Wehrmacht Large Estate of the Brave Rittmeister Dadrat of Panzer-Grenadier Regiment 26 with 1 Tank Destruction Badge for Individual Combat

This remarkably complete awards grouping documents the combat career of a Wehrmacht officer whose service in one of the German Army's most storied divisions took him through some of the most savage battlefields of the Second World War. At its center stands the Sonderabzeichen für das Niederkämpfen von Panzerkampfwagen durch Einzelkämpfer – the Tank Destruction Badge – one of the most prestigious and rarest decorations of the Wehrmacht, which honored the individual courage of soldiers who engaged enemy armor at close quarters.

The Tank Destruction Badge

This decoration was instituted on 9 March 1942 by order of Adolf Hitler, announced through the Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH). It was a direct response to the inadequacy of German anti-tank weapons against Soviet armor, particularly the T-34 tank, during the brutal winter campaign of 1941–42. Individual soldiers were compelled to engage enemy tanks with improvised close-combat weapons – a task demanding extraordinary personal bravery.

The badge existed in two classes: the Silver class (with a black-finished tank) was awarded for each individual tank destroyed, while the Gold class, introduced on 18 December 1943, was awarded for the destruction of five tanks and replaced four silver badges. The example in this grouping belongs to the Silver class, awarded to Rittmeister Dadrat on 2 October 1942 as documented in his Wehrpass.

The award criteria were rigorously defined. Only soldiers who single-handedly destroyed an enemy tank or armored vehicle using hand-held close-combat weapons such as Panzerfaust anti-tank rockets, satchel charges, hand grenades, mines, or anti-tank rifles (Panzerbüchse) were eligible. Personnel serving in dedicated anti-tank units were explicitly excluded. The award could be made retroactively to 22 June 1941, the date Operation Barbarossa commenced. Each destruction required verification through after-action reports, witness statements, and inspection of the wreckage.

Recipients of this badge were known colloquially as “Panzerknacker” (tank busters) and held in the highest esteem. According to Colonel General Heinz Guderian, approximately 10,000 badges had been awarded by May 1944, rising to roughly 14,000 by war’s end.

Physically, the badge was a rectangular sleeve badge approximately 88–90 mm long and 32–33 mm wide, featuring a silver aluminum wire (Aluminiumgespinst) background with two black horizontal stripes. A stamped Panzer IV silhouette (approximately 42–43 mm × 18 mm) was affixed via three prongs bent over a metal backing plate. The example in this grouping features a burnished, non-magnetic tank with back plate and no cloth backing – the non-magnetic material suggests brass rather than iron construction.

The 24th Panzer Division and Panzer-Grenadier Regiment 26

Rittmeister Dadrat served in Panzer-Grenadier Regiment 26, part of the 24th Panzer Division. This formation was established in November 1941 from the venerable 1st Cavalry Division and retained its cavalry traditions, including the distinctive golden-yellow branch color (Waffenfarbe). From June 1942, the division fought on the Eastern Front, participating in the capture of Voronezh before being destroyed at Stalingrad in January 1943.

Reformed in March 1943, the division subsequently served in Normandy and Italy before returning to the Eastern Front, where it fought around Kiev, in the Dnieper Bend, and in Romania, including participation in the Battle of Târgu Frumos in spring 1944.

A Documented Combat Career

The accompanying Wehrpass (military service book), issued in 1938, provides a comprehensive record of service through 1944. It documents all decorations in chronological sequence: Iron Cross 2nd Class (27 March 1942), Wound Badge in Black (15 April 1942), Eastern Medal (9 July 1942), General Assault Badge (22 August 1942), Tank Destruction Badge (2 October 1942), Wound Badge in Gold (4 February 1944), and Iron Cross 1st Class (23 February 1944).

The progression from the Wound Badge in Black (awarded for one to two wounds) to the Wound Badge in Gold (awarded for five or more wounds or severe disability) testifies to the ferocity of the fighting endured. The Wehrpass records three wounds in total, the last sustained on 13 January 1944 from grenade splinters to the left forearm. Promotion to Rittmeister – a cavalry rank reflecting the division’s heritage – came on 1 December 1944 on a preferential basis. The last unit recorded was Panzer-Grenadier-Ersatz-Bataillon 413.

The General Assault Badge, instituted on 1 June 1940 by General Walther von Brauchitsch, was awarded for participation in three infantry assaults on separate days to personnel not eligible for the Infantry Assault Badge. The Eastern Medal, instituted 26 May 1942, required among its criteria 14 days of combat service or 60 days of service in the operational area, or a wound or frostbite sustained on the Eastern Front between 15 November 1941 and 15 April 1942.

Post-War Legacy

A notable distinction of the Tank Destruction Badge was that it bore no swastika or other prohibited symbols, permitting it to continue being worn after 1945 and enjoying high esteem within the Bundeswehr (German Federal Armed Forces). In 1957, the West German government authorized denazified versions of the Wound Badge for wear on Bundeswehr uniforms. The 24th Panzer Division’s insignia was adopted in 1956 by PzAufklBtl.3 of the newly established Bundeswehr.

This grouping, with its complete set of decorations, meticulously documented Wehrpass, identification tag, and portrait photographs, represents a rare and historically significant record of frontline service on the Eastern Front.