The Narvik Shield
Published on June 05, 2019
The Narvik Shield (German: Narvikschild) was instituted by Hitler on 19 August 1940. It was awarded to those soldiers that took part in the battles of Narvik between the 9th of April and the 9th of June 1940. The shield was awarded in the name of Commander of the battle group Narvik, General of the Mountain divisions Eduard Dietl.
Each recipient of the shield was entitled to have 3 copies of the award and could purchase copies more if needed. For purchasing more, the award document needed to be shown before purchasing.
The shield was awarded in three versions, two silver versions and a gold version. Each version was issued on a cloth backing which was used to sew the shield onto the uniform. The gold colored shield was issued to Kriegsmarine personnel. The Kriegsmarine shield was issued on blue cloth backing. The two remaining versions of the Narvik Shield were for issue to members of the Luftwaffe and Heer. The Luftwaffe and Heer version were both silver colored, with the Luftwaffe version being issued on gray-blue cloth backing and the Heer version on field-gray cloth backing.
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 first Narvik shield was awarded by Hitler to Generaloberst Eduard Dietl on the 21st of March 1941.
In total 8577 shields were awarded in the following categories:
- Heer personnel: 2755
- Luftwaffe personnel: 2161
- Kriegsmarine personnel: 3661
Of the awarded shields, 938 were awarded posthumously.
Sources: Bewertungskatalog Orden und Ehrenzeichen Deutschland 1871-1945; Detlev Niemann; 2008
