View source for Cholm Shield

{{Short description|WW2 German military decoration}}
{{Use shortened footnotes|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox award
|name=Cholm Shield<br>''Cholmschild''
|image=Cholmschild.png
|image_size=175px
|caption=Cholm Shield
|presenter=[[Nazi Germany]]
|type=[[Badge]]
|eligibility=[[Wehrmacht]] personnel
|awarded_for=Defence of the [[Kholm Pocket|Cholm Pocket]]
|campaign=[[World War II]]
|status=Obsolete
|description=Commemorative shield worn on the upper left sleeve of uniform
|clasps=
|established=1 July 1942
|firstawarded=
|lastawarded=1 April 1943
|total_awarded=
|total_awarded_posthumously=
|total_recipients=Approximately 5,500
|individual=
|higher=
|same=
|lower=
|related=
|image2=
|caption2=
}}
The '''Cholm Shield''' ({{Lang-de|Cholmschild}}) was a [[World War II]] [[Nazi Germany|German]] military decoration awarded to those who fought in the [[Kholm Pocket|Cholm Pocket]] on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]] between 21 January and 5 May 1942. It was instituted on 1 July 1942 and is the rarest of the German combat shields, with approximately 5,500 recipients. Awards ceased to be bestowed on 1 April 1943.{{sfn|Angolia|1987|p=279}}{{sfn|Ailsby|1987|p=97}}

==Background and design==
[[File:Kessel von Cholm - Karte.png|thumb|Map of the Cholm pocket showing the encircled German troops.]]
In January 1942, the Soviet [[Red Army]] began a series of counteroffensives against the German Army. In the course of these operations, the German occupied town of [[Kholm, Kholmsky District, Novgorod Oblast|Cholm]] (or Kholm) was attacked on 18 January 1942. By the 21 January the town was surrounded and cut off, creating the [[Kholm Pocket|Cholm Pocket]]. Led by [[Generalmajor]] [[Theodor Scherer]], a mixed group of Wehrmacht [[German Army (1935–1945)|Heer]], Luftwaffe [[fallschirmjager]], [[Waffen-SS]] [[panzergrenadier]]s and [[Ordnungspolizei]] personnel were supplied by air until relieved on 5 May 1942.{{sfn|Littlejohn|Dodkins|1968|pp=142-143}}

After the relief of Cholm, a commemorative shield was suggested by General Scherer to [[Adolf Hitler]], who agreed to the award.{{sfn|Michaelis|2003|p=53}} A design by Polizei-Rottwachtmeister Schlimmer, a veteran of the pocket, was then approved by Hitler, with some minor changes made by Professor [[Richard Klein (artist)|Richard Klein]].{{sfn|Angolia|1987|p=279}}

The award features a shield, 38mm wide and 65mm high,{{sfn|Michaelis|2003|p=54}} with a large "open-winged" Wehrmacht-style eagle grasping an [[Iron Cross]] with a swastika at its centre. Below this is written '''CHOLM''' in capitals, and then the date '''1942'''.{{sfn|Angolia|1987|p=279}}{{sfn|Ailsby|1987|p=97}} The shields were hollow stamped metal washed in silver.{{sfn|Angolia|1987|pp=279, 280}} A backing plate was attached with a number of prongs, and affixed to a piece of coloured cloth that matched the colour of the uniform of the recipient's arm of service.{{sfn|Angolia|1987|p=280}}

After an initial ban, the [[West Germany|Federal Republic of Germany]] re-authorised the wear of many World War II military decorations in 1957. These included the Cholm Shield, re-designed by removing the swastika emblem from the centre of the Iron Cross. Members of the [[Bundeswehr]] could wear the shield on the ribbon bar, represented by a small replica of the award on a field grey ribbon.{{sfn|Littlejohn|Dodkins|1968|pp=224-226}}

==Criteria for award==
To receive the shield, military personnel had, between 21 January and 5 May 1942, to have:{{sfn|Angolia|1987|p=279}}{{sfn|Ailsby|1987|p=97}}

* served honourably within the Cholm Pocket; or
* flown and landed at the airfield within the pocket for resupply operations. Merely dropping supplies from the air did not qualify.

The Cholm Shield was worn on the left upper sleeve of the uniform of soldiers and airmen.{{sfn|Angolia|1987|p=280}} Those with two campaign shields would wear them one above the other, separated by half a cm. Holders of three shields wore the earliest received uppermost, with the remaining two worn beside each other below. For civilian clothes, a smaller shield roughly 16mm across with a needle fitting could be worn on the left lapel.{{sfn|Williamson|2002|p=17}}

==See also==
{{div col |colwidth=30em}}
* [[Campaign shields (Wehrmacht)]]
* [[Crimea Shield]]
* [[Demyansk Shield]]
* [[Kuban Shield]]
* [[Lapland Shield]]
* [[Narvik Shield]]
* [[Warsaw Shield]]
{{div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
*{{cite book | last = Ailsby | first = Christopher | title = Combat Medals of the Third Reich | publisher = Harpercollins | year = 1987 | isbn = 978-0850598223}}
*{{cite book | last = Angolia | first = John | title = For Führer and Fatherland: Military Awards of the Third Reich | publisher = R. James Bender Publishing | year = 1987 | isbn = 0912138149}}
*{{cite book|last1=Littlejohn |first1=David |last2= Dodkins|first2= Colonel C. M.|title= Orders, Decorations, Medals and Badges of the Third Reich |publisher=R. James Bender Publishing, California |year= 1968 |isbn= 978-0854200801}}
*{{cite book|last= Michaelis|first= Rolf|title=Deutsche Kriegsauszeichnungen 1939-1945, Heer, Waffen-SS, Polizei|publisher=Doerfler Verlag, Berlin|year=2003|isbn=978-3930849314 |language=de }}
*{{cite book|last=Williamson |first=Gordon |title=World War II German Battle Insignia |publisher=Osprey Publishing |year=2002 |isbn= 1841763527 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AJ4XDAAAQBAJ&dq=crimea+shield+antonescu&pg=PA19 |language=de}}

{{List of military decorations of the Third Reich |state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Military awards and decorations of Nazi Germany]]
[[Category:Awards established in 1942]]
[[Category:1942 establishments in Germany]]
[[Category:German campaign medals]]