57er Mini Chains

[Brig]

I've always been a fan of the miniature lapel chains, very commonly seen with WWI German awards, very rarely seen with WWII German awards, and also found in 1957 regulation awards.

 

These were for wear on the civilian suit, and would be worn on the recipient's left side along the line of the lapel, hence the reverse order of the awards. The 16mm pendants used are the same types as the mini medals. Due to the ease of removing and placing these pendants, these are very easy to hump up, and you have to be careful when buying them. Because of this problem, they usually go for around the sum of the parts if not documented.

 

I currently own three...the top one to an Afrika vet still has a war time or immediate post-war Afrika Campaign with the swastika. Bottom two chains both have pendants that display the tell-tale St&L 'O' mark on the rear.

[teamski]

Neat collection! I like that Krim shield!

 

-Ski

[Tony v]

Brig

 

Great collection, do not see these every day. Thank you for posting them

 

Tony

[SARGE]

Neat miniatures and chains. I see the top Afrika Korps chain only has his wartime awards while the bottom two have a couple of postwar awards indicating these two fellows may have remained in active BW service or another uniformed agency like the Polizei or Feuerwehr.

 

What is the bronze award on the far left of the bottom chain?

[Brig]

I have found DRL and DSB awards to be used interchangeably. It's my understanding that the DRL became the DSB after the war...and the DRL was never authorized in the 1957 regulations, however that didn't stop firms from producing it or vets from wearing it.

 

I never take it as a sign alone of post-war service. Much like a WWI style wound badge isn't an indicator of WWI service...they were often used interchangeably when vendors put combos together.

 

The bronze one you refer to is the Romanian Medal