Original Item: One-Of-A-Kind. Well this is REALLY something special! This is an incredible example of a soldier’s “souvenir” blanket, covered with a approximately 140 German WWII Patches & Insignia arranged in decorative patterns. Sometimes called "Trophy Blankets", we have never seen one this ornate and covered with items! This was purchased at a recent military show from the family of a veteran, who had brought back the blanket, though we do not know if the insignia were attached before or after he returned home. It measures 78" x 67" and the attached items all look to be hand stitched, meaning there's a good chance this was put together in Europe!

Many of the insignia are German WWII Kriegsmarine breast eagles of various construction types and sizes, enough so that it almost looks like this soldier had raided the depot! The ENTIRE perimeter of the blanket has gold Kriegsmarine lace as used on sleeves and shoulder boards stitched to it, so they must have had an entire roll on hand. Just inside this are BeVo Embroidered Kriegsmarine breast eagles for the four main colors of uniforms that they wore: White, Navy Blue, Tropical Tan, and Field Gray. These also go around the entire perimeter of the blanket.

The center of the blanket has a Kriegsmarine cap tally section sewn to a yellow background, and is surrounded by two Boatswain's Career Insignia (Star) and two Admiralty Staff EM/NCO Insignia (Flag). Around this is an entire circle of yellow German Skull & Crossbones mine flags, definitely not normally used by the Kriegsmarine. Surrounding this are a variety of white / red and navy blue / red Kriegsmarine trade / ratings badges arranged in a decorative pattern. In lines going to the four corners are further trade badges, and mixed in with these are also various shoulder and collar insignia, including many from the Heer Army, who used silver tresse lace on their shoulder straps, not gold like the Kriegsmarine. There is even a Heer PANZER collar tab with an intact Totenkopf skull insignia on it and the correct pink piping, as well as some award ribbons, litzen, and so forth. One row is entirely devoted to enlisted sleeve rank chevrons, mostly Kriegsmarine with a few Heer thrown in.

There is a German "Red Cross" DRK Medic Armband insignia on one side of the blanket, flamed by embroidered Kriegsmarine breast Eagles and a short strip of BeVo Tri-Color cockades. On the opposite side there is a Deutsche Wehrmacht Armband section surrounded by the same insignia. To finish off the flag a large number of embroidered breast eagles were used to make designs on either end of the flag. One side has them arranged in a Swas (hook cross) pattern, while the other has then in a large V pattern, with an officer's Bullion Breast eagle at the bottom of the V.

A truly remarkable souvenir blanket, the likes of which we are unlikely to see again! If you were looking for a great trophy blanket to serve as a backdrop for your German WWII display, this may be it! All of the items are in great shape, showing just a bit of age, and a bit of light staining in areas. There are also a few small areas of moth damage, as to be expected on wool blanket of this age. The stitching is sound on almost all the badges, with just a few showing a bit of stitch pulling, easily repaired. More than ready to display!