Leon Degrelle and the Nahkampfspange in Gold

He was the first recipient of this award wasn't he???

 

*Bump*

 

I don't know what you are talking about!

But is ist the medal you got because you had 50 man-to-man fights.

 

Looking for the info. Let´s see what the net can give...

Actually not the first, maybe first in Waffen-SS (?). The first of the Heer was Erich Friedrich. ( ..die Goldene Nahkampfspange erhielt er als erster Soldat des Heeres zusammen mit dem Ritterkreuz am 2. September 1944 ).

http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Personenregister/Friedrich-R.htm

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Degrelle:

Nahkampfspange III.Stufe (Gold): 14.09.44 ;
Nahkampfspange II.Stufe (Silber): 19.03.44;
Nahkampfspange I.Stufe (Bronze): 30.11.43 (or 23.12.43 or 20.02.44

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Close Combat Bar
Nahkampfspange
Effective 25. November 1942 Hitler ordered that all officers and men of the Army who engaged in hand-to-hand combat when unsupported by armour would be recognised for their heroism providing they qualified. The bar was struck in bronze, silver and gold (this example) for 15, 30 and 50 days respectively of hand-to-hand or in close-combat, the criteria was reduced to 10, 20 and 40 days respectively.

The bar was primarily for award to Infantry soldiers, however other units were also eligible. Retroactive credit was authorised for those persons who took part in the Russian Campaign from June 1941 onwards, a service to combat days ratio was established on the following scales:

5 combat days were credited for 8 months service.
10 combat days were credited for 12 months service.
15 combat days were credited for 15 months service

http://www.gebirgsjaeger.4mg.com/awards.htm

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http://www.germanmilitaria.com/Heer/photos/H49047.html

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http://webcindario.com/euskalherria-ns/galeria_Degrelle/galeria_Degrelle.html

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Nahkampfspange in Gold:

619 were awarded by the end of the War,53 by Hitler,106 by Himmler,13 by Guderian and the remainder by Div Commanders etc.

First presentations were by Hitler who presented it to 14 Heer and Waffen SS Officers, one of whom was Leon Degrelle.
Degrelle also received the Oakleaves to his Knights Cross at the same time.

The soldier with the highest number of close combat days recorded was SS Hauptscharfuhrer Hermann Maringgele of 2/SS Kav Rgt 15,8 SS Kav Div "Florian Geyer" with 84!!

Recipients of the CCC in Gold should also have been awarded the DKiG but this did not always happen.

Paul

 

Thanx Paul,

interesting stuff! I was hit by the lack of definition here, as it was announced as a medal back in 1942, yet the first golden ones given in 1944?( If partisan war days were regarded retro to this? ) And then , some articles claim, only by Hitler personally in his HQ ?? Was there a bigger meeting to reward the men all the medals at once or how did they get their medals? Just curious, as I did not find the story in the sites in the net.

As to the Waffen-SS men of Finnish battalion, I learned some two years ago that they were always eager for a violent reconnaissance party, I guess in order to get the golden close combat clasp. No-one of them got the days altogether.Weird but true...

 

Kai,

Yeah i know what you mean it is strange about the date of this "first" presentation by Hitler,which if it does coincide with Degrelles Oakleaves dates it as 27/8/44,yet i know that Sepp Lainer was awarded his CCC in Gold on 15/10/43!!!only a week after his award of the Knights Cross.

The info about the first presentation to 14 officers is from Manfred Dorrs book on CCC in Gold winners.We'll have to try and get to the bottom of this!!

Paul

 

Good work Paul, I had not had time to try to research this yet---but was looking forward to it. Glad you did the work.

 

Some info from the net:

On 25 November 1942, the Close Combat Clasp was instituted for achievement in hand to hand fighting in close quarters. The award was given in three classes.

The Gold, Close Combat Clasp was regarded by Hitler as the highest infantry decoration. On 26 March 1944, Hitler exercised the right to personally present the Gold, CCC but this was not the definitive rule. Other high personalities from the German Army (i.e. Guderian as OKH head and Himmler as Chief of the Ersatz Heer since the 20 July 1944 plot) also proceeded to award CCC in Gold.

According to Mr Dorr's book which is the most comprehensive source on that matter;
Himmler awarded Gold CCC in 3 occasions: 1- 10/23/44 : to 7 soldiers in the Führerhauptquartier, 2- 12/12/44 : to 83 soldiers at the Rathaus in Ulm, 3- 02/16/45 : to 16 soldiers in Bernau.
Hitler personally awarded 14 Gold CCC to officers and men of the Army and Waffen-SS on 27 August 1944.

On 30 August 1944 a decreed was issued for those receiving the Gold CCC were automatically to receive the German Cross in Gold. According to Angolia's book "For Fuhrer and Fatherland" it indicates that official records show that 536 Gold CCC were awarded, 100 to enlisted, 302 to NCO’s and 134 to Officers by the end of April 1945.
About 97 Waffen-SS men of all ranks received this class.

Other sources indicate about 692 known Gold Close Combat awards.
It should be noted that there were two types of Gold Close Combat Awards. A Gold CCC so-called deluxe version showing on the reverse a top hook located behing the eagle, in which the backing plate is held in place by a small central rivet. It also does not have a maker's mark.

According to the Dorr description of the ceremonies the Gold Deluxe Clasp was awarded and at some of the ceremonies an adujant followed behind and handed out a normal wear piece to the recipients as well. Not every Gold CCC recipient got one of the Deluxe, cased clasp. Many, especially in distant frontline areas, just got the normal Gold CCC.

http://axis101.bizland.com/CCC.htm

 

Kai, wasn't this award for being on the front lines for a certain amount of time/ repeated heavy actions, not just for hand to hand combat ?

E

 

Erich,

I might be wrong but the way I understand is that after the introduction of the clasp in November 1942 the time before that was counted the way you mentioned.5 combat days for six months´service etc. And that was only for the Russian front naturally after june 1941.

I would think that longer service at the front would count by itself ( like the Leningrad area ) the same way but I am not sure.

 

maybe I'm thinking of another award like the infantry assault badge. I get so confused with the requirements needed to achieve these awards. I know the fighter clasps for the Luftwaffe generally indicated the amount of front-line service and the amount of missions completed. These did not include non-ops or abortive missions for the requirement.

E

 

The Luftwaffe clasp:

On the 3rd of November, 1944, Herman Göring created new decorations for the men of the Luftwaffe, one of which was the Luftwaffe Close Combat Clasp.
One of the earliest Bronze awards was presented to Obergefreiter Albert Mählamann of the Herman Göring Division on the 19th of December, 1944. The next month, Hitler presented the first Gold award to an NCO.

http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/war_badges/luftwaffe/close_combat.htm

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The Kriegsmarine clasp

The U-boat front clasp (or combat clasp, as it is better known) was established by the Kriegsmarine on 15 May 1944, in bronze. This was done to equate with the means of recognition already enacted by the other services. This award recognized close combat and acknowledged courageous service.
The award was recommended by the U-boat commander based on one of three criteria: the number of sorties against the enemy, or the risk factor relative to the sortie number, or personal bravery. The award was made after approval by Grand Admiral Dönitz.

On 24 November 1944, a silver grade was introduced to recognize further valor. The exact criteria for this grade of the award is uncertain. The award document had a facsimile of the badge at the top with the commander's signature and stamp at the bottom. Christopher Ailsby reports that some gold versions were produced, but none awarded.

http://www.uboat.net/men/decorations/clasp.htm

As this version might be hard to find I decided to put the sites here:

http://www.yawp.com/3rd-i/staff/abbadon/handbook/images/spange.jpg

http://www.yawp.com/3rd-i/staff/abbadon/handbook/images/spangesil.jpg

http://www.yawp.com/3rd-i/staff/abbadon/handbook/images/spangebr.jpg

FROM

http://www.yawp.com/3rd-i/staff/abbadon/handbook/decorations.html

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Kai :

That's the one I couldn't think of. This ground award seems not to have been given in great a number. Can't even think if I've ever seen one Luftwaffe soldier/offizier photo with the clasp on the tunic. I'm sure they were presented as you mentioned but it must have been a rare award for HG and the Fallshirmtruppen and the Luftfeld divisions.....

E

 

I stumbled on this thread, While Back when researching Some Paper work---hopefully I can add to it now) As Kai Mentions, Dorr's Book is Very Good Regarding the CCCIG The Updated Version--2006) Is still available at a Fair Price considering the work involved. Hitler Awarded the CCCIG on two Occasions. Photo Taken in September 1944--Wolfs Lair) With over seas Stamp on Reverse intended to promote his Image after the Failed July44 Bomb Plot, Original Photo, Latter Frame Photos like this can be seen in Dorr's Book. Hope you like.

 

I like.

Also, I too have Dorrs book. The trouble with his book is he leaves out loads of info in some cases-which is rather easy to find. But after looking through my copy recently, Paul was correct in that Leon DeGrelle was one of several "first" recipeints. Since some dates ar eleft out-its hard to say if DeGrelle was the absolute first recipeint or not? I tried doing a quick search by date but-like i said-Dorr left out info.

 

Glad you liked the Photo. As you say, Its a shame such details were Left out of the Book--Were they Available at the Time?) I hope one Day it will be Translated into English.

 

Hi justin, yup ;-)) I think Dorr did a magnificent job on his book but could (SHOULD) have taken more time to complete it more. I am in the frame of mind that the book NEEDS to be redone by someone willing to take the time to give more info--which wouldn't take too long to do ;-))

To translate this info English wouldn't been very hard to do. I can't since my German is limited to terms and phrases and such.

I can translate stuff like Panzer Pioneer-which means: Armored Engineer, Panzergrenadier: Armored Infantry or a derivative of.. and likewise terms.