Wurster IAB and Doc- My First Grouping

[johnrtse]

I just bought these from a fellow board member and wanted to show you all my first German grouping; A Wurster KWM-marked Infantry Assault Badge and the document dated December 13, 1943.

Both show what appears to be fire damage, wear, and the badge is missing the clasp. But, I do like the "been there" look.

Pics to follow- Let me know what you think!

John

[johnrtse]

Rear

[johnrtse]

Maker mark

[johnrtse]

Document

[Chet Sowersby]

John,
This is very intresting! This is the first Wurster IAB I've seen that has their makers mark that is most commonly associated with their PAB logo. All the Wurster IAB's that I have seen have the small "w" to the left of the hinge. This is a rare Wurster IAB in my opinion. The pics aren't the best but your badge looks to match my "w" marked IAB's. Nice!

Chet

[Philippe DB]

Hi John,

Thanks for posting this IAB. Like Chet wrote very interesting because it's the missing link between the small "w" and Wurster. Based upon the PAB design we could be quite sure that we had it right but it's always better to have definitive proof.

What I would like to know is what the base material of your badge is. Weight would be very helpfull here. The set-up is different from it's small "w" marked brother that only seems to exist as a buntmetall variant. Based upon the wear and the set-up my best gues would be that your's a zinker. The weight of the buntmetall "w" IAB comes in at arround 38,5 gr.

Were are these badges hidding? The small "w" is a scares little bugger but the only variant I have ever seen. Never did I encounter an unmarked or KWM marked Wurster IAB.

KR
Philippe

[Frank Heukemes]

Remarkable, the first one we see of it´s kind!

IMO the definite proof that small W = KWM = Karl Wurster was there long ago, but still nice to see the IAB parallel.

[johnrtse]

Thanks for the repies! Before I posted my pics, I did a search and didn't find a thing on IAB's with this marker-mark. But I did find many PAB threads with the KWM-mark.

I don't have a scale to weigh the badge, but holding it for comparison to others I own, It is far lighter than my zinc solid Assmans, very slightly heavier than my un-marked solid JB&Co, and slightly lighter than my solid Shuco 41. I would agree that the badge is zinc.

Here are some more pics, both with flash and without- Hopefully these will help!

John

[johnrtse]

With flash, Back

[johnrtse]

No flash, front

[johnrtse]

No flash, back