Luftwaffe Ground Assault Badge

Product Description: This Luftwaffe Ground Assault Badge would be great for display on a uniform. The surface on the obverse shows light wear, suggesting it was issued during the war. Most of the silver finish is missing, and much of the surface has reverted to the gray color of the zinc base metal, with wear to the high points that adds some visual contrast. The cloud and lightning bolt show good original darkening. The separately applied eagle shows crisp details and is correctly soldered in place. The reverse of this Luftwaffe Ground Assault Badge is flat and smooth, and shows bare zinc. The sheet metal hinge and round wire attachment pin are intact and retain original silver finish. The catch plate remains soldered in place but the wire hook is broken off. There is no maker mark. This badge has a great look and is a good example of an apparently field-worn badge. The condition rates as very good.

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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