Looking through my archives, books and web sites in order to have the (fairly) correct picture of this company, I found this statement from Mr. Williamson (8.18.2002 at WAF):
"It is known that the Knights Cross dies were destroyed as were the dies for the Anti-Partisan War Badge -hence the hollow backed APB pieces thereafter made by AGMuK. Not ALL Juncker dies were destroyed however, the GK dies, the molds for the 20 Juli 1944 Wound Badge and much other tooling survived and was used after the war to remake pieces, hence I would never fully trust an L/12 GK."
We all agree that the company Juncker was bombed out and a very good report is given on this website by a researcher of the topic. (http://www.cejuncker.com):
"Then by the end of 1944 disaster struck. The factory located at Alte Jakobstrasse 13 was bombed during an Allied raid. Supposedly the production was moved elsewhere and continued after the raid. Where and when remains a mystery. What is known however is that most of CEJ’s tools (dies) and supplies (raw stock) were destroyed. The extend of the damage is still not confirmed but I came across documents stating that it took until 1956-57 to fully clear the rubble from the location of the factory."
That reads like all dies were destroyed and if some were not, they might have been recovered as late as 1956/57 in whatever state they might have been after a hefty bombing, fire and 10 years of rusting under rubble. Mr. Williamson in his book "The Iron Cross of 1939" (Bender Publishing, 2020) does not mention his later conviction that the GK tooling survived, but he rather states that the Juncker-type is the "sole authentic Grand Cross award" - something the research in the last years has clearly confirmed. He applies this conclusion to the "800"only as well as the "L/12" marked ones.
Even the book by Dr. Doehle shows clearly a Grand Cross by Juncker as witnessed by the "dot-flaw" which all Juncker Grand Crosses exhibit and which can also be detected in the picture in Doehle's book.
To bring some light into this topic I like to ask: Has anybody any knowledge of what evidently surfaced between the manuscript of the book and Mr. Williamson's statement that made him change his mind so drastically regarding the dies and the status of the "L/12" Grand Cross? Also, has somebody any solid knowledge and at least some hint of proof about the APB made by AGMuK and any restrikes using the molds of the 20th July Wound Badges. Or other tooling from Juncker?
Thanks for your help!
Dietrich
"It is known that the Knights Cross dies were destroyed as were the dies for the Anti-Partisan War Badge -hence the hollow backed APB pieces thereafter made by AGMuK. Not ALL Juncker dies were destroyed however, the GK dies, the molds for the 20 Juli 1944 Wound Badge and much other tooling survived and was used after the war to remake pieces, hence I would never fully trust an L/12 GK."
We all agree that the company Juncker was bombed out and a very good report is given on this website by a researcher of the topic. (http://www.cejuncker.com):
"Then by the end of 1944 disaster struck. The factory located at Alte Jakobstrasse 13 was bombed during an Allied raid. Supposedly the production was moved elsewhere and continued after the raid. Where and when remains a mystery. What is known however is that most of CEJ’s tools (dies) and supplies (raw stock) were destroyed. The extend of the damage is still not confirmed but I came across documents stating that it took until 1956-57 to fully clear the rubble from the location of the factory."
That reads like all dies were destroyed and if some were not, they might have been recovered as late as 1956/57 in whatever state they might have been after a hefty bombing, fire and 10 years of rusting under rubble. Mr. Williamson in his book "The Iron Cross of 1939" (Bender Publishing, 2020) does not mention his later conviction that the GK tooling survived, but he rather states that the Juncker-type is the "sole authentic Grand Cross award" - something the research in the last years has clearly confirmed. He applies this conclusion to the "800"only as well as the "L/12" marked ones.
Even the book by Dr. Doehle shows clearly a Grand Cross by Juncker as witnessed by the "dot-flaw" which all Juncker Grand Crosses exhibit and which can also be detected in the picture in Doehle's book.
To bring some light into this topic I like to ask: Has anybody any knowledge of what evidently surfaced between the manuscript of the book and Mr. Williamson's statement that made him change his mind so drastically regarding the dies and the status of the "L/12" Grand Cross? Also, has somebody any solid knowledge and at least some hint of proof about the APB made by AGMuK and any restrikes using the molds of the 20th July Wound Badges. Or other tooling from Juncker?
Thanks for your help!
Dietrich