Destroyer War Badge (Zerstörer-Kriegsabzeichen) with Award Certificate

Destroyer War Badge (Zerstörer-Kriegsabzeichen)

Early, nice quality, die struck alloy, solid back construction badge with fire gilded and nickel/silver plated finishes. The badge is in the form of a fire gilded, vertically oval, oak-leaf wreath with a small national eagle with down-swept wings superimposed to the top centre, encompassing the forward profile view of a nickel/silver plated destroyer and waves. The reverse of the badge has a heavy, solid, soldered hinge, a broad tapering horizontal pin. The reverse of the badge is well marked with the embossed manufacturer's name and location, "Schwerin Berlin 68". 

Award certificate

The award certificate is issued to Matrosen-Gefreiten Gerhard Pallesky on 25. June 1941. He served on board the destroyer "Max Schultz". Hand-signed by Kapitän zur See Erich Bey, Knight's Cross winner. 

The German destroyer Z3 Max Schultz was a Type 1934 destroyer built for the German Kriegsmarine in the mid-1930s. She was named after Max Schultz who commanded the torpedo boat V69 and was killed in action in January 1917.  Shortly before the beginning of World War II, the ship accidentally rammed and sank a German torpedo boat. Max Schultz spent the following month under repair. In mid-February 1940, while proceeding into the North Sea to search for British fishing trawlers, one of her sisters, Z1 Leberecht Maass, was bombed and sunk by a patrolling German bomber. While trying to rescue survivors, Max Schultz struck a British mine and sank with all 325 hands. 

The Destroyer War Badge was instituted on June 4TH 1940 by Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine und Großadmiral, (Commander in Chief of the Navy and Grand Admiral), Erich Raeder, for award to destroyer crew members who had participated in the naval battle for Narvik, Norway, under the command of Kommodore Friedrich Bonte. Regulations of October 1940 extended bestowal of the Destroyer War Badge to include other destroyer, torpedo, and E-boat personnel involved in other naval battles who met a preset criterion. Of Note: Torpedo and E-boat personnel were no longer eligible for the Destroyer War Badge after the introduction of the E-boat Badge on May 30TH 1941.