Original Items: Only One Set Available. This is a very nice collection of German WWII Awards, Insignia, and Tinnies, which was brought back from the European theater by a USGI after the war was concluded. Many solders traded these on the way back, and would end up with a pocket full of various different collectible items, and this set represents the typical "haul" one might have come back with. It includes nice variety of items, as well as some things that we have rarely seen before!

This lovely set includes:

- One German WWII Wehrmacht 4th Class Long Service Award (Silver), for four years of service. Complete with an Austrian style ribbon pin with a silver Wehrmachtadler eagle, for service in either the Heer Army or Kriegsmarine Navy.

- One German WWII DRK Red Cross Medal for Social Welfare with Swords and Ribbon. The swords indicate wartime service.

- One German WWII Medal Ribbon Bar for four Awards. From left to right, this has ribbons for the Iron Cross 1939, the Wehrmacht 4th Class Long Service Award for Four Years, Austria-Hungary Long Service Medal, and 1 October 1938 Commemorative Sudetenland Medal with Prague Castle Bar.

- One German WWII WWII German Italienische Freiwillige Waffen SS Ärmelabzeichen (Italian Volunteer Waffen SS sleeve insignia). It is constructed with Gold and Red machine embroidery, showing the Italian "Fasces" insignia of the Fascist Party in Italy, with a yellow border around it.

- One German WWII RAD Labor Corps Bevo Sleeve "Shovel" Insignia, Unissued. These would be sewn onto the left sleeve, and numbers embroidered on to indicate what unit of the RAD they were with.

- One German WWII NS-RKB National Socialist Veteran's Association 25 Year Membership Pin.

- One German WWII Deutsches Frauenwerk (German women's organization) membership pin. RZM marked M1/25 on the back, indicating manufacture by Rudolf Reiling of Pforzheim, a German city known for its clothing accessories industry.

- FOUR German Pre-WWII Soldatenbund Soldier's League Veterans Association Eagle Insignia, which feature the Reichsadler National Eagle surmounted by crossed swords and an Iron Cross. One is a large Breast eagle with a long pin on the back, one is a smaller cap eagle, and two are stick pins. The latter three are attached to a piece of cardboard, with the pins bent underneath.

- One German WWII Heer Army Visor Cap Aluminum Wreath Insignia around an Aluminum Cockade, with an intact red felt insert. It is attached to a piece of cardboard along with three of the Soldatenbund eagles.

- One German WWII Civil Service Faithful Service Medal, which is not a type we have seen before. It has no provision for hanging on a ribbon, and is bronze in color.

- One German WWII Deutsches Rotes Kreuz Schwesternschaft (German Red Cross Sisterhood or Nursing Staff) badge pin with a red border. Pin on back is missing.

- One German WWII Small Plastic German Heer Army Pioneer Corps Parade Standard Flag.

- One German Pre-WWII NSDAP 1933 Gau Essen Civil Servant Commemorative Badge Tinnie.

- One German WWII RAD Labor Corps Metal Cap Badge. Shows oxidation and paint loss.

- One German WWII Eastern Front Medal Buttonhole Ribbon Pin.

A wonderful totally genuine grouping perfect for the German collector. Ready to research and display!

"Tinnies" (Veranstaltungsabzeichen - Event Badge) are small commemorative pins or medals, acquired when one attended a specific event held in Germany. They were often made of thin stamped metal, bakelite, or even pressed paper. Many of these were given out as part of the WHW (Winterhilfswerk - Winter Help Work) Organization, which often involved Germans traveling quite a bit to help out the war effort.

Wehrmacht Long Service Award
The Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung (Wehrmacht Service Award) was a military service decoration of NSDAP Germany issued for satisfactory completion of a number of years in military service. The award itself is cumulative, so after the 3rd class, both a cross and a medal were worn, and the color indicated service.

On 16 March, 1936, Adolf AH ordered the institution of service awards for the first four classes, each reflecting the completion of a select number of years of military service. Each branch of the Wehrmacht (army, navy, and air force) maintained their own version of the Long Service Award and the decoration was issued for four years (silver medal – fourth class), 12 years (gold medal – third class), 18 years (silver cross – second class), 25 years (gold cross – first class), and 40 years (1939 special class). The 40 years special class service award was introduced on 10 March 1939.

Professor Dr Richard Klein designed the awards. Recipients of lower year awards would wear the decoration simultaneously with higher level decorations. The manner they could be worn was:

3rd Class with 4th Class (gold medal with silver medal)
2nd Class with 4th Class (silver cross with silver medal)
1st Class with 3rd Class (gold cross with gold medal)

The Long Service Award was retroactive throughout a service member's career, encompassing Reichswehr service as well as service dating during and before World War I. As such, there were a handful of 40 year awards presented, even though the NSDAP era only lasted 12 years (1933-1945).

German WWII DRK Red Cross Medal for Social Welfare
The Social Welfare Decoration (German: Ehrenzeichen für deutsche Volkspflege) was a German Civil Award created by Adolf AH on 1 May 1939 for services in the social sector. The decoration was issued in three classes and was awarded for a wide variety of service, in the social sector, to the German state. Qualifying service would have been with Winterhilfswerk, National Socialist People's Welfare, medical and rescue work, or care of foreign and ethnic Germans. As a replacement for the German Red Cross Decoration, it was conferred in four classes consisting of a white-enameled gold Balkenkreuz with Reich eagle and swas. A "Medal for Social Welfare" was also issued for lesser degrees of service, not warranting the higher presentation of a class award.

The main requirement for the award was that the service rendered should be to the benefit of the civil population. Reinhard Heydrich was awarded the decoration for his running of the Gestapo in the 1930s and for providing "security" to the German people. The infamous Doctor Josef Mengele was also awarded the decoration in 1941, for providing medical services to wounded soldiers and civilians alike on the battlefields of the Eastern Front.