Sniper

[101combatvet]

A sniper patch on your sleeve would be like a bulls eye on your forehead.

In combat a good sniper is never seen.

[Gran Sasso]

Check this soldbook!
http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...08#post7713808

[Norm F]

Check this soldbook!
http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...08#post7713808

Very cool. Award date February 16, 1945. If only that Soldbuch could talk...

Best regards,
---Norm

[Tony Bologna]

Norm, Thank you for compiling those side by side pictures. Myself and I'm sure many others appreciate your visual and clearly laid out posts.

[German_Sniper]

It has Jim, but the "naysayers" say americans simply copied the badge... From where no one knows (if it was never made!) and with a completely non sense use (since it is an handbook for soldiers).
Even the official award ceremony where Himmler awarded the snipers is considered by them only as propaganda.

If you look at the video footage from this ceremony Himmler is holding a rectangular box similar, if not the same as the CCC box.

[Mogdala]

I personally don't think any sniper patch is original wartime made. Just too late in the war for any real production and distribution to have taken place. The Luftwaffe PAB and Luftwaffe CCC were also announced in November '44, and there is no evidence either of these ever made it into production, let alone distribution. We know of rare documents where the LWCCC was awarded on paper, however the typical Heer CCC was the one given out with that document.

Norm does a great job explaining the current status of where these Sniper patches stand, great synopsis Norm.

Tom

I think they were wartime made otherwise they could not be requested by the troops

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...6&postcount=21

[Norm F]

I think they were wartime made otherwise they could not be requested by the troops

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...6&postcount=21

Hi Christian,

Very interesting document indeed. Thanks for posting. Unfortunately still doesn't confirm the patch was available to be had, only that it was earned:

Das Abzeichen ist angefordert und wird nach Eingang zugewiesen."

"The badge is requested and will be assigned upon receipt."

So, as of Feb 18, 1945 it wasn't readily available in stock.

Best regards,
---Norm

[Gary B]

In combat a good sniper is never seen.

The bigger concern would be becoming a POW with that patch on your sleeve. No way to hide/deny you were a sniper.

Gary B

[Antonio Scapini]

So, as of Feb 18, 1945 it wasn't readily available in stock.

Best regards,
---Norm

If you do a request it means the badge is available, it is a Btl. doc, made for internal comunication with the Rgt. command, and it is absolutely normal that a Btl. didn't have any badge in stock.
No one Btl. can have awards in stock, most part of them required a Rgt. Commander approval.
This doc is absolutely stunning.

[Norm F]

If you do a request it means the badge is available...

That simply isn't true. There are many examples of Minesweeper award documents months prior to the availability of badge samples, and of course all documents surrounding the Marine Frontspange were never followed by the physical award because production never got off the ground before the end of the war.

Once again just to be clear, I'm not saying the Sniper patch was not made in wartime, only that we still lack proof that it was manufactured aside from the one suboptimal and heavily watermarked period photo. Furthermore, the "Type 2" patches discussed in this thread (which match neither the cardboard template nor the wartime drawings) lack adequate support for wartime manufacture at this time.

Best regards,
---Norm

[Norm F]

This photograph, previously posted by WAF member "Sniper1944", remains the only proof to date that sniper patches were manufactured before the end of the war, unfortunately with no accompanying story, provenance or details. As it is, heavily watermarked and dated (presumably incorrectly) before the patch was even announced, we are left unsatisfied, but perhaps with high resolution closeups and more of the background history it could provide the proof we need.

All other evidence is still circumstantial at best.

Best regards,
---Norm

[Norm F]

If you look at the video footage from this ceremony Himmler is holding a rectangular box similar, if not the same as the CCC box.

Anyone have a link to this video?

Best regards,
---Norm