Description
Product Description: This Luftwaffe Air Gunner Badge is a nice example. This is a late war production piece, made of fine zinc. The wreath of oak and laurel leaves retains a good amount of the original factory applied silver finish, with light wear and some of the typical fading common with these zinc awards. The eagle emblem also shows only light wear, with lots of great detail. On the reverse, this Air Gunner Badge is unmarked, but this variant is known to have been manufactured by the firm of Friedrich Linden in Lüdenscheid, an uncommon maker of these badges. The hardware setup is completely original and unrepaired, with a sheet metal hinge and catch, and a functional round wire attachment pin. The attachment rivets affixing the eagle to the wreath are textbook FLL style and are tight. This relatively scarce badge is complete and sound, and has a lot going for it. The condition rates as excellent.
Historical Description: The Luftwaffe Radio Operators Badge (Bordfunkerabzeichen) was instituted by the head of the Luftwaffe, Hermann Goering, in 1935. It featured a German eagle clutching two lightning bolts, surrounded by a wreath with the German swastika at the bottom. The badge was awarded to all Luftwaffe radio operators at the conclusion of their training, upon issue of a certificate from a flight school authorizing them to serve as radio operators. In this sense, it was a trade badge of trained radio operators, rather than being an individual award for military achievement, though it could also be issued prior to the conclusion of training by personnel who flew operational missions. With the annexation of Austria, the Luftwaffe Radio Operators Badge was also issued to Austrian radio operators taken into the German armed forces.
With nearly 30 years of expertise handling, collecting, and studying some of the finest and scarcest military collectibles, Empires Past offers the best prices for your collectibles.
We purchase German, American, and Japanese Military Artifacts.
FROM SINGLE ITEMS TO ENTIRE COLLECTIONS…
WE ARE ALWAYS BUYING!!!
