Can anyone identify this badge?

**Glenn66** · 07-09-2011, 12:21 PM

This badge arrived recently with some other artifacts from Stalingrad but to be honest I don't know who it belonged to or what it signifies, any information would be greatly appreciated.

Size comparison with relic Panzerkampf Abzeichen from the same package.

Pin crimping method looks typically German to me. The raised lettering on the rear is almost completely lost to corrosion, I can only make out an 'A' just above the pin.

**Espenlaub Militaria** · 07-09-2011 12:21 PM

We also buy and trade your items and full collections!

**Adrian Stevenson** · 07-09-2011, 01:02 PM

New member Troy will be here any minute, so i will just tell you the basics.

It is a WHW donation badge from the Road Sign set of badges.

Pic care of Dutch Militaria.

Cheers, Ade.

**Glenn66** · 07-09-2011, 02:07 PM

Thanks Ade, is there anything you DON'T know?

So the soldier would either have bought this badge off a WHW seller or received it in return for a donation to the WHW? Perhaps he kept it as a lucky charm, not that it did him much good in Stalingrad.

**Adrian Stevenson** · 07-09-2011, 02:31 PM

Hi Glenn,

he would have dropped his money into the street collectors tin and picked up a badge from the tray. The Nazis were a clever bunch, perhaps the best marketing men in history. By issuing these items in sets it encouraged you to donate more to get the complete set.

It often makes me wonder too why such items ended up in the frontline? Your guess is as good as mine....

Cheers, Ade.

**Troy Tempest** · 07-10-2011, 01:12 PM

Hi Glenn! There were actually two versions of this. The 6WHW-4RSS donation badges (T173-182) were from a collection called Verkehrszeichen (traffic signs), and were made of light metal (alloy) and distributed on the 28/29.1.39 by the Polizei, TN and the Feuerwehren. However, the same badges were remade in zinc for the 2KWHW-RSS Tag der Polizei collection (T350-359). They were released on 15/16.2.41 by the Polizei and the TN. Depending on what sort of metal yours is made of, it is either T178 or T357.

**Glenn66** · 07-10-2011, 03:09 PM

Hi Troy,

Great information! I would have to say my badge is the T357 as it feels reasonably heavy for its size and comes in at a hefty 8g on the wife's trusty digital kitchen scales. It makes for an interesting addition to my Stalingrad relic collection, especially since it really shouldn't have been there unless it was kept as a lucky charm or keep sake for whatever reason.

Cheers
Glenn

**Troy Tempest** · 07-11-2011, 01:09 AM

Now worries mate! From what I've been led to understand, some soldiers did indeed keep them at the front as good luck charms (not that it would in all likelihood have been that lucky on the Eastern Front!), as they were inherently given to children, who may then have given one of their collection to their dad, before he marched East. Yours being zinc may also account for the poor quality. I've seen photos of ground found light alloy items that still looked pretty good after a clean, whereas the zinc items didn't fare so well. Still, it's a Stalingrad find

**Glenn66** · 10-09-2011, 04:35 PM

Well now I have a little friend to add to the stop sign thingy I already have. Another 'Stalingrad relic'.
I'm liking the fact that these aren't an award for valor but simply a memento of a donation to a charitable cause that some anonymous warrior chose to carry with him for whatever reason. Makes the whole crappy mess seem somehow more human in a way.