Crimea Shield

It was the most widely distributed of the various German campaign shields, with approximately 250,000 awarded.

Recorded constituent parts are Crimea Shield in Gold. It is associated with Nazi Germany and German Reich. The record gives 1942 as its date of establishment or first appearance. Activity is recorded as ending in 1943. It forms part of Cuff shields (Wehrmacht).

• Name — Crimea Shield Krimschild • Presenter — Nazi Germany • Type — Badge • Eligibility — Military personnel • Awarded For — Active service during the Crimea campaign • Campaign — World War II • Status — Obsolete • Established — 25 July 1942 • Lastawarded — October 1943 • Total Awarded — Approximately 250,000 • Caption2 — Field Marshal Erich von Manstein (right) wearing the Crimea Shield on his tunic • Illustration — Post-war 'de-nazified' issue

The Wehrmacht's Army Group South advanced through the Crimean peninsula between the Autumn of 1941 and Summer of 1942. To commemorate the hostilities that ended with the German capture of Sevastopol on 4 July 1942, the Crimea Shield was created for all members of the armed forces under area commander Field Marshal Erich von Manstein. 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 ' and '. 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. After an initial ban, the Federal Republic of Germany re-authorised the wear of many World War II military decorations in 1957. These included the Crimea Shield, re-designed by removing the eagle and swastika emblem. Members of the Bundeswehr could wear the shield on the ribbon bar, represented by a small replica of the award on a field grey ribbon.

A special pure-gold version of the Crimea Shield was also produced. It was first bestowed upon Marshal Ion Antonescu, the military dictator of Romania, at the end of the Siege of Sevastopol (3 July 1942). It was awarded to him in Bucharest by Erich von Manstein, on Adolf Hitler's behalf. The second and last Golden Krimschild was awarded to von Manstein himself, on 24 November 1942.