25 Engagement General Assault Badge – Rudolf Karneth “RK”

$2,450.00

25 Engagement General Assault Badge – RK
(Allgemeines Sturmabzeichen (mit 25)

Condition: Excellent
Maker: Rudolf Karneth
Pattern: 25 Engagement
Base Material: Zinc

This 25 Engagement General Assault Badge is an extremely impressive textbook example of this rare badge that is missing from most collections. It has a bold, striking look. This badge is made of zinc, as all of these were. The wreath retains approximately 40 percent of the original silver wash. The large, imposing eagle and swastika emblem, featuring a crossed bayonet and grenade, has smooth, clean surfaces, with little of the original dark burnishing still present. The reverse of this desirable 25 Engagement General Assault Badge is maker marked, with a stylized “RK” in a circle, indicating manufacture by the firm of Rudolf Karneth in Gablonz. The hardware is textbook Gablonz style, featuring a banjo pin, a crimped-in hinge, and a catch. The four rivets are damaged with alterations or repairs. The pin still functions. This is a well-used, been-there badge that is in excellent condition.

 

History: Instituted on June 22, 1943, the new grades of the General Assault Badge were in direct response to the increasing number of soldiers who had continued to accumulate “combat days” after meeting the standard version’s initial requirements. By 1943, the German High Command (OKW) realized the war would not be over as quickly as hoped for, and the need to recognize their soldiers at the front would require a new type of award and criteria. The four grades created by the German High Command were “25”, “50”, “75”, & “100”. The requirements for the Numbered General Assault Badge were like the standard version, with the main difference now being that the number of combat days required corresponded to the number on the award.  For example, the General Assault Badge with a “25” box would have required the soldier to have 25 combat assaults on 25 different days. Many soldiers in the German Army did not live to see the required “combat days” for the higher grades. This is especially true for the award’s higher grades of “75” and “100”. The numbered grades used the same design pattern as the standard version.  However, the new grades of the General Assault Badge have more enhanced features, such as an enlarged eagle and wreath, with the addition of a number box at the bottom of the wreath to denote grade.