Question: blue/black Heer/KM buckle

[Manalishi]

Hello All -

The dark blue/black Army belt buckles are also attributed to the Kriegsmarine, I think the Coastal Artillery specifically . For the KM that makes sense but why would a dark blue/black buckle be also attributed to the German Army whose buckle were green up til the end of the war? Was this for a particular branch, did they run out of green paint, etc.?

I've seen dealers describe them as either/or so is there any maker that made this buckle specifically for the KM/Coastal Art.?

Thanks in advance.

[patrick99]

See and read my thread
http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=546361

[helmutderpa]

At the end of the war, there was not much kaki pigment available in Germany.
As they started to run out of it, some equipment have been issued with different color than feldgrau.

All MG ammunition boxes were produced in tan paint for example. Heer belt buckle in blue...

It was about the same in the US. The Lucky Strike cigarette packet had first a kaki logo but the US authority asked them to turn this color to another one to save kaki pigment. So the Lucky Strike logo turned to red duing the war and never changed back.

The seller advertise blue buckles to be KM because KM buckles usually command higher prices.

Simon

[Manalishi]

Thanks for the reply guys. So am I to conclude that the only reason that there was a switch from green to blue/black was a shortage of green paint?

Is there any buckle manufacturer that specifically made KM/coastal art. buckles? RS&S perhaps?

manalishi