Bronze PAB's 25 and above???

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krichter33
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Bronze PAB's 25 and above???

#1

Post by krichter33 » 14 Feb 2016, 03:50

I've seen plenty of photos and documents of numbered PAB's in silver, however it seems that numbered PAB's in Bronze are harder to find. Horst Hain, I believe, was awarded numbered bronze PAB's, possibly 75, and I think Fritz Fessmann was awarded a 50. I was wondering if anyone can post pictures of Bronze numbered PAB's being worn or pictures of award documents of numbered Bronze PAB's. They seem rare, and I wonder how many soldiers actually won Bronze 50's and 75's.

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John G.
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Re: Bronze PAB's 25 and above???

#2

Post by John G. » 07 Mar 2016, 17:21

Nearly impossible to distinguish a bronze from a silver, let along whether a numbered badge or not from a B&W photo... very few photos would be clear enough to tell. Awarded bronzes are much rarer than their silver counterparts.... numbers made were probably closer but still less...

Documents are known but also very rare....

Numbered Awards, especially over "25", were relatively few.... plus the "mid-war" institution of the numbered badges...(June 43) and high attrition of Panzer/Panzer Grenadiers who would have been eligible make anything related rare...(except the badges themselves- relatively speaking, of course!)
Best I can do... good luck with your search....
John G.


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hucks216
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Re: Bronze PAB's 25 and above???

#3

Post by hucks216 » 07 Mar 2016, 20:50

Peter Janssen recently listed a Soldbuch & Citation set to a member of the 'Falke' Division with one of the citations being for the PAB in Bronze '25' and confirmed by the entry in the Soldbuch...
http://www.janssen-militaria.com/oscomm ... 075a8c63c0

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stewy
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Re: Bronze PAB's 25 and above???

#4

Post by stewy » 07 Mar 2016, 20:57

As you know Kev, I bought it. Nice regimental variant docs too. Stewy

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krichter33
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Re: Bronze PAB's 25 and above???

#5

Post by krichter33 » 08 Mar 2016, 03:32

I've found a few documents of Bronze numbered PAB's on the internet. The interesting thing is all of them are for Panzeraufklärungs units, none so far for regular panzergrenadiers. Some lists state that Horst Hain and Leonard Krings, both Panzeraufklärungs, are the only winners of the Bronze PAB 75. Hain's is famously documented as factual by a well known photograph, but I can't find anything on Krings. Also Fritz Fessmann, also a Panzeraufklärungs, was supposedly awarded the Bronze PAB 50, as well as the General Karl Mauss, but I can't find any documentation, either photo or award document, to prove it.

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