Germany - Third Reich: A rare German Occupied Norway Luftwaffe Base Specific Souvenir Stick Pin Badge for personnel stationed at Banak Airfield (Flughafen Banak) in Finnmark in northern Norway after the occupation in 1940. Produced in non-magnetic alloy with a silver wash and painted on details, the face of the badge has the German eagle clutching a swastika, and to the middle left a polar bear on a red background symbolising the Arctic Circle location of the base. In the middle right is the name ‘Banak’. At the bottom is the Norwegian flag overlaid with the date ‘1940’, commemorating the year of the German invasion of Norway and the establishment of German operations at the base. No makers marks, complete with original needle pin fitting. A rare badge.
Condition: light loss to paintwork, overall Good Very Fine.
A badge such as this was produced during the war as a commemorative souvenir, being also known as tradition badges, or canteen pins, as acquired by soldiers and airmen serving at the location identified on the badge.
Banak Airfield was heavily expanded by the German occupation forces during the Second World War to serve as a vital northern base for the Luftwaffe. It was utilised to launch air raids against Allied Arctic convoys carrying supplies to the Soviet Union and to defend against Soviet forces along the Arctic front.
