Bronze Drivers Badge

Product Description: This Bronze Drivers Badge is an outstanding, near perfect example. Virtually all of the beautiful bronze finish is intact, with lovely golden tones. All of the original detail is intact. The stamped metal badge remains affixed to its original backing fabric. The fabric is a typical wartime wool, fairly coarse, in the field gray color used by the Heer and Waffen-SS. There are no stitch holes, and no indication this badge was ever issued or worn. The reverse of this Bronze Drivers Badge retains all of the original tan paper backing. This pristine award was a direct purchase from the daughter of the veteran who brought it back. The veteran’s name was Technical Sergeant Leonard Schlicht, and he served in the Italian Campaign under the 88th Cavalry Reconnaissance of the 88th Infantry Division of the 5th Army. T.Sgt Schlicht’s daughter said her father would not speak very often of the war, and given the role of an armored recon unit, it’s safe to presume that T.Sgt Leonard Schlicht saw quite a bit of combat during his time in Italy. This badge would be hard to upgrade. The condition is near mint.

Historical Description: The Drivers Proficiency Badge (Kraftfahrbewährungsabzeichen) was instituted by Adolf Hitler on October 23, 1942, to recognize the achievements of Wehrmacht drivers on all fronts. It was originally proposed as an SS award, but was instituted across all Wehrmacht branches. There were three grades of this award: bronze, silver, and gold. The qualification period for the badge was retroactive to December 1, 1940. The award criteria were extremely specific, and were based on the number of days a driver was operational within defined geographic areas. The number of days required to earn the badge was different depending on whether the driver used a motorcycle, or was a supply driver, or attached to a staff or headquarters. Once the award was bestowed, a driver had to maintain a safe record. Getting in an accident erased the previous qualifying days, and no new award could be bestowed for 6 months. All awards were made of stamped metal, by various manufacturers, with the grade of the award distinguished by the finish.

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