General Assault Badges - A Second Look

There has been a lot of speculation and debate over the existence of Genuine Heer (German Army) General Assault badges with a bronzed finish.

It has been claimed the award was never authorized, manufactured, distributed, awarded or worn during the Third Reich.

It may make some collectors feel important, passing these opinions out as absolute fact. However, because a collector might not locate one of these rare badges in his searching, that does not make these claims true.

The pronouncements of self-proclaimed "experts", have tended to state these things as actual facts too. Where they get this insider information, (since NONE of them was ever there, in any Third Reich situation to verify these claims) is a mystery to me. Still sheep will follow a ram without question, and apparently the louder the bleating, the more the sheep feel comforted by their new found knowledge.

The problem with stating absolutes as empirical truths, and as facts, is that often there is no way to actually prove them. It is also a bit disconcerting to the expert when original examples inconveniently exist despite their claims. Over the years from 1965 until now I have personally examined a couple of dozen examples of this "Never authorized, manufactured, distributed, awarded or worn badge".

I know these pieces to be original to the war era. Out of all the Bronze General Assault Badges I ever saw, I managed to acquire these 5 beautiful examples.

Note that all of these are in near perfect condition with great finishes that are all variants of bronze colors.

Note also that all 5 are totally different from one another, in many respects. So several companies did produce the badge in bronze finish.

It is interesting that, as is typical with the majority of General Assault badges in the basic grade, there are no markings on 4 of the 5 which I own.

I speculate, they may have been considered as the model for Panzer Grenadiers. Obviously, they were manufactured, and some were located and found as war souvenirs. Perhaps they were not distributed, or were not sold or awarded once distributed. They could have all been still in displays at the German Uniform accoutrement stores, at war's end. They may well have still been in the factory storerooms. Once made, no German manufacturer would destroy items that cost him, unless there was no choice in the matter. That could be why most are found in great condition.

The General Assault badge is actually fairly tough to find exceptional examples of. Most are in zinc and often without any finish. Many have missing pins or catches or are corroded. I feel lucky to own the examples pictured below.

I am just a collector who worked hard to find what I have. I know the five bronze finished badges, are genuine items, and made during the war years in Germany. The rest is just guessing and speculation.

For some strange reason we Americans feel we are entitled to perfection, and somehow things are not right if we do not know the bottom line. Apparently even misinformation is better than none or doubt! Sometimes we do not have all the answers, unless we are one of those famous and important experts, who seem to know everything!

Charles Warriner, "General Assault Badges - A Second Look", Militaria Blog, 2009