Questions regarding long service award

[Laurens Q-fin]

Hello,

I failed to find an immediate answer to my questions, and look for some guidance here:

A) Is the 4yr long service award, when given to a member of the Army, also the same award as when given to a member of the Navy? Does that include the silver eagle device on the ribbon?

B) Occasionaly, I see awards that do not feature the eagle device on the ribbon, nor the presence of the a removed device (if there's a small hole in the ribbon, it was removed). Is there a reason behind this?

C) Other than the weight, how can one determine the difference between an early award in silver and a later award in silver washed zinc? I assume it comes down to the quality of the medal then?

D) When looking at medal bars, is the color of the backing important regarding the branch (Army or Navy)? Most of the bars I see, are either red or dark-blue.

Thanks in advance,
Laurens

[Peter J.]

Hi Laurens,

You're correct, the WH and Marine used the same eagle devices. As you probably know, no military decorations were worn on a plain ribbon (similar to i.g. the Treuedienstehrenzeichen), but rather mounted as a "parade bar". I assume a single cross with the ribbon and device was the official presented and the parade bar could be purchased privately. Hence I think the question of no device or lack of hole is academical.

The early decorations should be magnetic and the zinc versions were used for a short period of time, before the award was cancelled (late 1940 or early 1941). The quality in design sholdn't differ though.

I leave you last question to more knowledgable members here

cheers
Peter

[Tom Yanacek]

Hello Laurens,

I will take a shot at answering your questions.

A) Yes. The long service awards should be identical whether Heer or Kriegsmarine, and they should have the same style of eagle attached to the ribbon. The eagle would be silver on the 4 and 18 year awards and gold on the 12, 25, and 40 year awards. The Luftwaffe used their characteristic "flying eagle" device on the ribbon.

B) If on a parade medal bar, the eagle devices should be present or there should be evidence that the devices were once attached. I suppose it is possible that a legitimate, period assembly may have never had the eagles attached due to a simple oversight. Mistakes were frequently made in the assembly of medal bars. Now on unmounted long service awards, it is very common to find them without the eagles attached to the ribbon. The awards were issued in packets with the medal, ribbon, and eagle device all unattached.

C) In my opinion, Wehrmacht Long Service Awards should all be considered "early quality" awards. Most were awarded in the pre-war years and the remainder in the first year of the war. By the end of 1940, they were no longer being awarded. They were made of iron (magnetic) and tombak (non-magnetic). I would be leery of any made from zinc.

D) For the most part, I wouldn't try reading too much into the color of the backing cloth. However, having said that, I will say that I have seen some Luftwaffe medal bars backed in blue gray, some Heer bars backed in field gray, and some Kriegsmarine bars backed in navy blue. Definitely not a standard practice though. I think most assemblers used whatever color and material type that they had available at the time. Almost any color imaginable is possible. As you said, it seems that red was very popular. Some have suggested that assemblers may have used a color to match the Waffenfarbe of the wearer. In my opinion, this could have been possible in some instances, but I'm sure it wasn't any kind of standard practice either.

Hope this helps!

Best regards,
Tom

[Laurens Q-fin]

Thank you, Peter & Tom, for your assistance
Regarding the base material of these awards, I noticed silvered washed zinc in the article on the main website:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/serv...ice_awards.htm

For the few later awards out there, is it possible they exist in zinc and tombak?

Laurens