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Rank and Awards
All Armies must have Officers and NCOs to lead and in the re
enacted unit this is just the same.
In keeping with historical context,
we have a fair and balanced rank structure which follows the model of the
Waffe n
SS.
When a recruit first joins the society, his rank
will be Grenadier (private) after 12 months membership and attendance of
at least 50% of the events, he will than be promoted to Obergrenadier
(private 1st Class).
All other promotions within the society are
dependant on vacancy and the service and commitment of the member.
When the Unit Commander feels the need to appoint a
new NCO, he will advertise the vacancy to the membership and request
interested members to put their name forward for consideration.
Ranks are attained one at a time, example from
Obergrenadier to Sturmmann, therefore if the vacancy is for a Rottenführer
only a Sturmmann may put their name forward, new entrance from other Axis
groups will only be allowed to join with the rank of Obergrenadier, they
will not be allowed to retain their former unit rank.
Awards and medals
Take a look at any war time photo of German troops
and you will notice the soldiers usually have a badge or medal ribbon
fitted to the tunic, sometimes many more.
The historical German Forces of WWII made good use
of their military award system and unlike other armies of the period,
issued the award fast and the soldier would proudly display them on their
tunics.
This also had an added benefit, any officer or NCO
could see the level of experience of his troops simply by looking at their
tunics, generally the more they had, the more experienced they were.
A method had to be found to simulate this, the
original awards were obviously given for a reason, so we adopted as best
practice, as far as we can in a re enactment, the criteria that was
originally used to receive the award.
For example to be awarded the Infantry Assault
Badge, a soldier had to be present at three separate actions or more. So
it is awarded to members after three battles which are not part of the
same event, this keeps it as authentic as we can get.
Other awards such as the War Merit Cross, are
awarded for hard work and commitment to the society, the DRL badge in
bronze is an automatic award to serving and ex servicemen
recognising their real service.
The following is a list of awards that can be
earned in recognition of your conduct and commitment within the
group and the qualification needed to receive the award.
Award
Qualification
for Award
Long Service medal
Awarded after 4,8,12 years membership
Infantry Assault Badge
Three separate battles, can be public or private, but must not be related
Wound Badge Black
For wounds that require hospital treatment, on the day, 1-2 wounds
Wound Badge Silver As for Black, but 3-4 wounds
Wound Badge Gold
As for Black, 5-6 wounds
Russian front medal
One Ostfront Battle
Close Combat Clasp Bronze
Simulated Close Combat, must be witnessed by a unit NCO
War Merit Cross, 2nd Class with
swords Exceed the criteria for running,
helping out with the group
War Merit Cross, 1st Class with
swords Outstanding and continual
support within the group
German Cross in Gold
Accomplishing several deeds worthy of the EKI and help within the group
Tank Destruction
Silver Single handed destruction of an
enemy AFV with a hand held weapon.
Iron Cross 2nd Class (EKII) *
A distinguished act during battle.
Iron Cross 1st Class (EKI) *
Accompany and exceed deeds required for Iron Cross 2nd Class.
Knights Cross * Saving the life of another re enactor or person
Anschluss Medal
Attendance at 10 public events
Sudetenland Medal Attendance at 20 public events
Prague Castle Bar Attendance at 30 public events
DRL Sports Badge bronze Award to group members who are serving or ex-servicepersons
* Items marked by an Asterisk must be witnessed
by a group NCO
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