Hello all, I came across this medal in my junk box. I have always discarded it as a bad repro of the SA sports badge. Then I saw another one here for sale recently just like it and it was referred to as the SA sports badge for war wounded. I pm'd the seller asking about it and he gave me a little info on it. I set about researching it further and sure enough, like all of you already know, that's the case and they are worth a lot more apparently. However, after looking at known originals this one troubles me. The pin and attachment and the clasp are not like the ones I have seen. I figured I would stop going round and round in my own head and post it up for debate. I'm sure you guys will be able to tell em the truth of this badge. I hope it's right, but I am fully prepared for it not to be. Thanks for any and all opinions and ideas.
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Looks like its cast and the hardware is not correct. TPKComment
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An example4 of the m1/00 Badge made by Werner Redo......
................RonRComment
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oooRonRComment
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Thank you Ron, nice example. TPKComment
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Thanks guys, I had very little hope for it but I don't know enough about them to make a call myself. Thanks for your time and help.
EricComment
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No problem Eric thats what is good about the forum. Without getting into details the photo comparison is the give aways. TPKComment
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Sorry to respond so late, Eric, but I'm not so sure your badge is a post-war fake. While the SA Military Defense Badge for War Wounded shown by RonR in typical of many of the examples seen today, I'm not convinced that your piece belongs on the rubbish heap. To my knowledge, the firm of Werner Redo of Saarlautern was the only manufacturer of this late-war (1943) badge -- a badge which was stamped out of zinc in one grade only, Bronze. The finish on these pieces was very poor -- probably, at least in part, because it failed to adhere to the zinc base metal -- and almost NO examples survive today intact, with a complete original finish. The pin attachment on your example is different from many surviving examples that I know of, but it is also a typical example of the pin assembly provided by the Redo firm on it's regular SA Military Defense Badges, produced concurrently with the War Wounded variety.
I have two examples of this badge in my collection -- one with the broad pin assembly in brass as in RonR's photo, and the other with a slender wire pin mounting like yours. IMO it is possible that the example with the broad brass pin assembly may be an early production example of the SA Military Defense Badge for War Wounded, while the example with the thin wire pin may be a late production example, produced when the availability of brass was being completely directed toward shell casing manufacture in the war effort.
A rare and unique badge, without doubt, created to honor those who had suffered during their time in service and yet continued to display solidarity with their comrades in arms.
Br. JamesComment
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An unmarked example.....
.........RonRComment
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Thanks for the info Br. James, I noticed that the pin looked like originals on other (different) badges but as I said before, I don't know enough about these to make a decision on authenticity. I would love to hear other opinions on this theory. I have a very small collection of SA sports badges but my passion is parteiabzeichen as you know from previous conversations of ours. I will keep this badge on the good pile for now and see what the consensus is going forward. Thanks again to all posters for their time and opinions.Originally posted by Br. James View PostComment
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I spent a lot of time last night doing side by side comparisons of my badge and the one posted by RonR and I can find no differences other than the pin assembly and catch system. They are otherwise identical. The rzm marks are the same with the upper part of the left part of the R dissecting the inner circle. The m1/100 is also positioned the same and of the same font and size the best I can tell. I then looked up regular SA sports badges by Werner Redo and sure enough, as you said, they use the same style pin assembly on a lot of these regular badges.
I think your theory holds water and not just because I want my badge to be correct. I clearly stated in the beginning that I had little hope of it being so. But after reading Jo Rivett's book about party badges and learning about the sub contractor theory etc and considering the fact that this was made towards the end of the war when things like brass were worth their weight in gold, it makes sense that Redo could have received an order for these badges and either ran out of brass attachments or didn't have them to start with and pressed on with the order anyway. We see this with the partieabzeichen where one maker's accepted normal parts are found on another maker's marked badges. I don't think this was just with party badges, especially during the latter years of the war. The considering the fact that this was a normal Werner Redo part, used on other known badges at the time, it's not a huge stretch to think that they could have finished off an order with the parts they had. Besides, at that time, waiting for another shipment of brass parts may well have been a fool's errand.
I would love to hear some other's theory's and opinions on this but for now, I believe it could be the real thing. Under a microscope it shows a good bit of micro patina on the pin and attachment as well as the outer edges where it would have made contact with clothing during wear. Artificially aging a badge is easy as cake, but this sort of micro patina is not easy (some would say impossible) to fake. Thanks to everyone for their posts and thank you Br James for your help on this one. I will continue researching it.Comment
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"I spent a lot of time last night doing side by side comparisons of my badge and the one posted by RonR and I can find no differences other than the pin assembly and catch system."
Hi Eric,
Images are always tricky and my spontaneous impression is that it's a cast piece. In regards of differences to Ron's badge, the cutting is different and it appears to be missing the very characteristic "pebble"-pattern in the swastikas. Just my two cents.
cheers
PeterComment
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Thanks for your post Peter, You're right about photos being tricky. The pebbling is there in the swas but it is admittedly weaker as are most of the details as the piece is pretty worn out front and back. I am curious about your opinion that it's cast. I've had it under 50x magnification and I don't see any cast marks on it in the normal places one would expect to see them. That's really the only way I know to identify a cast piece.Originally posted by Peter J. View Post
I really appreciate you taking the time to consider and comment on the piece, always more to learn.
EricComment
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