BACKGROUND: Originally German army marksmen were distinguished by a series of sleeve stripes that were introduced on January 27^TH 1928. These sleeve stripes remained in use until newly designed marksmen’s lanyards were introduced on June 29^TH 1936. The lanyards were issued in twelve ascending grades with grade one being the lowest and grade twelve the highest. The grades were originally differentiated by a silver colored shield with a Wehrmacht eagle for grades one through four with an additional acorn device for each successive grade, a silver colored shield with a Wehrmacht eagle, crossed swords and a oak-leaf wreath for grades five through eight with an additional acorn device for each successive grade and a gilt colored shield with a Wehrmacht eagle, crossed swords and a oak-leaf wreath for grades nine through twelve with an additional acorn device for each successive grade. On January 9^TH 1939 the first pattern lanyard shields for grades one through four were replaced with the silver colored shield with a Wehrmacht eagle, crossed swords and a oak-leaf wreath that was slightly smaller then the first pattern shields for grades five through eight. The lanyards were awarded to qualifying EM/NCO’s and were accompanied with an award certificate. The lanyards were worn suspended from under the right shoulder strap and attached to the second top front closure button of most uniforms. Award of the marksmen’s lanyards was discontinued on February 14^TH 1941 to be reinstituted at the successful conclusion of the war.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: First pattern, (circa June 1936-January 1939), grade nine to twelve marksmen’s national eagle lanyard shield consists of a roughly, 2 1/14" tall, 1 5/8" wide, gilt washed, stamped, alloy construction, vertically oval, embossed, oak-leaf wreath with a Wehrmacht style eagle with down swept wings, clutching a canted swastika in its talons, positioned to the top center encompassing crossed swords which are superimposed on a shield shaped base with a subtly pebbled background field. The shield device retains over 95% of its original gilt wash with minor age dulling. The reverse of the device is a mirror image of the obverse and has all four soldered attachment prongs intact. The device has no visible manufacturer’s markings.

GRADE ****                             PRICE $135.00