L/W Ground Assault: one piece or two?

[Tom Yanacek]

Hello collectors,

I just got this L/W Ground Assault Badge today. It is a zinc badge by an unknown maker, that usually has a silvered, buntmetall eagle coverplate attached by a single rivet. On this example, there is no eagle coverplate, but the rivet is in place and it will not push out from either the top or bottom. To me, it looks as if this badge never had a coverplate attached, and the rivet was just inserted to close up the hole in the badge, then peened over on the top and bottom. I'm thinking that later in the war, this manufacturer may have dispensed with attaching the separate eagle plate to save time, material, and cost. Don't know if this is true though. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Please respond with any comments you may have.
Thank you & best regards! Tom

[Tom Yanacek]

badge reverse:

[Tom Yanacek]

one more picture.

[Thomas Durante]

Hi Tom,

Nice late war Luft GAB. I would agree with your thoughts on this badge as never having the cover eagle installed. The wear pattern on the eagle is uniform with the rest of the badge. Also, this is a late war badge, judging from from the quality of the zink and the quality of the silver wash finish, and therefore I would agree with your "time saving and material saving" idea. You can find this on the later war CCCs, where the area for the backing plate was not cut out, presumably as a cost and time saving measure. These CCCs are usually found with a very cheap finish when compared to other CCCs.

Tom D.

[Tom Yanacek]

Hello Tom,
Thanks for your comments on this badge. As you said, definitely late war. If this badge was originally made as a one-piece badge, then they must have had a stockpile of badges laying around with the rivet holes pre-drilled otherwise why drill a hole in a badge that doesn't need it. Since the hole was already there, I assume that the manufacturer felt the need to close up the hole because even at this stage of the war, they probably wanted to maintain some quality at least and not issue out badges with a hole though the eagle. Just a few more thoughts I had on this.
BTW: Do you own one of those CCCs that you mentioned? The kind where the area for the backing plate is not cut out. If you have one, could you post a couple of pictures?
Thanks and best regards! Tom

[Thomas Durante]

Hi Tom,

I do not own a CCC without the center cut out. You can find a picture of one in Dorr's book, page 601. Also, I believe Frank H. either has one, or has a picture of one, seems like he has posted it before.

Tom D.