This shield was issued on July 1942 by orders of Adolf Hitler. Soldiers who participated in air, land and sea battles between September 1941 and July 1942 were eligible for the award.

The criteria for obtaining the shield included:

The soldier must participate in assignment in the area for a minimum of three months. The soldier was wounded in the area. The soldier participated in one major battle in the area.

Two types of shields were awarded; one was gold while the other one was bronze. Notice the detail on the eagle and the map.   The shield came attached to a piece of cloth, which would be sewn to the sleeve of the dress uniform.  The example illustrated here is missing the extra cloth.

The Krim shield is currently being reproduced in fairly large numbers by countries such as India and Pakistan.