Bronze Panzer Badge – GWL

Product Description: This Bronze Panzer Badge is a textbook GWL product, a tough to find and desirable variant. It’s made of stamped zinc, and retains 90 percent of the original bronze finish. There is some light wear that exposes the gray color of the base metal on high points in a few places on the front. The original finish on the obverse has a light patina. It’s a nicely made piece, with lots of detail tom the design. The reverse of this Bronze Panzer Badge is unmarked, but this piece is unmistakably a product of GWL (Gebrüder Wegerhoff, Lüdenscheid). The hinge and catch are still held in place with the original solder, with no repairs. The round wire pin remains functional, and the reverse is nice and clean. This is a high quality badge, that has a lot of eye appeal. It rates a very strong excellent condition.

Historical Description: The Panzer Assault Badge was instituted on December 20^th, 1939.    It was awarded in the silver grade to Panzer crewman who met the combat requirements. On June 1^st, 1940, following the start of the blitzkrieg against France, the bronze grade was introduced to award armoured reconnaissance, motorcycle riflemen, and panzer-grenadier units.  The requirements for both versions were the same, the soldier must have participated in three combat assaults on three separate days to be eligible.       

 The design of the Standard Panzer Assault Badge consists of an oakleaf wreath surrounding a Panzer (Tank) with the German National Eagle positioned at the top clutching a swastika.  The Standard Panzer Assault Badges can still be a common occurrence at local gun and military shows even now.  The German Army had tens of thousands of Panzer crewmen who became eligible for the award as the war progressed.  Because of the large number of soldiers who had fulfilled the requirements to wear the award, a high demand for producing of the Panzer Assault Badge was needed.  In response to this, approximately 35 manufacturers were authorized to produce the award between 1939 and 1945.  Many of these manufacturers created their own version of the badge by artistically designing their own version of the eagles, wreath’s, and tanks on the badge.  The design of one Panzer badge may not be identical to the next one encountered.  This makes the collecting of the different manufacturers and their variants its own niche in the hobby. 

We are the leading team of military antique specialists. We have specialized in military antiques for over 25 years.

Epic Artifacts offers free evaluations and the highest prices available for your collectibles.

We purchase single items, entire collections, or family estates.

Click the link here to learn more: Free Evaluation or Inquiries 

or feel free to email us directly: info@epicartifacts.com