Description
Silvered steel Third Reich Luftwaffe Heimatflakartillerie stickpin worn by members of the Heimat und Alarm Flakartillerie (Homeland and Alarm Flak Artillery). Members were civilians; factory and office employees typically working for large German industrial companies that operated their own Flak batteries (because they were frequent targets of Allied bombing raids). Employees were organized by the Luftwaffe into small Flak teams in cooperation with the Deutsche Arbeitsfront (DAF or German Labor Front). Since civilians could not be awarded the military Flak badge (Flak-Kampfabzeichen), Nazi Air Minister Hermann Göring founded the ‘home front’ Heimatflakartillerie in March 1943. This rare insignia has a 40 mm long pin and features a Luftwaffe eagle with a 30 mm wingspan, clutching a DAF cogged wheel with a swastika in the center. It was manufactured to be awarded to industrial Flak team members following completion of Flak training, and was awarded by a Flak battery leader who was usually a member of the Luftwaffe. MINT condition.
