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Condition: Excellent
Maker: Wurster
Base Material: Zinc
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Product Description: This Panzer Assault Badge in Bronze is a beautiful, all-original example of this scarce and desirable variant. This untouched badge is from the estate of John J. Lawson, a veteran who served in the US 80th Infantry Division during World War 2, and it has never been in a collection before. It’s made of fine zinc, and still retains nearly all of the lovely original bronze finish, which is unusual for a zinc badge. The obverse shows only very slight fading, with nice original color and shine. There is some slight surface patina in areas. All of the original detail is intact. The reverse of this Panzer Assault Badge in Bronze is flat, with some age toning to the finish. It is maker marked with a small “w” in the upper left corner, which indicates production by the company of Karl Wurster in Markneukirchen. There are no repairs, and the round wire attachment pin is functional. The hardware setup is correct for this maker. This badge is a wonderful veteran souvenir piece, that remains in excellent condition.
Historical Description: The Panzer Assault Badge was instituted on December 20th, 1939. It was awarded in the silver grade to Panzer crewman who met the combat requirements. On June 1st, 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.
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