The Eastern Winter Campaign Medal

(Medaille Winterschacht im Osten 1941/42)

 

By Kevin A. Sanders

 

 

The Eastern Winter Campaign Medal, also known as the “The Eastern Front Medal (Ostmedaille)”, the “Russian Front Medal”, or the “Frozen Meat  Medal (Gefrierfleisch Orden)” was introduced on May 26th, 1942 to honor those who participated in the first winter of the Barbarossa operation. 

Operation Barbarossa began at 0300 hours on Sunday morning, June 22nd, 1941, when the German OKW (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht) unleashed 3 Army groups consisting of 120 divisions on Stalin’s Russia. The fighting in Russia was some of the fiercest of the war.  The Russian winter of 1941 was harsh and provided for extreme weather conditions which elicited unbelievable logistical difficulties for an attacking Army so far from their base of materials and supply. 

The Russian Front Medal was held in high esteem and was often worn in the second button hole of the tunic, a place normally reserved for the Iron Cross or War Merit Cross, second class, by active duty personnel.  It was also worn on the ribbon bar and was occasionally placed ahead of the War Merit Cross second class.  The Russian Front Medal was created by SS Unterscharfuher Ernst Kraus.

It was presented to personnel who met any one of the following requirements during the period November 15th, 1941 and April 26th, 1942.

·         30 combat sorties for Luftwaffe pilots

·         14 days of combat operations

·         Serving 60 days in a combat zone (even if not in actual fighting)

·         Being wounded (to include frostbite if severe enough to warrant a wound badge)

 

In case of death, the posthumous award was presented to the next of kin.  It could also be awarded to German allies who met any of the above criteria.  The OKW ordered that all considerations for presentation of the Russian Front Medal be suspended on September 4th, 1944.

The medal itself has a concave obverse and a convex reverse.  The obverse face of the medal has a recessed outer lip just along the circular edge with a width of approximately 1 mm. The center of the medal obverse contains a raised Deutches Adler (German Eagle) clutching a squared swastika. A branch of leaves was woven just behind this swastika. At the top of the obverse face was mounted a stick grenade (aka, potato masher) horizontally with a German steel helmet on top of the grenade.  The medal is 35 mm horizontally and 40 mm longitudinally from the bottom of the medal to the top of the helmet. A ribbon ring of 4 mm was affixed to top of the helmet and a hallmarked ribbon loop of 12 mm passed through the loop.

The convex reverse also realized a recessed lip running along the edge of the medal.  The inscription “WINTERSCHLACHT IM OSTEN 1941/42” was in capital letters and centered in the medal. “IM OSTEN” is noticeably larger. At the bottom of the reverse, underneath the lettering, resides a laurel branch with berries inter-mixed in the leaf base which crosses over a broad bladed sword in a compressed “X” configuration.

The entire medal itself was blackened.  It was held by a dark red ribbon with a thin longitudinal white, black, white set of columns running through the center.  The ribbon was 30 mm in width with the middle white, black, white column measuring 3 mm. The color red signifies the blood shed during the operation, the white represented the snow of the winter, and the black honored those comrades who fell in the battle that winter.

 

      

 

 

Sources

 

1.      German Militaria and Collectibles, http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~sansom/

2.      Wehrmacht Awards and Decorations, http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/

3.      Manion’s International, http://www.manions.com/default.asp

4.      History of the Second World War, Parts 21 and 22, Marshall Cavendish USA, Ltd.

Kevin A. Sanders is a Manion’s Staff Writer. He operates World War Collectibles, specializing in documented appraisals, consignment, and research of late 19th and 20th Century military history and collectibles, particularly WWI and WWII German militaria. He can be reached at PO Box 140412. Gainesville, Florida 32614-0412. Telephone– Cell 352.870.8385 – worldwarcollectibles@hotmail.com.