FLL Luftwaffe Ground Assault Badge – Near Mint

Product Description: This FLL Luftwaffe Ground Assault Badge is a beautiful, near mint award. The FLL Luftwaffe Ground Assault Badge can be a tough badge to find in decent condition, but this one is almost perfect! The zinc base has retained virtually all of its original silver wash over the wreath, with the light factory applied lacquer still intact as well. The darkened cloud and bolt are also nearly perfect, and retain the same light factory applied lacquer. There is no sign of wear, with all of the original detail intact. The separately attached eagle is riveted to the badge’s base with a simple, but effective, flattened rivet. The reverse of this badge is flat and smooth. There is no maker mark, but this variant is undoubtedly a product of FLL (Friedrich Linden, Lüdenscheid). The hardware on the reverse is textbook for this maker, and features a soldered sheet metal hinge and catch, with no repairs. This FLL Luftwaffe Ground Assault Badge is a true time capsule, that still appears as it did when it was made. It would likely be impossible to upgrade.

Historical Description: In the early days of WWII, the German Air Force had few units intended to serve as infantry. As the war progressed, and especially after the disastrous first winter on the Eastern Front, more and more Luftwaffe personnel were being engaged in ground combat on the front lines. To recognize the combat experience of these soldiers, Luftwaffe chief Hermann Goering introduced the Luftwaffe Ground Assault Badge on March 31, 1942. The badge had been designed by Sigmund von Weech and featured a Luftwaffe eagle and swastika emblem atop a wreath, within which was a storm cloud striking the earth with a bolt of lightning. Those Luftwaffe soldiers who had previously been awarded German Army ground combat badges such as the Infantry Assault Badge, General Assault Badge or Panzer Assault Badge, were to exchange them for the new Luftwaffe badge. To earn this badge, Luftwaffe soldiers had to survive three ground combat actions on three separate days, be wounded in a ground combat action, or to have earned another decoration in such an action. Luftwaffe soldiers killed in ground combat were to receive the award posthumously. Personnel who could receive this award included paratroopers, members of the Luftwaffe Field Divisions, assault gun crews, and even Flak crews tasked with using their anti-aircraft guns against ground targets. On some of these badges, mostly early versions, the Luftwaffe eagle is a separate piece, riveted on. Later in the war, the eagle was most often integral to the badge.

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