Grave diggers belt, fresh from flea mkt...

[Milton]

....First one of THESE I've seen surface in quite some time. This one was sourced from the granddaughter of the Great War vet who put it together. Has numerous buttons and insignia, French, Belgian, US, German, Australian, English, etc...to include Muetzen cockades, dome "dangling" .45 and rifle rounds, belt plates, etc. The front plate of the buckle itself is long gone, however the bottom of the buckle is stamped "105R". Anyway, a few quick snaps for those of you who appreciate these things....

[90th Light]

If the bottom of the buckle is marked "105R" then it is a Saxon Regiment and the missing center could be the one on the belt with the wording "Providentiae Memor"

You are correct, good examples of these belts with an interesting array of badges and buttons are a lot harder to find these days. I have lost count of how many I have seen split up and sold as individual items over the years. All in the cause of making more money, not preservation of history,

Chris

[pauke]

Belt

Looks like he should have gone to the trouble of "investing" in a second belt to ease the relic congestion. Nice

[Milton]

Thanks gents. To Chris's point, I was wondering if that might've indeed been the case...(regarding removal of the Saxon buckle plate and adding it to the belt instead)..but who knows?! It does appear to be the right size / dimensions, however. Go figure! Either way, I was happy to have found it, as I've never come across these with any frequency in the past... Thx again for your feedback.

[Christian J]

These are very neat pieces of history. Thanks for sharing.

[Gary Symonds]

These are also called "hate belts."

[Milton]

True, the "hate" belt thing, however I've never really thought that did any justice to them. Others may disagree, but in my humble opinion, they were simply souvenir pieces put together by doughboys from troops they encountered, both friend and foe. Case in point, there are US, English, German, French, Australian, Belgian, etc, pieces here. Quite a mixture, indeed. Thanks for the add'l comments gents!

[ROBB]

Thats a really nice one , I love those hanging bullets . Rob

[Milton]

Thanks Robb. Yes, that's a neat feature of this particular example. First one I've seen like this. A few have gone missing over the years, but there're still a few hanging in there. Thx for commenting.

[Chip M]

It has an Italian enlisted collar star on it too, as well as some civilian insignia. There was a cottage industry making these during the occupation. You see many of them with a 1919 date added with officer's shoulder board numbers. This one has more stuff on it than many I have seen.

Chip

[Milton]

Thanks for commenting Chip. I was wondering what that large star was. I have no doubt that they were probably cobbled together after the fact too, as was, I believe, most of the "trench art" shell vases and the like. It probably wasn't lost on the locals that the doughboys had some $ burning holes in their pockets...
Thx for the addl' feedback.