- Combined Pilots-Observation Badge
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Combined Pilots-Observation Badge
Combined Pilots-Observation BadgeAwarded by Nazi Germany Type Badge Eligibility Military personnel Campaign World War II Statistics Established 26 March 1936 Combined Pilots-Observation Badge (German: Flugzeugführer- und Beobachterabzeichen) was a German military award instituted on 26 March 1936 by the Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe Hermann Göring to commemorate soldiers or servicemen who had already been awarded the Pilot's badge or Observer badge. It was worn on the lower part of the left breast pocket of the service tunic, underneath the 1st class Iron Cross if awarded.
The badge was originally manufactured out of bronze, later out of zinc. The badge can be distinguished from the Pilot's badge by the golden wreath; the Pilot's Badge had a silver wreath.
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Combined Pilots-Observation Badge in Gold with Diamonds
The exclusive variant of the Combined Pilots-Observation Badge in Gold with Diamonds was never officially instituted. It was bestowed to honor exceptional success and in rare occasions as an honorary award. The award was first bestowed to the Chief-of-General Staff, General Walther Wever and State Secretary of the Reichsluftfahrtministerium Erhard Milch on 11 November 1935.
Recipients of the Combined Pilots-Observation Badge in Gold with diamonds
Members of the Luftwaffe
- Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring
- General Walther Wever (Chief-of-General Staff Luftwaffe) - 11 November 1935
- General Erhard Milch (State Secretary of the Reichsluftfahrtministerium) - 11 November 1935
- General der Flieger Hugo Sperrle - 19 November 1937
- Major Werner Mölders - mid August 1940
- Hautpmann Werner Baumbach - mid August 1940
- Major Adolf Galland - mid August 1940
- Generalfeldmarschall Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen - mid August 1940
- Generaloberst Kurt Student - 2 September 1941
- General der Flieger Friedrich Christiansen – fall of 1940
- General der Flieger Günther Korten (Chief of the Luftwaffe General Staff) - 1941 (for the invasion of Crete)
- Generaloberst Alexander Löhr - 1940
- Oberstleutnant Hans-Ulrich Rudel - summer of 1944
- Oberst Bernd von Brauchitsch (Chief adjudant of the Reichsmarschall) - summer 1944
- Hauptmann Erich Hartmann - August 1944
- Generalmajor Martin Harlinghausen - 17 April 1945
- Hauptmann Hans-Joachim Marseille
- Oberst Dietrich Peltz
- Generalfeldmarschall Robert Ritter von Greim
- Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring
- Generaloberst Otto Dessloch
- Generalleutnant Karl Angerstein
- Oberst Walter Oesau - 17 October 1943
- Hanna Reitsch - March 1941
Honorary recipients
- Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler - July 1942
- Großadmiral Karl Dönitz (Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine) - 1943
- SS-Sturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny - fall of 1944
- SS-Oberstgruppenführer and Generaloberst of the Waffen-SS Sepp Dietrich
- Generalfeldmarshall Erwin Rommel
- Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein
Foreigners
- Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (Marshal of Finland) - 1942
- Marschall Ion Antonescu (Prime Ministers of Romania)
- Regent Miklós Horthy (Regent of Hungary)
- Italo Balbo (Italian Aviator)
- Francisco Franco (Spanish dictator)
Categories:- Orders, decorations, and medals of Nazi Germany
- Military awards and decorations of Germany (Wehrmacht)
- German military stubs
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