Pilot/Observer Badge

The Pilot/Observer Badge (Flugzeugführer- und Beobachterabzeichen) was a German military award instituted on 26 March 1936 by the Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe Hermann Göring for service personnel who had already been awarded the Pilot's Badge or Observer Badge. It was worn on the lower part of the left breast pocket of the service tunic, underneath the Iron Cross 1st Class if awarded.

The badge was originally manufactured in bronze, and later zinc. The badge can be distinguished from the Pilot's Badge by the gold wreath; the Pilot's Badge had a silver wreath.

Pilot/Observer Badge in Gold with Diamonds
The exclusive variant of the Pilot/Observer Badge in Gold with Diamonds was never officially instituted. It was bestowed to honor exceptional success and in rare occasions as an honorary award. The award was first bestowed on the Chief of the Luftwaffe General Staff, General Walther Wever and the State Secretary of the Reichsluftfahrtministerium, Erhard Milch on 11 November 1935.

Luftwaffe

 * Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring
 * General Walther Wever (Chief-of-General Staff Luftwaffe) - 11 November 1935
 * General Erhard Milch (State Secretary of the Reichsluftfahrtministerium) - 11 November 1935
 * General der Flieger Hugo Sperrle - 19 November 1937
 * Major Werner Mölders - mid August 1940
 * Major Helmut Wick
 * Hautpmann Werner Baumbach - mid August 1940
 * Major Adolf Galland - mid August 1940
 * Generalfeldmarschall Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen - mid August 1940
 * Generaloberst Kurt Student - 2 September 1941
 * General der Flieger Friedrich Christiansen – fall of 1940
 * General der Flieger Günther Korten (Chief of the Luftwaffe General Staff) - 1941 (for the Invasion of Crete)
 * General der Flieger Josef Kammhuber
 * Generaloberst Alexander Löhr - 1940
 * Oberstleutnant Hans-Ulrich Rudel - summer of 1944
 * Oberst Bernd von Brauchitsch (Chief adjudant of the Reichsmarschall) - summer 1944
 * Hauptmann Erich Hartmann - August 1944
 * Generalmajor Martin Harlinghausen - 17 April 1945
 * Hauptmann Hans-Joachim Marseille
 * Oberst Dietrich Peltz
 * Generalfeldmarschall Robert Ritter von Greim
 * Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring
 * Generaloberst Otto Dessloch
 * Generalleutnant Karl Angerstein
 * Oberst Walter Oesau - 17 October 1943
 * Flug-Kapitänin Hanna Reitsch - March 1941
 * Oberst Hajo Herrmann

Honorary recipients

 * Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler - July 1942
 * Großadmiral Karl Dönitz (Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine) - 1943
 * SS-Sturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny - fall of 1944
 * SS-Oberstgruppenführer and Generaloberst of the Waffen-SS Sepp Dietrich
 * Generalfeldmarshall Erwin Rommel
 * Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein

Foreign recipients

 * Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (Marshal of Finland) - 1942
 * Marschall Ion Antonescu (Prime Ministers of Romania)
 * Regent Miklós Horthy (Regent of Hungary)
 * Italo Balbo (Italian Aviator)
 * Francisco Franco (Spanish dictator)