or Zinc. Usually painted but somtimes plated. I have not seen one made from Nickel-Silver yet (have seen a nickel-silver plated wound badge in the estate of a German officer killed in WW1) . However, I keep my mind open to that possibility of a nickel or nickel-silver, especially given what has been discussed by collectors of WW1 German aircrew badges. I also find it interesting that every WW1 U-Boat badge attributed to manufacture before November 1918 is made from brass particularly "Meybauer" who to cast their brass for the badges they made which could imply recycled sources,
Chris
p.s. is the pin, hinge and hook the way to determine WW1 production ?Last edited by 90th Light; 01-04-2017, 06:07 PM.Comment
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