Just found the thread on our forum, hopefully this post will help clarify:
Ha-ha! Here we enter another debate of almost similar nature. According to my references, the Panzer Assault Badge in bronze was open to members of:
- armoured reconnaissance units of the rifle battalions of Panzer divisions
- crews or armoured cars and other armoured vehicles that were not classed as tanks
So for armoured reconnaissance soldiers to get this badge, they had to be from recce units of Panzer divisions, not from recce units of Infantry or other divisions. For GD this would depend on what period of the war you are portraying, as it changed as the war went on.
The Infantry Assault Badge in bronze was open to members of:
- motorised or armoured Infantry
When GD was first being formed in April 1939 it was an Infantry regiment, but by October 1939 it had become a motorised Infantry regiment. It ended the war as a Panzergrenadier Division.
As for the General Assault Badge, this was instituted for soldiers who were not eligable for the silver versions of the Infantry Assault Badge and Panzer Assault Badge. For the silver Infantry Assault Badge, you had to be a member of an Infantry Regiment, Grenadier Regiment, Fusilier Regiment, Rifle Regiment or Mountain Rifle Regiment. For the silver Panzer Assault Badge, you had to be a member of a tank crew. The idea of the General Assault Badge was to cover soldiers of other trades in the army, particularly Pioniers (Combat Engineers who would very often be found on the front line under fire), but it wasn't specific to them as sometimes stated. Indeed, some Soldbuch references actually list it as the Pionier Sturmabzeichen. Armoured reconnaissance and assault artillery fall into this category, among others from any other part of the army who found themselves in the midst of battle (even Kreigsberichters). This can be confusing to some people as certain trades may or may not fall into this category. An example of this would be a signaller. A signaller who is part of an Infantry Regiment is not the same as a signaller from a Signals Regiment. Therefore the first may get the Infantry Assault Badge, but the second may get the General Assault Badge.
All 3 of these awards were instituted on 1st June 1940. The silver versions of the Infantry Assault Badge and Panzer Assault Badge had been instituted since 20th December 1939, but many soldiers who saw action were not eligable for these awards, hence why these 3 new badges were created
Of course this can be made confusing when looking at wartime photos, as Mick stated, soldiers often moved from unit to unit, meaning that someone from the Infantry may have been awarded a silver Infantry Assault Badge, but later moved to a Reconnaissance unit. He would still wear the award he was originally issued, so this is why sometimes you see things like silver Infantry Assault Badges on Panzer black uniforms.
To make things even more confusing, as the war progressed, the category that a reconnaissance unit fell into also changed as time went on. At first they were classed as motorised infantry, but later in the war they classed as armoured units and therefore more in line with Panzers. So earlier in the war you may have been awarded the General Assault or maybe the Infantry Assault in bronze, but towards the end of the war, the same action would have earned you the Panzer Assault in bronze instead.
Whichever one you choose to wear could be dependant on not only what period of the war you are portraying at the time, but also your character history.
Fun, isn't it".
http://www.gdrecon.co.uk/forum/viewtopi ... lit=Bronze