Strange U-Boat stickpin-What's this for?

[Brig]

Picked this up at a local show today, what is it for? is it a veteran piece? is it even real?

[Brig]

reverse

[Gary B]

Dear Brig,

If I remember correctly this pin is for U-boat workers.

Its in the reference books (Angolias)

Gary B

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Brig, Gordon features one of these in this thread:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...ad.php?t=56039

See the first pic, bottom left.

Cheers, Ade.

[Gordon Williamson]

Hi Brig, Gordon features one of these in this thread:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...ad.php?t=56039

See the first pic, bottom left.

Cheers, Ade.

Its the Werftleistungsabzeichen, a proficiency badge for workers in the U-Boat construction industry. Only one grade but made in different metals, bronze and white metal usually.

[Brig]

thanks guys. any opinions on authenticity?

[Brig]

any of you guys have ones to compare it to? I got it from a dealer who has some good stuff, some bad, so I'd like to make sure. it was cheap enough either way

[Terrence]

As I understand the history behind this pin, it "may" be a u-boat pen dock workers pin. I have spent a good amout of time looking for the history of this pin and found some information that it was awarded to pen workers at the base in Lorient. However, I recently found this wall mural which was part of the pens at St Nazaire. Look familiar??

Regards,
T

[Terrence]

My pin

[Brig]

that's a nice mural

[Terrence]

unfortunately, the French were rather short sited on this one and destroyed all the murals a few years back.

[Brig]

those dammed French. Do they want to repeat history a THIRD TIME or something?

[rhudspith]

U-boat Dock Workers

The U-boat workers pin was awarded to civilian personnel for performance and achievement in shipyards in the west such as Lorient and St Nazaire. Little information is known about this award, but it was covered in the wartime German press. It was instituted circa 1943/44 and issued to those in the U-Boat industry who had made a particularly significant contribution to the construction programme. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o></o>It exists in two forms, bronze and in a light white metal alloy. These differences did not indicate a grading system, but were simply due to the availability of different metals for their manufacture

Not sure about yours would expect the detail to be better (perhaps its just the photo) also to be made of bronze not zinc base which it looks like from where the pin was.

Regards
Rob.

[Brig]

I'll try to post better photos. The pin has the proper twist to look for in it

[Terrence]

That is what mine would look like if my photo was better.

Also, Hogel's U-boat emblems of WWII, pg 32, lists the pin as worn by the men of the shipyard at La Pallice. I suspect that as a pin, most likely worn by mostly French civilians, that may be the reason so little is known about it. Given the crosshatching on the eagle breast, I wonder if it was made by the same manufacturer as the one who made the French made KM badges????