What are these?

[johnhealon]

what can u tell me about these? i got them from someone in my family.

[mcf1]

Are they original?

[johnhealon]

yea they were given to my family by an american soldier after WWII. i also have an iron cross second class from my great great grandfather, nazi armband, and an afrika corps hat patch. oh and a german book from the war called Unsere Kriegsmarine, bunch of pictures and other things in it.

[Phobus]

Hi,
The cross with the red white and black ribbon is the ‘Kriegsverdienstkreuz 2 klasse mit Schwerten’. ‘The War Merit Cross 2nd class with swords’. Instituted in October 1939 as a reward for military merit, contrary to the Iron Cross which was purely an award for bravery. There were gold and silver variations with or without swords. (G. Rosignoli, Ribbons of Orders, Decorations and Medals, Blandford 1976). If it is an original then it may have some value as it is less well known than the iron cross. Have it valued. Don’t dispose of it ‘till you do!

The epaulette with the three ‘pips’ is the rank insignia of a Captain in the British army.

The two badges with the green bars; I’m going to suggest that they might (!) be the rank insignia ‘as used on new forms of camouflage and special combat clothing that did not display the wearers rank by means of shoulder straps. These …were introduced by an order dated 22 August 1941 which covered [all] Army ranks ..worn on the upper left arm. “(B.L.Davis, Badges & insignia of the Third Reich 1933-1945, (1992), Blandford press)”.

As I said Might be! The SS ones looked similar to these but had a ‘black’ ground the single bar denoting an SS-Unterscharfuhrer and the double a SS-Scharfuhrer. It is possible that yours were standard army badges with a ‘brown’ ground instead of green which would be difficult to see. They would therefore indicate an Unteroffizer and Unterfeldwebel respectively.

The single ‘pip/star’ is similar to the ‘pips’ used by the Germans on their uniforms indicating rank.

I can’t offer any clues about the remaining badge but at a guess I’d say it is an infantry proficiency badge of some sort.

[Kaleun Cook]

Maybe this helps: The one with the helmet and the crossed guns says "wehrfähig", meaning something like 'able to serve in the army', so it might be some general badge for drafted ppl, although it seems a bit senseless to me to produce badges for all of those. GL making them to money.

[johnhealon]

i also have these, and so the british rank epaulette is it supposed to have things that look like iron crosses on it?

[Phobus]

Hi,

Looking at your two last pics, The ribbon with the cross first. The cross does not have the swastika in the centre and the ribbon seems to be white with a broad black band in the center and a narrow black band at the edges. If this is correct then I think that this might be an Iron Cross from the first World War. Black and White being the Prussian national colours. I have to say the metal looks very bright.

The second picture is easier. It is the 'Krimschild' ('The Crimea Shield'), a Battle Badge. The word 'KRIM' is in the center. Instituterd in July 1942 and awarded to all members of the armed forces for service in the Crimea between 21 September 1941 and 4 July 1942, who had been in at least one major engagement or served in the area for 3 months. It was worn on the upper left arm on uniforms and greatcoats.

Other 'shields' were; the Kuban, the Demjansk and the Kuban shields.

The red star looks to have a hammer and sickle in the center. It's Russian but I can't say more than that.

[johnhealon]

Originally Posted by Phobus

Looking at your two last pics, The ribbon with the cross first. The cross does not have the swastika in the centre and the ribbon seems to be white with a broad black band in the center and a narrow black band at the edges. If this is correct then I think that this might be an Iron Cross from the first World War. Black and White being the Prussian national colours. I have to say the metal looks very bright.

that was my great great grandfather iron cross second class, he got it on the eastern front during world war 1. the color on the medal has come off due to the area it was stored in.

[Laufen zum Ziel]

That is one heck of a collection.

Thanks to you for sharing & thanks to forum membrs
for explaination.

[richardphat]

DArn for a nub he got something!

[Murr44]

Originally Posted by johnhealon

that was my great great grandfather iron cross second class, he got it on the eastern front during world war 1. the color on the medal has come off due to the area it was stored in.

If you have any more WW II German badges/medals in your collection you may want to visit http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/ for more information on them.