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Nahkampfspange in Bronze

The Close Combat Bar was initially made out of tomback an later also from zinc. After the badge was stamped out, it was finished with a bronze wash. Most of these bars are zinc examples. These zinc examples are less of quality and nowadays have lost most of there finish. This award is long shaped with a length of a 9,7cm and a height of 2,6cm. The badge is slightly concave so it fits better to the chest of the recipient. The centre motive is made of a square with at the top a typical spread-winged Wehrmacht eagle and this eagle is clutching a swastika in its claws. Underneath this swastika are a crossed stick grenade and bayonet placed. The other three borders of the square consist of each two oak leaves. From either side of this central motive, emerges a single oak leaf with at the upper and lower corner an acorn. From underneath the tip of this single oak leaf, a spray of three other oak leaves emerges. Between the centre motive and the outer oak leaves are two striped areas, which you could see as sunburst rays. At the reverse is a long horizontally lying needle with a standard hook construction mounted. In the centre is a small black finished backing plate crimped into position. This was done to highlight the centre motive at the obverse. At the reverse is also usually the name or logo from the manufacturer stamped.

The bronze grade (I Stufe) was awarded for 15 days close combat. These 15 days could be shortened to 10 days by the division commandant, when the recipient was to severely wounded to for fill the prescribed 15 days. When the recipient was awarded with the bronze grade, he also automatically was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class (Eiseren Kreuz 2e Klasse), if this award was not already possessed by the recipient.

Bidermann, Gottlob-Herbert* August 28th, 1920
† September 1st, 2010

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Grid List
Wagenaar, Henk* January 15th, 1925
† August 12th, 1943

Wagner, Emil Richard (Infanterie-Regiment 62)* December 11th, 1912
† September 4th, 1944
Grave: UNK

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Wahl, Kurt (Waffen SS)* August 20th, 1914
† December 28th, 1988

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Wald, Peter* June 28th, 1920
† 1953

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Wandmaker, Helmut (Grenadier-Regiment (mot.)76)* November 9th, 1916
† July 19th, 2007

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Wandrey, Max* April 8th, 1910
† February 21st, 1945

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Wanka, Karl* June 1st, 1914
† May 3rd, 1980

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Warburg, von, Albrecht (Grenadier-Regiment 367)* March 12th, 1903
† January 14th, 1945
Grave: UNK

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Warmenhoven, Pierre* November 15th, 1915
† September 8th, 1943

Warnecke, Friedrich "Fritz"* November 25th, 1898
† May 4th, 1968

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Weber, Alois (Waffen SS)* November 30th, 1915
† January 19th, 2003

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Weber, Alois (WH-Infanterie)* July 26th, 1903
† June 19th, 1976

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Weber, Franz (Jäger-Regiment 28)* November 30th, 1921
† July 28th, 2014

Weber, Hugo* February 28th, 1913

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Weber, Wilhelm 'der Zyklon' 'Willi' (Waffen SS)* March 19th, 1918
† March 2nd, 1980

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Weckmann, Harry* December 9th, 1906
† February 11th, 1945

Wegerer, Ferdinand* August 9th, 1917
† December 8th, 1999

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Wehinger, Anton* January 13th, 1921
† May 15th, 2012

Wehrmann, Gerhard (Feldersatz-Bataillon 3)* March 16th, 1914
† December 24th, 1998

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Weidinger, Otto (Waffen SS)* May 27th, 1914
† January 11th, 1990

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Weihe, Edmund* October 7th, 1916

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Weiler, Bruno* July 27th, 1905
† May 8th, 1945

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Weinland, Heinz* September 28th, 1921

Weisel, Erwin* April 7th, 1917
† March 1st, 2013

Weiser, Hermann "Bibl" „Piepel" (Waffen SS)* November 22nd, 1918
† March 21st, 1970

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Weiss, Adolf (WH-Infanterie)* April 3rd, 1906
† June 26th, 1995

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Weisse, Kurt (Waffen SS)* October 11th, 1909

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Weissenbach, Johann (Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 136)* January 16th, 1915
† October 11th, 1944
Grave: UNK

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Weissmann, August Karl Heinz "Heinz"* February 15th, 1919
† August 4th, 1943

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Weitkunat, Adolf* February 7th, 1895
† June 28th, 1988

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Weiß, Alfred* June 13th, 1914
† February 7th, 1945

Weiß, Hans (Waffen SS)* August 28th, 1911
† October 2nd, 1978

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Weiß, Herbert* January 2nd, 1914
† September 22nd, 1999

Wellm, August* June 25th, 1899
† December 21st, 1962

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Wende, Willi Fritz* December 25th, 1910
† July 16th, 1944

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Wendelken, Harry* April 19th, 1915
† 1945

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Wendland, Heinrich 'Heinz'* August 18th, 1917
† June 18th, 1944
Row: 45 Grave: 274

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Wengler, Maximilian (Generalmajor)* January 14th, 1890
† April 26th, 1945

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Wenz, Alfred Emil* December 1st, 1919
† September 19th, 1944

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Wenzelburger, Georg 'Schorsch' (Gren.Reg.1098)* December 22nd, 1910
† January 18th, 2000

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Werner, Fritz* January 3rd, 1915

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Werner, Heinz (Waffen SS)* December 2nd, 1917
† September 9th, 1978

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Wernig, Emil* March 28th, 1920
† November 20th, 1943

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Wesche, Konrad Julius Willi "Willi"* January 8th, 1899
† June 27th, 1944

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Westenthanner, Lorenz* December 13th, 1919
† December 11th, 1944
Plot: 82 Row: 2 Grave: 187

Wetz, Oskar (Infanterie-Regiment 419)* September 18th, 1912
† October 11th, 1943
Grave: UNK

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Wiekhorst, Hermann† August 10th, 1944

Wieland, Friedrich* June 2nd, 1914
† November 15th, 2000

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Wiese, Heinrich* February 27th, 1910
† March 31st, 1987

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Wilhelm, Josef* October 4th, 1917
† October 4th, 1944

Wilke, Rudolf* July 7th, 1922
† March 6th, 1998

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Willers, Heino Hermann* April 3rd, 1920
† February 21st, 1945

Willms, Siebo* November 21st, 1913
† January 1st, 1945

Wimmer, Franz* 1916
† March 1945

Wimmer, Friedrich Wilhelm* December 27th, 1912
† July 5th, 1986

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Wirsching, Wolfgang (Grenadier-Regiment)* January 25th, 1918
† February 23rd, 1945
Grave: UNK

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Wisliceny, Günther Eberhardt (Waffen SS)* September 5th, 1912
† August 25th, 1985

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Witt, Heinz* July 15th, 1917
† April 26th, 2001

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Witte, Gerhard (Panzergrenadier-Regiment 25)* February 2nd, 1916
† April 16th, 2009

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Wittenbecher, Heinz* August 5th, 1914
† July 15th, 1943

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Witthaus, Heinrich* May 9th, 1914
† July 10th, 1944

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Wittmann, Alfred (Waffen SS)* March 24th, 1922
† March 18th, 2004

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Wittwer, Herbert* May 28th, 1910
† January 16th, 1990

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Wohlgemuth, Karl* September 15th, 1917
† August 29th, 1983

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Wohnhas, Walter* June 10th, 1918
† May 4th, 2002

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Wolf, Walter (WH-Geb.Jg.Rgt. 137)* September 21st, 1913

Wolf, Werner (Korps-MG-Bataillon 420)* October 27th, 1914
† July 25th, 2002

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Wolff, Eberhard (Heeres-Pionier-Bataillon 505)* April 12th, 1915
† April 8th, 1945
Plot: Seebad Row: Waldfried. Grave: Einzelgrab

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Wolff, Werner* November 28th, 1922
† March 30th, 1945

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Wolkewitz, Erich* January 29th, 1904
† June 30th, 1987

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Wrona, Günter* April 17th, 1916
† July 18th, 2010

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Wulf, Hermann, Dr. med. (Grenadier-Regiment 76)* July 25th, 1915
† May 19th, 1990

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Wulff, Hermann (Grenadier-Regiment 333)* November 27th, 1919
† June 8th, 2008

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Wörl, Anton (Grenadier-Regiment 423)* February 6th, 1906
† January 18th, 1945
Grave: UNK

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Sources