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Condition: Excellent
Maker: JFS
Patter: 50
Base Material: Zinc
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Product Description: The 50 Engagement General Assault Badge is an extremely scarce award, that is missing from most collections. This is a desirable example, in excellent condition. It is textbook in every way, with multi-piece construction, made of a zinc alloy. Most of the silver wash on the wreath has faded with time, as is typical. The eagle and swastika emblem with crossed bayonet and grenade retain nearly all of the original darkening, with an impressive, bold look. The plate for 50 engagements is intact, with no issues. The reverse of this 50 Engagement General Assault Badge features the Gablonz style hardware that one expects to see with this maker. It’s marked on the back of the wreath with the stylized “JFS” maker mark of the firm of Josef Feix & Söhne, in Gablonz. The banjo pin, sheet metal catch and hinge retain original silver finish and are functional. The hinge and catch are held in place with the original crimps, with no repairs; the classic JFS aluminum rivets are nice and tight and are untouched. This rare badge has a great look.
Historical Description: The Numbered General Assault Badge was instituted on June 22, 1943. The instituting of the new grades of the General Assault Badge was in a direct response to the increasing number of soldiers which had continued to tally “combat days” after they had met the initial requirements of the standard version. The different grades created by the German High Command were “25”, “50”, “75”, & “100”. The requirements for the Numbered General Assault Badge were very similar to the standard version except the number of combat days required corresponded to the number of the award. For example, the General Assault Badge with a “25” box would have required the soldier to have 25 combat assaults on 25 different days. Many soldiers in the German Army did not live to see the required “combat days” for the higher grades, most specifically the “75” & “100” grades.
The numbered grades used the same design pattern as the standard version. However, these grades of the General Assault Badge have more enhanced features such as enlarged eagle, enhanced wreath, plus the addition of a number box at the bottom of the wreath to denote grade.
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