Army Roll of Honor Clasp

On January 30, 1944, Adolf Hitler ordered to be created this clasp to reward certain members of the German Wehrmacht, namely the Heer (Army) and Waffen-SS forces who had been entered on the 'Honor Roll of the German Army'. This roll had been started in July 1941 to record the honorable and heroic deeds carried out by its members. Up until the clasp was created, no other tangible evidence that a member had been entered on the roll existed. The clasp, or badge, became an outward symbol of inclusion in the honor roll.

The clasp itself comprised a finely gilded and stamped circular wreath of oak leaves, with a tied bow ribbon at the base (much like a Christmas wreath). In the center was a large swastika.

It is believed that 4,556 of these awards were manufactured for both the Heer and Waffen-SS, making it a considerably rare award.

The recipient had to already have the Iron Cross First Class and Second Class. There were no specific qualifications that one could make a checklist of to earn this award. Its award was at the discretion of the German High Command. It was, however, awarded very sparingly so it did retain a high level of prestige and honor, as was intended.

The other award which would be worn on the Iron Cross Second Class ribbon, was the 1939 clasp to the Iron Cross. This simply meant that the wearer had earned the I.C. 2.Klasse in both World War I and World War II. If a recipient of the Honor Roll Clasp already had the 1939 clasp, the wearer would remove the 1939 award and wear only the Honor Roll badge, as it was more prestigious.

The wreath measures 24.5mm across and is formed of five bunches of Oak Leaves on either side. The width of the wreath is 5mm at the widest point and tapers to the apex where two oak leaves meet tip-to-tip. The height of the badge from base to tip is 26mm. The swastika is not mobile, and stands proudly superimposed upon the wreath. The swastika is of separate manufacturer and then is soldered onto the wreath assembly - many reproductions are a single piece production.

There is also a fine, indented line running around inside the legs of the swastika. The reverse is a negative of the obverse, being stamped out. The reverse has four pins for attachment, to allow it to be secured to a strip of Iron Cross Second Class ribbon. This ribbon is then looped through the second button hole on the tunic of the recipient.