Heer Heer FJ Badge

[Flak88]

This is the very first model, aluminum, with the early claw. Doesn't get much rarer:

Edited October 29, 2005 by Flak88

[J Temple-West]

Thanks for reposting this thread, Marc. Silly me for hitting the wrong button..

[PKeating]

Very nice! It's actually the transitional type and even rarer than the normal Type 1 "extended talon" badge. It has period repairs, which is fine. The flaw in the area of the diving eagle's talons was caused by a cack-handed attempt to revise the die because of the fragility of the talons. There is another one of these transitional types with the "beard" under the Wehrmacht eagle's beak, as the die-flashing left in place on the Type 2 badges is sometimes called by collectors. This example has the flashing filed away, which was another finishing operation that often ended in breakage of the eagle's head.

I know Nick & Co shan't mind if I direct you to a short article I wrote on the Army Parachutists' Badges, which can be seen at http://www.militariacollecting.com/index.php?showtopic=21567. It should explain in more detail what you have there and why it is really rather special!

Here's one of mine, engraved to Obergefreiter Sell, who was amongst the first 170 or so members of the Fallshirm-Infanterie-Kompanie to receive the new Heer badge in September 1937. He had this badge engraved by C E Juncker in the style of the private purchase 800 silver badges after June 1938, when the FIK had become the Fallschirm-Infanterie-Bataillon. Sell was with 2./Fallschirm-Infanterie-Btl. The fragile aluminium hook broke, probably when the Wehrmacht eagle's head received that slight dink, presumably when it was dropped, and the badge was clearly not worn again after that, otherwise it would have been repaired like so many of the originals worn by former FIK/FIB men throughout WW2.

Here's Rudolf Witzig wearing his Type 1 badge in 1943, sometime after the distribution of Kreta cuff titles. But thanks for sharing your rare variant. It's a really nice badge. It is surprising that C E Juncker let these out of the door but I know of just three transitional aluminium and one silver FSA (Heer) (Ludwig Eger's badge). Juncker then produced entirely new diving eagle dies but continued to use the same dies for the wreaths.

PK

Edited October 29, 2005 by PKeating

[dond]

Nice badges. I only have a zinker.... Maybe one day...

Don

[PKeating]

Don,

The zinc FSA des Heeres is as rare as the prewar Type 2 in aluminium. There were not enough made for all of the para-trained members of: 15. (Fallschirm) Kompanie of the Brandenburg Division; Fallschirm-Btl "Brandenburg" and SS-Fallschirmj?ger-Btl 500. Very few of the SS-Fallschirmj?ger received the Heer badge. Most received the LW version. The majority went to the OKH, which reinstituted the Heer badge on 1.6.1943.

The RFSS obtained their parachute-related kit and equipment from the Luftwaffe, which ran parachute training for the Wehrmacht as a whole. Parachutists' licences also came from OKL. So did the LW pattern Parachutists' Badges in metal and cloth, along with the relevant award certificates.

LW Parachutist's Licence issued to FSA des Heeres holder Walter Scheu through RFSS

The SS-Fallschirmj?ger who received the Heer badges did not receive their A4 FSA des Heeres certifcates until November and December 1944, if they got them at all. The unit had to indent for the documents through SSFHA, which then processed them and sent them back - eventually - to the SS Para Bn for distribution...to those few who were still alive to receive them.

The first two or three SS courses through Fallschirmschule III in Serbia got FSA des Heeres but the small stock obtained by the battalion's training wing was quickly used up. Most if not all of the Brandenburg Para Bn's men got the FSA des Heeres. In short, the majority of the production by C E Juncker was delivered to OKH, which had priority, while the SS Para Bn, formed three months beforehand, only managed to acquire a few. In conclusion, there cannot have been more than three or four production runs of five-hundred units each to equip a company, a battalion and a few members of another battalion. So rest assured that you have something pretty special there!

PK

Edited October 29, 2005 by PKeating

[dond]

Thanks for the info Prosper. I do like my zinker but I think the aluminium ones look better.

Don

[Bryan Poon]

Beautiful!!!!! I want to get one but I think I can only have one in my dream.....too rarest!!!

[Paul R]

Nice badges. I only have a zinker.... Maybe one day...

Don

Even one of those would be seen only in my dreams!!

The aluminum badges really seem to hold their gilt!

[PKeating]

The wreaths of the aluminium badges aren't gilded, as such. They are anodised.

PK

[Paul R]

The wreaths of the aluminium badges aren't gilded, as such. They are anodised.

PK

Hi Prosper!

Thanks for the clarification. What is the difference in the two processes? (the gilding and anodization process)

[PKeating]

Hi Prosper!

Thanks for the clarification. What is the difference in the two processes? (the gilding and anodization process)

I suppose that if I want to be really pedantic, the correct definition of "gilding" is the application of a thin layer of gold leaf or some similar gold-like substance to an object whereas "gilt" is gold-plating, usually by electrolysis. Some German awards were fire-gilt, a process involving the use of cyanide and consequently very hazardous but imparting a luxurious gilt finish, hence the name. Anodising is, on the other hand, an electro-chemical process that creates a durable layer of oxidisation on the surface of the metal. During the process, colouring agents (dyes) can be added to the mix as the oxide layer forms. The result, as with the wreaths of these badges, is a layer of aluminium oxide of the chosen colour. This is why the gold finish has that matt appearance. It is non-metallic. Common applications today include those coloured aluminium nuts and bolts popular with custom car and motorbike builders. Aluminium can corrode quite quickly if left naked and to its own devices, particularly in polluted towns or anywhere near the sea and anodisation is considered preference to gilt or gilding because it seals the base metal whereas corrosion or patination of a base metal prone to such changes can spread under gilt or gilding and eventually disfigure the appearance or, in extreme cases, lift off the finish

Hope this helps.

PK

[Paul R]

Prosper,

Your explaination is perfect! Thank you! I have always wondered about the two processes!

Paul