Zerstörer-Kriegsabzeichen in cloth active service badge

**Adrian Stevenson** · 03-26-2016, 11:10 AM

These cloth active service badges seem to come up for sale less often than the usual metal counterparts. They were less popular at the time of course.

So posted here for future reference.

Direct Brit Vet bring back.

Cheers, Ade.

**Espenlaub Militaria** · 03-26-2016 11:10 AM

We also buy and trade your items and full collections!

**martinw** · 03-26-2016, 01:42 PM

A photo of the cloth Zerstorer badge in wear.

Regards,Martin.

**martinw** · 03-27-2016, 12:29 AM

Detail from the above photo.

I think this is the only one i have seen with this cloth variant in wear..I have seen images of the cloth U-Boot and MS badge in wear.

I'm lucky to have this one.

Thanks for the "likes" guys.

I do not want to disrupt Ade's thread here,so i will start a separate thread in the photo area,as i would really like to see other images that show KM cloth awards in wear.

Cheers,Martin.

**Danmark** · 03-27-2016, 04:35 AM

With that shonky shaped eagle, had it been presented without provenance then it may have been dismissed.
We always hold up TR workmanship as first class but it is not always perfect.

Thanks again Ade!
Dan

**Norm F** · 03-28-2016, 12:53 AM

Hi Guys,

I have to admit that up until now I really haven't been a big fan of this type of cloth Destroyer, and they don't typically show up with strong provenance so Ade's story of a British vet bring-back is interesting.

The photo shown by Martin is not of this type of patch, but rather a much less common type as shown in the attached comparison. The type shown by Ade (unlike the type in the photo) actually shows up quite regularly for sale. They're always unworn and come in two main variants based on the backing material which I'll show in the next posts.

Best regards,
---Norm

**Norm F** · 03-28-2016, 01:09 AM

Here are the three sub-types of the "common" variety of Destroyer machine-woven patch, based upon their backing. Type A is the same as Ade's showing a tightly woven web on the reverse whereas Type B shows a loosely woven web. "Type C" is the only example I've seen to date of a variant with a twill backing and odd stitch pattern on the reverse, possibly a mistake or a trial run.

**Norm F** · 03-28-2016, 01:24 AM

Aside from the commonness and unworn nature of these patches, the other thing that makes me nervous is illustrated by these patches. This type of insignia shown here is identified by Fred Green over on WAF as the product of "Patch King", a firm in the states that made both U.S and German insignia in the early post-war period for veterans. They often show this loose-weave "cheese-cloth" on the reverse which looks quite similar to the "Type B" Destroyer patches.

I'm not saying others couldn't have used similar construction too, just that it makes me uneasy. For all these reasons I've always leaned towards this type being post-war (and also the Minesweeper patches of the same construction).

**Norm F** · 03-28-2016, 02:22 AM

The same situation exists for the cloth U-Boat as for the Destroyer. There's a Type 1 that is rare and either has provenance or has been found in period photos and a more common Type 2 that appears with regularity on dealer sites. For the Minesweeper there are two varieties of patches that have shown up in period photos, one of which is shown here as "Type 1", but again there is a "Type 2" category that lacks any provenance, has the same construction as the Type 2 U-Boat and Destroyer patches, and even shows up with a backwards swastika. I'm not fond of that type either.

Do I have proof that the more common Type 2 U-Boat, Destroyer and Minesweeper patches are all post-war? No, I just have my doubts based on the evidence presented in this thread.

Best regards,
---Norm