Original German WWII Medal and Insignia Grouping with EKII and Crimea Shield – 6 Items Original Items

Original Items: Only One Set Available. This is a very nice collection of German WWII Insignia & Awards, which was brought back from the European theater by a USGI after the war was concluded. It includes some lovely Heer Insignia, including two Heer Eagles, a Heer Eagle / Cockade combo, and a metal Tri-color cockade There are also two awards: An Iron Cross 2nd Class 1939, and a Crimea Shield.

This lovely set includes:

– One German WWII Iron Cross 2nd Class 1939 (Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse 1939) with Ribbon. This fine example is in very good condition, with an excellent condition rayon tri-color ribbon. There is a bit of oxidation on the silver components, giving it a lovely patina.

– One German WWII Crimea Shield Decoration – Krimschild. This example is made from bronzed steel, and still retains about 80% on the front, with the rest now oxidized steel. The rear shows some more oxidation, and all four attachment clips are missing.

– One German WWII Bullion Embroidered Heer Breast Eagle. In excellent condition, fully hand embroidered. Features silver bullion thread retained by silver thread. This has forest green fabric backing, which could be a uniform cutout. It still has the paper backing on the rear, which helped keep the bullion in place.

– One German WWII Bevo Embroidered Heer Eagle Cap Ingsignia. In very good condition, it features a white eagle embroidered on a forest green background. It does not appear to have been sewn to a uniform, as there are no stitch holes, and the backing is still rectangular.

– One German WWII Bevo Embroidered Heer Eagle & Cockade Trapezoid Insignia. Offered in very good condition, this eagle is the green color with gray thread used on caps throughout the war.

– One German WWII Tri-Color Metal Cap Cockade, with a central red felt insert. These were usually seen on high grade officer visor caps.

A wonderful totally genuine grouping perfect for the WWII Insignia German collector.

There is no more iconic German military award than the Iron Cross. The long history of this order began during the Napoleonic Wars. King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia instituted the “Eisernes Kreuz” (Iron Cross) in March of 1813. The award criteria changed somewhat with time, but generally speaking, Iron Crosses could be awarded for individual acts of bravery, or for leadership achievements on the battlefield.

The final reinstitution of the cross came in 1939. For this version, the front of the core for both grades bore a swas and the date 1939. The oak leaves, crown and royal initials were removed from the reverse, with only the date 1813 remaining as a reminder of the legacy of this award. In WWII, hundreds of thousands of Iron Cross First Class awards were bestowed, and four and a half million Iron Cross Second Class awards. Iron Crosses were made by a large number of authorized manufacturers. Some variants of these awards were mass produced in huge numbers. Others were made in very limited quantities.

Please also note the edge seam for authentication, which is not present on reproductions. Iron crosses were commonly constructed from an iron core sandwiched in a surrounding two part silver frame, normally the seam of these two silver parts is visible around the edge of the cross as is seen on this fine example.

The Crimea Shield (Krimschild or KRIM Shield) was a World War II German military decoration awarded to military personnel under the command of Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein who fought against Soviet Red Army forces and captured the Crimea region (Krim in German) between 21 September 1941 and 4 July 1942. It was instituted on 25 July 1942. It was the most widely distributed of the various German shields with approximately 250,000 being awarded.