Description
Badge of the Slovak 1st Rapid Infantry Division, also known as the Slovakian Fast/Mobile/Rapid Division – Schnelle (Rýchla Divízia).
The Commander of the Slovak division which served on the Russian Front instituted a commemorative badge for active service within the division with the few pieces that I have seen are appearing to be locally produced in the East and being of a relatively crude style construction with this example being numbered on the reverse. This example has the dates “1941” and “1942” but there is also a version with a 41 and 43 date and another version with the three years, 41, 42 and 43. This example is numbered on the back and the front piece is stamped metal and the back is filled in with what appears to be lead. The back at one time had a pin and another example had a top hook crudely attached. Very rare. The letters “RD” stand for Rapid Division in Slovak – “Rýchla Divízia”. Excellent and rare.
Footnote: The Slovak Rapid Division was a 7,000-strong division of the Slovak Republic that was formed on 8 July 1941 for Operation Barbarossa. Led by Colonel Rudolf Pilfousek, the division consisted of the 20th and 21st Motorized Rifle Divisions of the Slovak army and the 11th Reconnaissance Battalion, and it accompanied Army Group South during the invasion of the Soviet Union. In 1942, the unit fought at Rostov-on-Don and in the Caucasus, and the division returned to Slovakia on 28 July 1943. 2,500 Slovaks were lost in the war with the USSR from 1941 to 1943, and the division became an infantry division in 1944. LH133348
