Original German HJ Enamel Cap Badge and Shooting Pin Set Original Items

Original Items: Only One Set Available. HJ Cap Badge – AHjungend Mützenabzeichen marked RZM M1/128 by Eugen Schmidhäussler of Pforzheim. It is constructed out of a die stamped bronze base that has been silver washed and contains red, white and black enamel work. The rhomboid diamond shaped obverse depicts the HJ emblem, which consists of; a black mobile swas above a silvered square diamond which is surrounded by alternating white and red translucent pebbled quadrants and is all surrounded by a small silvered boarder. The full back reverse has a horizontally soldered on prong assembly and is maker marked RZM M1/128. The pin measures approximately 25mm tall by a 13mm wide. The enamel work has no cracking making this a great pin!

Enamel HJ Shooting Badge by Wilhelm Deumer, Lüdenscheid in excellent condition marked RZM M1/120. This award consisted of a 21 mm round, semi convexed badge that had a small, raised edge line with three similar lines at 1 mm intervals.  The whole of the badge was then in filled with opaque black enamel.  On to the centre of the badge was superimposed crossed rifles, the tip of the butts and barrels just overlapping the edge of the badge.  These measure 22 mm and over them, at the centre, is superimposed a small HJ membership diamond that measures 13.5 mm by 9 mm.

The reverse has a safety pin attached by a round plate and superimposed is the RZM logo M1/ and the manufacturer’s number.  Pre war issues are well made with good enamel work but wartime examples are often of a much lower standard of execution, with paint replacing the enamel and even plastic the metal. The reasons for this could be to do with War Time economies, but this is not confirmed.

Reichsjugendführer Balder von Schirach, to stimulate competitive shooting amongst members of the HJ, instituted the award in 1936. The competitor had be of the age of 16 years or older. The HJ used .22 calibre small-bore rifles. The target is a circle divided into 11 rings and a bull’s eye. Outer ring was worth 1 point. Bull’s eye was worth 12 points. Distance for the HJ member was 50m. Target was changed after 5 shots.   The test was firing five shots from a prone position with rifle supported on a sandbag, five from the prone position with the rifle unsupported and five from a kneeling position with unsupported rifle.  Prone position with weapon supported the member must achieve 25 points with no single shot being worth less than 4 points unless the target is hit 5 times. Prone position weapon unsupported the member must achieve 20 points with no single shot being worth less than 3 unless target is hit 5 times. The results were recorded in a special shooting book. Authorized recipients were permitted to wear the badge on the left breast pocket of their uniform.  It appears that there was some early confusion concerning the manner of wear, as some recipients wore the badge on the right breast pocket.  Accurate figures of numbers awarded are available up to the end of 1943 and the number recorded is 273545.  A Schiessbuch or Shooting Book was given to the competitor and this was used to record the qualifications of the HJ member. This was then used as proof of attainment and allowed the member to wear the badge.