Description
General Assault badge 50 silver. Historical Information.
The Allgemeines Sturmabzeichen was first introduced 1st June 1940. It was issued in response to troops who were involed in combat but directly with infantry or panzer units, for example gun crews, artillery personnel , drivers, etc. It forms a series of war badges awarded for achievements during combat. It was only issued to members of the Heer and Waffen SS.
The badge was designed by Berlin firm of Wilhelm Ernst Peekhaus, who produced many war badges. It consisted of an oval disk measuring 5.3 cm (2 in) by 4.2 cm (2 in) by .6 cm (0 in) wide. A wreath of five oak leaves runs around each side of the medal with a pair of acorns at the base. Inside the wreath is a large Wehrmacht-style eagle with folded wings clutching a swastika surmounting a crossed bayonet and stick grenade.
The reverse hardware consists of a vertical pin system. the hinge is soldered, riveted or crimped into place. A variety of combinations were used. The same applies to the catch top hold the pin. Early examples were often die stamped in silver but soon replaced by massive stamped zinc based badges. As usual the later examples were cast from kriegsmetal. The design is powerful and the badge is a fairly collectable item. The numbered badges were introduced in 1943 for additional stufen. The numbers were 25,50,75 and 100.
The award regulations were the same as the Infantry assault badge.
- Participated in three assaults
- On three different days
- Engaged in recovery of vehicles or personnel
SONNDERKLASSE `special quality`
General Assault badge 50 Silver `Sonnderklasse`. All sonnderklasse badges are made in Europe. Many of these badges are made using the original moulds (or remakes of them) and tools which were bought from the factories when they closed, mostly in the 1960`s and 70`s. Even some of the original flaws have being preserved to gain the highest level of authenticity. The old metals like nickel and zinc and kriegsmetal are not really possible to recreate so metals of similar properties and weights are used. All pins and catches are accurate for each badge and made using the original tools. They are also very strong. These are Museum quality reproduction as close to an original as you can get for a fraction of the price.
