I have been thinking. Why did they never come up with a set of numbered IABs? They have numbered PABs and GABs, but no IABs. Does anyone know if there was ever a plan for such an award set? One would think that this would have been a logical award set to make. I am actually suprised that such badges were never created. Any input on this?
-
-
Heer Close Combat Clasps serve the same purpose as numbered PABs & GABs.
Regards
Mike KRegards
Mike
Evaluate the item, not the story and not the seller's reputation!
If you PM/contact me without the courtesy of using your first name, please don't be offended if I politely ignore you! -
Mike,Originally posted by Mike K
Are you sure? I don't think the criteria is exactly the same. As far as I know, the CCC is not specific to only infantry troops.Comment
-
I dont think thats the case, as the soldiers themselves held the CCC in a much higher regard than any other awards, and in some cases, even the Iron Cross.Originally posted by Mike K
The distinction was that the CCC was awarded for extreme close combat, an was available to all front line soldiers in those positions. A Waffen SS vet described the award to me as "so close to see the white of their eyes" type of combat. As far as I know, you wouldnt get a CCC for lobbing mortar rounds from behind a treeline, but such criteria could have you gotten you the IAB, provided of course if you were in the infantry.
Accidentally offending people on the internet since 1997
Comment
-
Mark,
Your right on point. The CCC is not the IAB equivalent of numbered badges. So, then why did they not create numbered badges for the IAB?Comment
-
Hi,
Guys, you did not read what I wrote - I did not state that the CCC is the numbered equivalent of the IAB, nor did I state that the award criteria are exactly the same. The award criteria ARE similar, although different branches of the Heer eligible for the base award. Instead of designing an IAB with a numbered box, a bronze, silver, gold system incorporating a different design was instituted.
I'd suggest re-reading the award criteria for CCCs, numbered PABs and numbered GABs. The CCC may have been held in high regard (which is not strictly relevant to the award criteria) but, like the numbered PAB/GAB, there was also a graded scale for months of service = combat days - it was not awarded solely "for extreme close combat". Even though CCCs and numbered assault badges were instituted at different times, all awards were also made retroactive to June'41.
The CCC was aimed MAINLY at the infantry, hence for infantry it served the same purpose as numbered assault badges, but it could also be awarded to other branches. Award criteria for GABs and PABs excluded Infantrymen but the converse wasn't true, provided hand-to-hand combat and no armour support was involved in the action.
Regards
Mike KRegards
Mike
Evaluate the item, not the story and not the seller's reputation!
If you PM/contact me without the courtesy of using your first name, please don't be offended if I politely ignore you!Comment
-
CCCs
Greetings,
One has to remember that during WWII the German Army consisted of both 'light' (Jager, Gebirgsjager, Traditional dismounted) and 'mechanized' (Schutzen, Motorized, Panzer Grenadier) infantry. The Germans were masters at transformation and most infantry units which started the war as light may have transitioned to motorized then mechanized and some even went a step a further and ended-up as panzer or panzer jager in '45. Hence all the confusion regarding which badge (IN Asslt, BZ In Asslt, GAB, BPAB, etc...).
Your comment regarding the German infantry not having numbered badges is not accurate. The bronze Tank Battle badge was designed for recognizing Armored Infantry (Panzer Grenadier).
The CCCs were designed to recognize light infantry for performing attacks without the support of tanks and not necessarily 'hand to hand combat'. In a way, this could be catergorized as a 'numbered' badge since the criteria closely mirrored the numbering system in the other badges.
You frequently see panzer personnal wearing CCCs (Joachem Peiper being one) because their careers started out in the infantry and subsequently changed as there units transformed to tank and mechanized inafntry.
MIKEComment
-
Dear Michael,
You have such pretty gems in your collection, that it is a shame you never show the reverses!Cheers, Frank
Comment
-
Right on Mike KComment
Comment