Description
Luftwaffe Krim Campaign Shield
The Crimea Shield (German: Krimschild) was a World War II German military decoration. It was awarded to military personnel under the command of Field Marshal von Manstein who fought against Soviet forces between 21 September 1941 and 4 July 1942. It was instituted on 25 July 1942. It was the most widely distributed of the various German campaign shields, with approximately 250,000 awarded.
The shield is of stamped sheet metal with a bronze finish. It is headed by the German eagle clutching a laurel wreath surrounding a swastika, flanked by the dates 1941 and 1942. This sits on a backdrop of the Crimean peninsula, bearing the word KRIM. It was issued mounted on a cloth backing that matched the uniform of the appropriate armed service: army, navy or air force, and sewn onto the left upper sleeve of the tunic and greatcoat. Where the recipient received more than one campaign shield, the earlier was worn above any later awards.
