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Instituted on 1 April 1941, the Abzeichen für Blockadebrecher was created "in recognition of the determined conduct of the crews of sea-going ships who found themselves in neutral foreign countries, overseas and on the oceans upon the outbreak of war and who returned to the homeland after breaking the enemy blockade".
The badge could be awarded to the crews of military blockade runners as well those of civilian commercial vessels. The Reichskommissar für die Seeschiffahrt [National Commissioner for Maritime Navigation] was in charge of awards to the crews of civilian ships, while the Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine [Supreme Commander of the Navy], acting in consent with the Reichskommissar, was in charge of awards to crews of ships under military control.
Criteria for the award were a successful breakthrough of the sea blockade, scuttling of the ship to avoid its impending capture by enemy forces and certain cases involving particular initiative which led to a ship and its cargo either being preserved or destroyed in the interest of the people and the economy. Survivors of ships sunk by the enemy were also eligible for the badge as were wounded men under special circumstances.
Originally designed by the artist Otto Placzek of Berlin, the badge depicts a civilian ship with the national eagle at its bow, plowing through the waves and breaking a chain that forms the border of the badge and symbolizes the blockade. The 57er version eliminates the Swastika originally held in eagle’s clutches.
Here it is now:
Anyway, in post 3 of that thread I wrote about the public drive to collect old family swords for conversion into Gunto to make up for the shortages of Gunto production. I thought it might be of interest to sword people to know what the threshold conditions were for entering old swords in this program, as they also provide clues to other questions such as the short models supposedly for flyers or old family swords as guntos.
Attached below is the public flyer distributed by the military sword appraisal committee and the paragraph boxed in red defines the conditions under which they bought swords from the public. This was part of the home front support activity that later got acknowledged by the China Incident Commemorative Medal.
I will provide a translation of the boxed section—-
(Qualifications necessary in the sword submitted for consideration)
"Swords suitable as Gunto, coming with a minimum blade length of 54.5 centimeters (21.5") will be bought up at fair prices. However, please understand that those valued at more than 500 Yen and naturally those that reveal themselves to be of national treasure class or of particular historical value in the preliminary acceptance Shinsa screening will need to be excluded, and we ask that they be kept in your custody to be preserved on behalf of the nation. Please be sure to clearly tag with name and address the blades you submit"
Thus swords for this program could be roughly 20% shorter than standard, as that was still preferable to not having any sword at all. At the same time, they had the sense not to send precious treasures out into the battlefield by only accepting blades up to 6 times the value of a rinji seishiki blade and rejecting anything more expensive.
The flyer is titled "About serving your nation with Guntos" and would have been delivered in the newspapers or passed around as a neighborhood round robin.
I received this Ärmelband Kreta recently and I’d like to have some opinions about it.
Thanks in advance.
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Based on what I have already found out, this watch would be circa 1940, however I am trying to discover what differences this may have over other 117 models.
For example I am aware that many Air Ministry models have the King’s crown as well as a fairly ornate A.M. on the back, while this watch of mine has no King’s crown and a more simplistic A.M. Is this a difference in manufactures or even an indication of the status of the person in receipt of the watch (officer or no, perhaps?)
Additionally the watch face itself is split into a 30 second intervals with a count of up to 15 minutes, however I am aware that other models have a full 360 motion of 60 seconds and up to an hour. Is this indicative of the particular aircraft this watch was used on?
The watch face itself (which sadly has lost its covering) feels rough to the touch, almost like paper. Is this as it should be, or possibly indicative of a potential fake, or some alteration made over the years?
Finally, there is a serial number labelled 2183 / 44 - I am assuming this is individual to every watch, however any particulars on the significance of this number would be appreciated.
Kind regards for any help that can be provided. I am very interested in this watch and I have been struggling to find information for such particular questions elsewhere simply due to my own lack of knowledge and resources. Thank you.
Based on what I have already found out, this watch would be circa 1940, however I am trying to discover what differences this may have over other 117 models.
For example I am aware that many Air Ministry models have the King’s crown as well as a fairly ornate A.M. on the back, while this watch of mine has no King’s crown and a more simplistic A.M. Is this a difference in manufactures or even an indication of the status of the person in receipt of the watch (officer or no, perhaps?)
Additionally the watch face itself is split into a 30 second intervals with a count of up to 15 minutes, however I am aware that other models have a full 360 motion of 60 seconds and up to an hour. Is this indicative of the particular aircraft this watch was used on?
The watch face itself (which sadly has lost its covering) feels rough to the touch, almost like paper. Is this as it should be, or possibly indicative of a potential fake, or some alteration made over the years?
Finally, there is a serial number labelled 2183 / 44 - I am assuming this is individual to every watch, however any particulars on the significance of this number would be appreciated.
Kind regards for any help that can be provided. I am very interested in this watch and I have been struggling to find information for such particular questions elsewhere simply due to my own lack of knowledge and resources. Thank you.
