Wound Badge

Wound Badge (German: das Verwundetenabzeichen) was a German military award for wounded or frost-bitten soldiers of Imperial German Army in World War I, the Reichswehr between the wars, and the Wehrmacht, SS and the auxiliary service organizations during the Second World War. After March 1943, due to the increasing number of Allied bombings, it was also awarded to injured civilians. It was ultimately one of the most common of all Third Reich decorations, yet also one of the most highly prized, since it had to be "bought with blood".

Wound Badge in The War That Came Early
When Theo Hossbach was released from hospital and joined his new Panzer II crew, he noticed his new commander, Sgt. Heinz Naumann, had a Wound Badge to go with his Iron Cross, First Class on his coveralls and bandages on his neck and left hand from burns. Hossbach realized that a Wound Badge would also catch up to him, sooner or later, for his gunshot wounded hand.