GERMAN WWII HEER HELMET SHIELDS FOR PITH HELMETS OF THE "AFRIKA KORPS"

These original Africa Corp Pith Helmet Shields are displayed on a 9" x 6" card.

This souvenir card was issued by company "JPA" in 1966 with original ww2 Afrika Korps Pith Helmet Shields.

Older collectors will remember these relic cards and the rather campy descriptions which accompanied the relics sold by JPA. The insignia have not been removed from the cards to avoid potential damage to the pins.

So if you need original metal German pith helmet shields here is a great set .

Stated on card:

The two attached metal insignia are original war souvenirs of the famous German Afrika Korps which was defeated by the British Eighth Army in 1943, after more than two years of bloody, tank and infantry warfare in the scorching North African deserts.  This pair of military helmet insignia was made in Berlin, Germany during WWII, for wear by Hitler’s Panzer Korps and the Nazi troops serving under the famed “Desert Fox,” General Erwin Rommel.

The two shields, one bearing the infamous Nazi eagle and swastika emblem, and the other bearing the German national colors, were worn by members of the Afrika Korps fighting in North Africa, on the sides of their tan-colored, military issue helmets.  They are now rare collectors’ relics from an intriguing era of world history and military strategy.

The WWII conflict between the German and British forces in Africa was highlighted by a new kind of warfare unlink anything seen before.  Back and forth across the treeless, scorching desert wastelands, mobile columns of tanks maneuvered like fleets of warships on the ocean.  Supply lines from Europe were long and difficult to maintain, and soldiers on both sides were often short of fuel, ammunition and drinking water.  The weather was frequently the most dreaded enemy of both sides.  Sandstorms, scorching heat in the day, and biter cold at night.  Contributed heavily to the discomfort and inherent misery of soldiers engaged in battle.

The German Afrika Korps was commanded by the famous Nazi General, Erwin Rommel, whom the British nicknames the “Desert Fox”, as a result of his cunning and skillful maneuvering against the English 8^th Army in the North African deserts.  Rommel was a genius at the art of tank warfare and knew how o concentrate his tanks for decisive blows again the British, who habitually sent their tanks into battle piecemeal, only to be chewed up by the German tanks and field guns.

After many months of winning victory after victory, the supply problem became impossible for Rommel’s forces, and he suffered a dire shortage of reinforcements and fuel.  Hitler was forced to ship all of his available manpower and supplies to the German troops engaged in the bitter fighting on the Russian front and no troops, tanks or supplies could be spared for the Afrika Korps.  In contrast the British forces in Africa were reinforced to an extent never before possible with the arrival of over 300 new Sherman tanks from the U.S.

At El Alamein, a last-ditch defense by the British 8^th Army, led by General Montgomery, finally halted the long string of defeats suffered by the English in Africa.  The battle at El Alamein was considered the crucial turning point in the war and the tide of battle favored the British thereafter.

Rommel was forced into a full retreat and though his Afrika Korps fought valiantly, his losses were great.  The battlefield was covered with large masses of destroyed tanks, guns and vehicles.  The Germans had only 12 tanks left from the 240 which the sent into the battle.  Rommel’s losses at El Alamein were 59,000 killed, wounded and captured out of his total force of 96,000 German and Italian troops.  Such staggering losses and a lack of reinforcements forced him to make a successful retreat some 1300 miles back to the European Continent.