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06-JUL-2010

Was this the pilots medal?

Courtesy of Jim Chandler, 455th AAA Collection
We do not know and I have to ask again and try to find out if this medal has been taken from the pilot or if it has been found where the plane landed. Its condition makes me believe it has been found years after the shootdown, but I do not know for sure. However, the medal is some kind of silver medal for the second place during the Nazi Combat Games 1938, some kind of combat orientated competition. Please see next image how the medal once looked!

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foto61.net19-Dec-2010 15:10
Yes, I too think that this medal is not from the pilot. It would be in much better condition. However, most of the few still living people who have seen W13 in January 45 cant remember very well. So maybe something has been mixed up here.
Concerning the medal Tom, you are wrong. You confuse the Medal with the Medal for the Nazi Party Convention and I have to admit, they look almost the same. The only difference is that the Medal you mean has no text written on its front side. This is the medal you mean:http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-medals/nazi3.htm

The medal on my picture has been given to the person reaching second place at the NS-combat games at the Reichstparteitag (Nuremberg Rally) in Nürnberg 1938. It has indeed the absolutely same picture but it says "Reichsparteitag 1938" on its front and it says "NS Kampfspiele 1938 Zweiter Platz" on its reverse side. Unfortunately I do not find an appropriate picture but this one may help, the only difference is that this one is for the winner:http://www.dhm.de/magazine/medaillen/medaillen_simple/50nskampfspiele.htm
Regards Steve
tom 18-Dec-2010 06:03
see comment to the next image...
if the pilot actually had this on him, it's a miracle it wasn't taken by some "collector", just like his boots were, and the way the remains of the plane were cannibalized.
It could have been accidentally been dropped later, or possible even before the crash landing. It is not for the second place in combat games but for the last Nazi party convention held in Germany in 1938.