Wehrmacht balloonobserver stickpin 57 issue

[Gunner II]

Here is the picture!

[Gunner II]

text

Hello guy's,
I know that the wehrmacht balloon observerbadge is much discussed, But now I found this balloon observer stickpin in 57 issue. I then made the conclusion that if this 57 issue is real, a pre 45 badge has also got to be issued. What do you think?

[W. C. Stump]

A VERY GOOD POINT

You made a very good observation with the 1957 issue badge. The Bundesrepublic of Germany had to have access to the Orders Chancellery archives to obtain the design of the Army Balloon Observer's Badge. We know that a design was approved some time after January, 1945 because known photographs of that design and at least one surviving design copy exists. The question is did any firm have time to go through the processes required for approval and production before the war ended. I have done a research project on this badge which I will make public later in the year. It will give all the known facts and let everyone decided if the badge was produced during the war or after the war.

[Rick Research]

The existence of a 1957 version does NOT mean that there was an actual "issue" WW2 badge--the Naval Frontspange is a case in point. Those were made by hand, often using a tunic button as the center, and the original war's end pieces look like crap. The West German version is much nicer, but is nothing like the crude self-made versions actually made (if not worn) in 1945.

I would agree that a 1957 mini would seem to presume some "need" for such badges, but the actual scarcity of such pieces may indicate that while samples of "authorized" badges might have been made, no one actually came along and BOUGHT any.

IF anyone was entitled to a BOB (like the naval Frontspange), they MAY have had an entry in their papers, but the very first actual badge they may have ever seen might still have been 15 years AFTER the war.

Here's a related question, because I am interested in learning:

What does a 1957 LAPPLAND SHIELD look like? Those originals were also horribly crude hand made and--to judge from the equally crude paperwork--mostly appear to have been "hobby" work awaiting repatriation from Norway in the summer of 1945.

Is the West German version as neat and professional looking as the naval Frontspange, or a replica of "hand-dented out of tuna cans?"

Ditto the Luftwaffe Sea Rescue Badge-- I've seen 1957 versions, and yet this badge's actual bestowal during the war was (wasn't it?) extremely dubious.

[François SAEZ]

and don't forget the LW CCC - existing in M 57