Infantry Assault Badge

Infantry Assault Badge
Infanterie-Sturmabzeichen
Infantry Assault Badge in Silver.
TypeBadge
Awarded for
  • Silver grade: Awarded to infantry and Gebirgsjäger personnel engaged in ground combat for a specified period of time
  • Bronze grade: Awarded to motorized and mechanized infantry personnel engaged in ground combat for a specified period of time
Presented byNazi Germany
EligibilityWehrmacht and Waffen-SS personnel assigned to infantry or Gebirgsjäger units; Motorized or mechanized infantry units became eligible with the introduction of the bronze grade
Campaign(s)World War II
StatusObsolete
Established
  • 20 December 1939 (Silver grade)
  • 1 June 1940 (Bronze grade)
  • 26 July 1957 (Denazified, swastika-removed version re-established for wear among WWII veterans properly awarded the badge and serving in the Bundeswehr)[1][2]
First awarded1939
Last awarded1945
An infantry soldier wearing the Infantry Assault Badge in Silver in September 1942, during the Battle of Stalingrad.
Related

The Infantry Assault Badge (German: Infanterie-Sturmabzeichen) was a German military decoration awarded to Waffen-SS and Wehrmacht Heer soldiers during the Second World War. This decoration was instituted on 20 December 1939 by the Commander-in-Chief (Oberbefehlshaber) of the German Army, Generalfeldmarschall Walther von Brauchitsch. It could be awarded to members of infantry and Gebirgsjäger (mountain infantry) units that had participated in infantry assaults, with light infantry weapons, on at least three separate days of battle in the front line on or after 1 January 1940. When a counter-offensive led to fighting, it could also apply. Award of the Infantry Assault Badge was authorized at regimental command level, and mechanized or motorized infantry were not eligible for the original badge. A bronze variant of the Infantry Assault Badge was created in June 1940, authorized for motorized and mechanized infantry units, using similar requirements for award as the original silver variant.[3] Non-infantry personnel were not eligible for either grade of the Infantry Assault Badge, but were eligible for other combat recognition badges (depending on their military occupation, branch of service, and assigned unit), usually the General Assault Badge, Close Combat Clasp, or the Panzer Badge. The Luftwaffe would develop its own ground combat badge in 1942, the Ground Assault Badge. [4]

  1. ^ "Bundesministerium der Justiz: Gesetz über Titel, Orden und Ehrenzeichen, 26.7.1957. Bundesgesetzblatt Teil III, Gliederungsnummer 1132-1". German Federal law. Retrieved 2020-09-04.
  2. ^ "Dienstvorschriften Nr. 14/97. Bezug: Anzugordnung für die Soldaten der Bundeswehr. ZDv 37/10. (Juli 1996)". German Federal regulation. Retrieved 2020-09-04.
  3. ^ Angolia 1987, pp. 80, 81.
  4. ^ Angolia 1987, p. 209.