P-38 Holster Country of Manufacture

[Bill Grist]

What Country Manufactured this P-38 holster. It is very well made and seems to be molded into shape. Thanks BILL

[Bill Grist]

2.

[JoeW]

Any clue in markings on the closure snap Bill? Sewing looks cheap. Slits for the belt, but would a military size belt fit? 45mm? 60mm?

[Bill Grist]

Hello Joe, There are no markings on the closure strap. The regular German army belt will not fit., by a few mm. Missed you at SOS, I heard you were there but just never saw you. BILL

[Johnny Peppers]

As mentioned, the stitching doesn't look like the holster was factory assembled. Different size stitches, and large stitching doesn't look like machine stitching.

[Alan Smith]

Looks like a typical GI assembled (and/or sourced from local German craftsman) shoulder holster that you often see pistols brought home by GI's returning from occupation duty in the ETO.

I've seen lots of these immediate post-war shoulder holsters, of various shapes and varieties, and often wondered why some GI's seem to not have been satisfied with a standard German military issue holster and just had to have a "shoulder" holster. Reflecting on the matter, I recall a U.S.A.A.C. pilot friend of mine (now deceased) who smuggled his issued and mission-carried M1911A1 pistol back home in its issued shoulder holster. Specifically, he wore the pistol in its shoulder holster during a pre-boarding inspection for contraband weapons when he was leaving England to ship back home; he concealed the pistol by wearing a field jacket over it. Only baggage was searched, so the concealed M1911A1 on his person went unnoticed and made it safely home with him (where it currently resides with his heirs).

Looking back, I wonder if some of these shoulder holsters (many of which are pretty flimsy) were intended by the GI's to be used to smuggle unauthorized souvenir pistols back home? To me, the non-factory shoulder holsters don't seem to have many practical uses, so the smuggling angle might be a plausible theory. Also, I assume that in some cases the original German military holster had been lost, so the post-war theater made shoulder holster would have been a substitute for the missing original.