Narvik Shield

Narvik Shield is a German military award instituted on August 19, 1940, and authorized for all German forces that took part in the battles of Narvik between April 9 and June 9 of the same year. The shield was worn on the left arm of the uniform as described above. Each recipient was presented with 3 copies, and had the ability to purchase additional copies by producing the award document. The award was hollow backed and stamped from sheet metal which was usually zinc, although a few early examples were made in brass. The shield was awarded in three versions, two silver versions and a gold version. Each version was issued on cloth backing for attachment to the uniform. The gold tinted shield was issued to members of the Kriegsmarine. The Kriegsmarine shield was issued on blue cloth backing. The two remaining versions of the Narvik Shield were for issue to members of the Luftwaffe and Heer. The Luftwaffe and Heer version were both silver, with the Luftwaffe version being issued on gray-blue cloth backing and the Heer version on field-gray cloth backing. Other than color and cloth backing, all three designs of the shield were exactly alike.

The shield was worn on the upper left sleeve of the service, walking-out dress and guard uniforms of the respective arm of service of the individual. It was attached to the uniform using the cloth backing issued with each shield, but if the cloth backing was missing or not issued, it was attached to the upper left sleeve by a set of four prongs on the back of the shield. If a second shield was awarded to an individual, both shields could be worn, one above another separated by 5 mm of space.

The first award was made to Generaloberst Eduard Dietl by Hitler on March 21, 1941, then a total of 8,577 shields were presented like that:

• Heer: total 2,755 (posthumous - 96);
• Luftwaffe: total 2,161 (flying crew – 1,309, paratroopers - 756, posthumous – 410);
• Kriegsmarine: 3,661 (destroyer crews - 2,672, other – 115, posthumous – 410), merchant navy - 442 (posthumous - 22).

Narvik Shield 1957

In 1957, the Narvik Shield, along with many other German military decorations of World War II, was reauthorized for wear by qualifying veterans. The new version was without the eagle and swastika symbol of the Third Reich. The regulations remained basically the same, with the only difference being that now junior NCO's and privates were allowed to wear the shield on their white shirts and dress jackets.