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U.S. Tank Destroyer/German WW2 Insignia and Medal Bringbacks


Polygon
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Hey guys,

 

I picked up this lot today. I was told that a U.S. soldier with a tank destroyer unit killed a German Lieutenant and took these bits off of him. The rank seems to be a NCO and not an officer one however. I bought the lot for the items, not so much the story

 

I'm not an expert in WW2 German insignia, but from what I've read, I have: a pair of NCO shoulder boards with regimental insignia that are early war (scrapbooked due to the glue?), ribbon bar set that denotes an Iron Cross award from WW1 and a War Cross of Honor with a crossed sword device, West Wall medal, and a WW1 Iron Cross style medal. Could anyone tell me about the Iron Cross medal in particular? The material and appearance is different from a lot of the medals that are typically seen.

post-187-0-91108800-1529258502_thumb.jpg

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The iron cross is too crude to be an award, likely something decorative...Hard to say for sure what however....Bodes

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Greetings..... This appears to be one of those World War I spoof medals that were issued by the allies to mock the Germans/their Iron Cross medal. Is the IX made of cast iron? - Perhaps yes, as most were. Some had wording added to them. They turn up from time to time on various militaria web pages/on eBay. Cheers. Kenj

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Greetings..... This appears to be one of those World War I spoof medals that were issued by the allies to mock the Germans/their Iron Cross medal. Is the IX made of cast iron? - Perhaps yes, as most were. Some had wording added to them. They turn up from time to time on various militaria web pages/on eBay. Cheers. Kenj

 

It's not made out of iron. It feels like it's made out of plastic or some kind of synthetic material, but a bit heavier. Weird item overall.

 

Edit: Here's the backside of the cross if it helps at all

post-187-0-42090600-1529265553_thumb.jpg

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Perhaps a more modern knock off of what Kenj is talking about....The veteran maybe picked it after the war because he liked the way it looked, Bodes

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  • 4 weeks later...
MECHINF-A15

Polygon,

The story you were told is well, lets say is all BS! The Oberfeldwebel pre-war "Feldbluse" straps with #13 were from units that fought entirely on the Eastern Front.

They all surrendered to the Russians. Unfortunately "Feldbluse" straps did not have branch color piping so we can't tell if the original owner was with Inf.-Rgt. 13, Pionier-Btl. 13, Artillerie-Rgt. 13 and so on. All these units had their home station in Magdeburg, Germany which (what was left of it) occupied by units of the U.S. 9th Army in April, 1945 and turned over to the Russians on July 1, 1945. Another option is Gebirgsjäger-Rgt. 13, 4. Gebirgsjäger-Division whose home base was Heuberg, Baden-Wüttemberg.

Another unit that fought entirely on the Eastern Front. I speculate that your TD GI took these shoulder straps off an old, pre-war tunic from a German NCO killed in Russia hanging in a closet in one of these two locations. The 66th "Panther" Division path was probably his post-war occupation duty unit.

Pure guess work on my part but from the German Army collecting standpoint, original # 13 straps are hard to come by.

All the best and congrats on your find.

Mike

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Polygon,

The story you were told is well, lets say is all BS! The Oberfeldwebel pre-war "Feldbluse" straps with #13 were from units that fought entirely on the Eastern Front.

They all surrendered to the Russians. Unfortunately "Feldbluse" straps did not have branch color piping so we can't tell if the original owner was with Inf.-Rgt. 13, Pionier-Btl. 13, Artillerie-Rgt. 13 and so on. All these units had their home station in Magdeburg, Germany which (what was left of it) occupied by units of the U.S. 9th Army in April, 1945 and turned over to the Russians on July 1, 1945. Another option is Gebirgsjäger-Rgt. 13, 4. Gebirgsjäger-Division whose home base was Heuberg, Baden-Wüttemberg.

Another unit that fought entirely on the Eastern Front. I speculate that your TD GI took these shoulder straps off an old, pre-war tunic from a German NCO killed in Russia hanging in a closet in one of these two locations. The 66th "Panther" Division path was probably his post-war occupation duty unit.

Pure guess work on my part but from the German Army collecting standpoint, original # 13 straps are hard to come by.

All the best and congrats on your find.

Mike

 

Thanks for the detective work and additional information on the straps.

 

 

These kinds of "knock off" iron crosses were popular counter culture/surfer wear in the 1960s.

 

Yeah, it does look like a biker/surfer/counter-culture item.

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Mr. Jerry is right, I had a few of those "Iron Crosses" back in the late 1960s, my Uncle bought them at a surf shop in Carlsbad California.

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