DK's and award dates

[LarryHW.]

Seems like most of the DKIG's and almost all of the DKIS's that were awarded from mid-1943 on are Zimmermans or in the case of the DKIG, a few #134's. From mid-43 onward, Deschlers, #21's and Junkers DK's seem to drop off the radar screen. Almost every attributed Deschler I have come across was awarded before mid-1943. Also, I've seen far, far more Zimmerman DKIS's than Deschlers, maybe 1 Deschler for every 10 or 15 Zimmermans.

Wonder if anyone can confirm if this accurate and, if so why?

Thanks

[Dietrich Maerz]

Basically you are right but the issue is more complex. It is clear that the late awards where either Zimmermann or Klein. The very early awards were 10 rivet Deschler (first series), followed by Deschler 6 rivet, most likely Juncker 7 rivet (very rare) and Godet 6 rivet. Juncker went to 5 rivets and later Deschler went to 4. Then you have to tackle the issue of the switch from Tombak to Cupal.

And finally - to get a real good picture - you have to consider the awards/month over the whole time frame. It is very likely, as it was the case, that the 55/50% point (awards before and awards after) was in June/July 1944. So the demand went up as the ware went town the tubes for the Germans.

A complex issue, that!

Dietrich

[LarryHW.]

DK's

Dietrich,

I don't know what the contracting rules of that time were, but I wonder if, as time went on, Zimmerman wasn't able to produce their DK's cheaper than Deschler and the others. The Zimmermans and Klein's have quality, but just don't have the look and feel of the Deschlers, particularly those from 1941-and 42, which seem to be of the highest quality.

Final thought--I am surprised the Germans did not go to a number-engraved award system, especially for higher orders, like the Soviets did. Can you imagine how much more we would know about each DK, it's date of manufcture and who the recipients were, if they had been numbered according to a system?

Basically you are right but the issue is more complex. It is clear that the late awards where either Zimmermann or Klein. The very early awards were 10 rivet Deschler (first series), followed by Deschler 6 rivet, most likely Juncker 7 rivet (very rare) and Godet 6 rivet. Juncker went to 5 rivets and later Deschler went to 4. Then you have to tackle the issue of the switch from Tombak to Cupal.

And finally - to get a real good picture - you have to consider the awards/month over the whole time frame. It is very likely, as it was the case, that the 55/50% point (awards before and awards after) was in June/July 1944. So the demand went up as the ware went town the tubes for the Germans.

A complex issue, that!

Dietrich