The Infantry Assault Badge at Thirdreichmedals.com

Infantry Assault Badge by WH. Original Versus Copy. Another highly copied badge is the common Infantry Assault Badge by the maker "WH" So far there is a debate over who the makers "WH" actually is. For years it was believed that the mark belonged to the firm of Wallter & Henlein of Gablonz. However, recently an Original badge with this mark in a paper award packet turned up with the makers name and address of "W. Hoebacher Wein on the paper packet. The copy Infantry Assault Badge comes in both bronze and silver grades and is manufactured in a strange mixed metal alloy reminiscent of zinc and has a good quality hinge and hook soldered to the reverse. The overall quality is very impressive and few people realize that this badge is in fact a copy. 

SS Awards and Membership Badge Page Reference Page

We hope you enjoy the articles we are publishing on our site. We aim to bring you many more to help collectors in their hobby. As you are aware, it does take time, money and effort to produce these articles and some collectors have wanted to contribute to this work to ensure these articles continue to be available to all. With this in mind, we have included a “Donation Page” where voluntary contributions can be made. However, big or small, all are gratefully accepted and go towards keeping this venture going. For more information visit our online store: http://www.thirdreichmedals.com/

The 1939-45 British War, Defence and Campaign Stars

For most collectors, British world war two medals and stars are a frustration. These awards were issued un-named, so unless you can get some corroborating material, or the awards come with a named medal, it's very hard if not impossible to find what the recipient did to achieve these awards. Unlike German world war two medals and badges, given for individual campaigns or areas, the British stars and war and defence medals were a blanket affair so to speak. Let's take the 1939-45 stars as an example.

How to Buy War Medals Online from Dealers

What is a war medal? A war medal was given normally for a campaign or for an entire war. Normally one thinks of WWI medals being Pig, Squeak and Wilfred as they are affectionately known, as the first war medals to be issued en masse. This is not true, the first major war medal was actually the Waterloo medal, which was the first to be given to all participants in the great battle that ensued.

German Army Flak Badge

The Flak badge of the Army was instituted on 18/7/41 by the OKH to bring the Army in line with the other two services. Like both the Navy and Luftwaffe award, the Army Flak badge was awarded on a points system. However, unlike the Luftwaffe badge, the Army recipient could qualify for the award by destroying both ground and air targets. This point system (for the Army) worked on the basis of the soldier acquiring 16 points before he could qualify for the award of this badge.

Points were earned in the following manner:

·                     Destroying an enemy aircraft Four points

·                     For aiding the destruction of an enemy aircraft Two points.

·                     Sound crew (radar) for "First detection of an enemy aircraft". One point.

·                     Searchlight operators for "First detection of an enemy aircraft". One point.

If the individual was awarded the Iron Cross or War Merit Cross, he automatically qualified for the Army flak award. This was also the case for those Artillery and Flak soldiers killed in the line of duty. The award was made on an individual basis and the flak commander only became eligible after half of his men had received this award. The badge itself is made up of an oval oak leaf wreath with the central design consisting of an 88mm anti-aircraft gun, with the barrel pointing to the right coming through the wreath. This design is so far, identical to the Luftwaffe badge, but this is where the similarity ends, and as a Wehrmacht eagle with wings pointing down is placed at the top of the Army Badge, whereas the Luftwaffe type has the "Flying Luftwaffe Eagle holding a swastika" (Identical to their tunic eagle) attached by solder to the top of the wreath. The Army badge is of a one piece construction with the hinge and hook more often than not separately applied. The first badges produced were of a quality metal like tombac with a silver plate applied. This later gave way to fine zinc with a silver wash. Finally the badge was issued in grey zinc. It should be noted that although the metal quality declined, the detail to the badge was still very well defined.

We have so far noted the following original makers marks on the Army flak badge;-

·                     H.A.( Hermann Aurich Dresden),

·                     R.S, (Rodolf Souval)

·                     C.E. Juncker Berlin SW

·                     C.E. Juncker Berlin SW68

·                     L.M (Unknown)

·                     W.H. WIEN

·                     L/21, (Forster & Barth, Pforzheim)

·                     L/56, (Funke & Bruninghaus)

·                     unmarked but known STEINHAUER & LUCK

It is highly probable that there are other makers who have not been recorded.

Due to the limited number of Army Flak units, this badge is more scarce than its Luftwaffe counterpart and as such has been heavily reproduced. The best copies are maker marked W.H. WIEN. The main give away on this is that the copy has a bottom hook mounted within a catch plate wereas the original is not. This particular copy is manufactured in Austria. Other reproduction marks encountered have been the L/10 logo, G.B., and SBW to name a few.

In order to enjoy, and peruse the deep variety of genuine stock of German War Medals, British Army Medals, Military Medals for Sale, do keep an eye on the illustration based section of the Jamie Cross Collectibles.

Original Wartime Medals and Badges for sale

Medals have always been an outward sign of bravery and valour and thus they remain ever popular to both the collectors and investors worldwide.

With most Countries to choose from around the World, British and German medals are the most sought after. If you are someone sourcing these medals, then please visit www.thirdreichmedals.com. This site is one of the best places where you can find available a wide range of both German and British war medals for sale, along with many other medals and badges from around the World. One Country, gaining fast popularity in this field, is Finland. There are a wide variety of awards, badges and medals which are both attractive and well designed. With Finland's colorful past history, there are many unusual and interesting stories related to these awards. For example, the Badge of the American Legion, formed from American Volunteers who helped Finland fight against the Russians from 1939-1940, along with the Danish Volunteer Cross for Danish volunteers who also served against the Russians. Whereas a year later, several of these Danish volunteers were again fighting against the Russians with Germany, but the Americans were fighting against Germany and Finland, their former allies and comrades in arms!

Also, on the site, there is a good selection of rings, watches, books, and bravery decorations.
Third Reich Medals is a non political firm dealing in all kinds of historical items. They are recognised as one of the UK's top dealers in German and British medals, badges and awards.  Popularity of family and social history has fuelled the market, with people's love of history and romanticism of the past. Medals appear to give people a key into this.

The company Jamie Cross Collectable provides the services soliciting wants list also, i.e. if you have a particular medal you are searching for, you can leave your details with them and they will look for same on behalf of you. Once sourced, the company will contact you and you will have first refusal, if you still require this item. Please note, there is no obligation for buy.

There is a mailing list you can join at Thirdreichmedals.com so that you can get regular updates of the new listings and if an item catches your eye, you are ahead of the game, i.e. you get to see items before they reach What’s New page on the site.

Other items the site boasts are useful articles, to help the collector research and understand the military structures of the awards and decorations used. There are useful hints and tips on how to avoid reproductions creeping in to your collection. There are also picture galleries to help you identify unusual items and even ribbon bar charts to identify missing ribbons from awards. www.thirdreichmedals.com is a site not to miss.

Thirdreichmedals.Com Have a Good Range of British Military Medals For Sale

British military medals are becoming exceedingly popular with collectors, as the WWI ones can be researched releasing a story of courage. Many millions of these First World War awards were issued and therefore reading the man's name and unit will release a story into the past. These medals were earned by wartime heroes who were ordinary men and are beyond the value they command for the huge amount of suffering these soldiers went through for the supposed war to end all wars. This company aims to offer the collector a choice of medals, badges and decorations from around the World with British and German items being a specialty. They also buy back from collectors or even buy in items medals and badges that they like. All items are all guaranteed 100% original to the time period.

Thirdreichmedals.com deal in British campaign medals, war medals, bravery decorations and the periphery that goes with it. On their site, you can find anything from a medal for the modest cost of £5 up to several thousand pounds. Also included are papers, books, pieces of pottery and other interesting and curious items, all related to military or social history from the 1800's through to 2000. Many collectors, who purchase medals, love to explore or research and they offer a range of services to help. Free advice is gladly given on storage, cleaning, and displaying. 

With the ever increasing market, medals appear to be popular investments by both ordinary collectors and by former financial institutions that a few years ago, purchased large quantities of British war medals squeezing the market and increasing the prices, Also, boosting pension funds. 

Thirdreich.com also solicits Wants lists. You are under no obligation to buy the item, but they will actively search items out for you and you will have first refusal. 

There is a mailing list you can join. This updates you on site news and informs you when the site has been updated and there are some new items to look at. 

Some of Thirdreichmedals.com customers over the years have been well known book publishers, historians, military museums, through to schools, colleges and universities and they pride their selves on their customer service, commitment to the hobby and awards for outstanding and environmentally friendly packaging - which also saves money for the customer- using major postal carriers. You can be assured that all contact and orders are treated with the utmost confidentiality. Thirdreichmedals.com looks forward to serving you in the near future.