SA Sports Badge for War Wounded

[Stan]

This is a badge I bought from S Wolfe many years ago. It is in fairly good condition bearing in mind that most of these badges have lost their finishes.

One reason why it is in such good condition is because it has a surface lacquer.

My question is, were these lacquers factory applied or has this been done by a previous owner?

I have seen another one just like it for sale on estand in the past so maybe it is factory applied.

The RZM mark is M1/100.

Comments welcome.

Stan

[Br. James]

Hi Stan,

Thanks for sharing your example of the SA Military Defense Badge for War Wounded with us. The Bronze finish on your piece appears to be in better condition than most of these that I've seen, and that would seem to be at least in part due to the lacquer finish applied to it. I have two examples of this badge in my collection -- both made by Werner Redo of Saarlautern, RZM M1/100, just as yours is -- and neither of mine show any presence of this finish. Since this badge was issued so late in the war -- October of 1943 -- it seems unlikely to me that anyone at the Redo firm would have noticed that the factory-applied finish was not durable and decided to coat the badge with lacquer. It seems more likely that those who held examples of this badge years after WWII -- either those who were awarded this badge or our fellow collectors -- began to see the finish dissolving and took matters into their own hands in order to preserve what was left. Thanks again for showing this rare piece.

Br. James