ok so didt he soldiers care about the maker marks??

[paddywhack]

here a question i was thinking about! firstly how where badges that were made by the various makers distributed(??) how did a batch of junkers go to one front while a unmarked batch from another maker went to another front?? and also in the end did the soldiers actuly care if there GAB was made by JFS or by RK???

[Greg]

Hi paddy,

I don't know the answer to the distribution issue, but I suspect that units did sometimes end up with a lot of the same badges by the same maker, just because they were shipped through the supply system that way.

As for what for the soldiers thought, I would be quite sure they neither knew nor cared. I couldn't tell you what marks are on the back of my military decorations without getting them out and looking, and I couldn't care less!

I take that back - there was a certain type of pin-on Cav sabers for the uniform that I preferred because they "looked better," but I would have no idea who the manufacturer was.

Best,
Greg

[Marc Garlasco]

I have a friend who was a U-Boat crewman on the U-706 and every single one that was awarded their badges together in the first ceremony got a GWL.
Marc

[Marc Garlasco]

And my Opa had no clue there were various makers. He was too busy...
Marc

[VonLuger]

and also in the end did the soldiers actuly care if there GAB was made by JFS or by RK???

On this one the answer is YES since a JFS GAB would be a fake the soldier would mind

[all1knew]

Hello,

I doubt they cared about the makers, though perhaps Generals and people who liked to look good in their uniform might have purchased privately just so they had nicer ones....but this is just a thought.

I would imagine that a German soldier would be so please just to get the award that they wouldn't care if somebody else's had a brighter finish, different markings on the back, ect.

Hope this helps some.

William Kramer

[Van]

For the most part I would agree with everything said above,,,, to a point...
As most of us have come to find out/realise and then to "LIKE",, one maker above the other may have a higher quality, appeal/reputation... sooo, Officers or soldiers who could afford "private purchase" may pick such a jeweler... buuuuttt,,,
The "common" group of soldiers in a unit that has distinguished themselves in an ingagement and had multiple awards to that unit, such as an Iron Cross 2nd or 1st Class along with say Gabs, Pabs Iabs and so on, an order (requisition) would be put in and hince you would get multiple awards from one jewler, now if that jewler did not make all the awards then those awards "I believe" would be "ordered out, ie. purchase by that jeweler from another jeweler" to fill the order.
This would make since especially if there were to be an award ceremony held, it would be rather confusing and hard put for time constraints to try and order say 3 or 4 maybe more different awards from multiple Jewelers and to have them all shipped in by a certain date...
This is Just a thought and from experience in Jeweler and other Company/Corporate business practices that I have been involved in... soo I would say some yes and some no on caring who made what..
just my thought and idea to help maybe shed a little light on the post.
Van

[Bruce Simcox]

To answer your question......

......I for one do not know. I would suspect(due to the laws of averages) that some soldiers did have a preference for a certain mm.

The importance of makers-marks are largely, in my opinion, a collectors phenomenon, that has grown larger in recent years. Makers-marks are however one of the single most valuable tools when it comes to research concerning TR badges. For some it is an obsession or passion and to others just ho-hum.

Makers-marks were a good indication, to some of us, that a TR badge was real. This was in the early 60's and it was then that the guy that told me that also made the claim that FAKES were being produced(hence a mm being a good indicator of originality). A new revelation to me at the time.

As far as soldiers really caring about mm's.....who really knows?

[Ludwig]

On this one the answer is YES since a JFS GAB would be a fake the soldier would mind

WHAT? Do you seriously mean that all GABs marked JFS are fake???

[Generaldirektor]

And my Opa had no clue there were various makers. He was too busy...
Marc

Well, if he didn't notice the maker marks, especially if he were busy, then I guess majority of the soldiers either didn't know or didn't care about the marks. I'm also hinting they'd rather care about the fact that they did receive an award for their hard efforts.

But I would be interested to know what other WWII German vets would say about this question on maker marks. I hope someone else here knows a German vet that they could ask. That could also shed some light too.

Jay