Description
Kriegsmarine Auxiliary Cruiser Badge by “R.S.”. This one was made by Rudolf Souval of Vienna and has some oxidation and zinc pest at one side of the wreath but is a piece that saw the war and reasonably priced for a rare badge. I would think this could clean up some.
The Kriegsmarine Auxiliary Cruiser Badge badge was instituted on April 24, 1941 by order of Grand Admiral Raeder to be given in recognition of feats demonstrated by the crews of armed merchant ships put to sea to harass Allied shipping. These ships would sail disguised as neutral cargo ships but were actually well armed and eventually took a huge toll on allied merchant vessels before most were eventually sunk themselves. The badge was awarded for participation in a successful voyage, demonstrating outstanding leadership abilities or being wounded during the course of a voyage. This is a nice zinc based example with round needle type pin made by the Vienna firm of Rudolf Souval and so marked with their angular style “R.S.” maker mark. This badge has a good look. LH9004