Bronze Anti-Partisan Badge (APB) with 2 Cut-outs (Rare Variant)

This is a Bronze Type-4 Antipartisan badge by C.E. Juncker with rare cut-outs for this type (typically seen without the oblong cut-outs beneath the snake’s heads), and a previously unknown “thin” version (more on this below).

Made of zinc, all of the bronze wash is long gone, which is very typical of these zinc badges. This badge is one of a set of three (one Bronze, one Silver and one Gold) that belonged to a single German soldier.

The detail of the snake’s heads is extremely strong, with little noticeable wear. In fact, there is very little detail loss to be found anywhere on this piece. The reverse is the semi-hollow type, with “banjo” style pin and flat wire catch.

What makes this badge particularly rare are two very rare and unique qualities. One of these qualities includes the two cut-outs between the snakes. As noted in Anthony Scapini’s book, “The Anti-partisan Badge” (page 111), almost all of these badges were produced without these cut-outs, but some rare examples include these cut-outs, as is the case here. As well, this variant of the Type 4 is a “thin” version. In Scapini’s book, page 111, he notes that these Type 4 badges were all “thick” versions. This is obviously not the case as this version is unmistakably an original Type 4 badge with a slightly lighter weight (25g versus 30.9g noted in the book) due to the reduction in materials used to produce it. Perhaps in a future edition of Scapini’s book this variant will be identified as a Type 4.1.

The weight of this badge is 25g, with the width and height being 49mm x 58.75mm respectively. The thickness of the “lip” at the outer edge of the badge is approximately 1.3mm – 1.5mm (depending on where you measure). As mentioned above, this is an extremely rare “thin” version of this Type, and is not noted in Scapini’s book (yet).

Arguably one of the more rare awards of the Third Reich, the Anti-partisan Badge was awarded to only a handful of soldiers; 1,650 Bronze badges were awarded, 510 Silver, and 47 Gold (these are approximate numbers). The Anti-partisans were Gorilla fighting forces opposed to the German invaders and were present in almost all theaters from the Soviet Union to France. The Anti-partisan badge was awarded to German soldiers participating in 20, 50 or 100 days of Partisan fighting, with one of the three classes (Bronze, Silver or Gold) awarded for each of the three levels respectively.