The Kuban Shield
Published on June 03, 2019
The Kuban Shield (German: Kubanschild) was instituted on 20 September 1943. It was awarded to those soldiers who fought to preserve the bridgeheads in the Kuban region from February 1943 until the bridgeheads were abandoned in October 1943. For Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine personnel there was a somewhat complicated point system in place which had to be adhered to before they were eligible for the award.
Regulations stated that to be able to be awarded the Kuban shield you had to:
- Take part in a main battle
- Sustain an injury in battle
- Fight continuously for at least 60 days
Each recipient of the shield was entitled to have 5 copies of the award and could purchase copies more if needed.
Officially the shield was sewn onto the upper left arm of the uniform using the backing cloth. However, instead of sewing it on, soldiers removed the cloth and used the shield’s prongs to pin it onto their uniforms.
The shield was awarded “in the name of the Fuhrer” through General Field Marshall Ewald von Kleist. In total approximately 145.000 shields were awarded.
Sources: Bewertungskatalog Orden und Ehrenzeichen Deutschland 1871-1945; Detlev Niemann; 2008
