Kuban Shield is a German military award instituted on September 21, 1943 to commemorate those who fought to preserve the bridgeheads in the Kuban

Kuban

Kuban is a geographic region of Southern Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea between the Don Steppe, Volga Delta and the Caucasus...

 region from February 1943 until they were abandoned in October. Luftwaffe

Luftwaffe

Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....

 and Kriegsmarine

Kriegsmarine

The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...

personnel were awarded the shield based on a fairly complicated point system. Each recipient was entitled to five copies of the award, and more could be purchased, if needed.

The shield was struck in sheet metal or zinc and treated with a bronzed wash. A back plate, which held in place a piece of cloth matching the recipients’ branch of service, was applied to the shield. There were several ways to attach this plate, with again the most popular method being the four prongs, two on top and two directly at the bottom.