Gott Mit Uns 1937 Schneider Lüdenscheid
Hi There. My grandfather was in North Africa and I new he had a few such items from that time. Not judging him. Clearing my mothers estate I came across this buckle. I know nothing about it and was going to throw it out as it's not some thing I personally have an interest in. I was advised to try and find out a little more about it before I did that as the date of 1937 seems out of whack with him being a Desert Rat. Any advice on what to do with it would be appreciated.
Many thanks
Definitely not a piece to throw away! It's a memory of your grandfather's service, an important historical object in general, and at the very least should be passed on to someone who will take care of it. Its origins are unlikely to be grisly. In all likelihood, your grandfather liberated it from a POW or salvaged it from a pile of captured equipment. Trophies were taken from dead foes, but this was comparatively rare. The date is not at all unusual. Kit was used to destruction, much as it is now, and pre-war equipment would commonly be encountered on a wartime battlefield.
What you have is a Heer (Army) buckle, and would have originally been painted green. You can see the original colour on the reverse side. I don't collect these or study them in detail, so I can't tell you how rare this particular manufacturer is. It's a collectible buckle at any rate, especially with such a well-preserved leather tab.
Regards, B.B.
Thank you for such a reassuring reply. Hopefully he won it cheating at dominoes (as usual) in camp. I know he didn’t cherish his service in North Africa. None of his siblings wrote to him and he never spoke to them again, which was a massive shock to me as the first time I met, or realised, he had a brother was the afternoon after his funeral when dad took me to visit. Scared me to death.
Anyway I’m glad there are people who do understand the meaning in such items better than I do and would cherish them for the right reasons. For my grandads memory it’s not an item I could cherish. I have his dominoes.
Thanks again
Last edited by anfirmor; 07-14-2021 at 08:17 AM.
Many veterans of those wars never discussed their experiences with others. Given your grandfather's emotional scars, it must have been particularly debilitating. He was doubtlessly a brave man, as they all were, and it's good that you have his dominoes to remember him by.
If you're uncomfortable holding onto the buckle, you could sell it to a collector or donate it to a museum. The former would be better, as it will be properly appreciated, rather than being packed away in storage and never seen again (museums have good reasons for doing this, but I've always thought it was a shame to shut things like this away rather than share them and enjoy them). There is no shortage of honourable and reputable people in this hobby who would be glad to give it a new home. You'd be able to rest easy knowing that it was in good hands.
Regards, B.B.
The buckle is a nice, been there, early 1937 combat buckle. The condition is overall good, especially the detail remaining on the front of the buckle. You can post it in the Classifieds Section on the Forum here. Not a high value buckle, but certainly a nice one that belongs in a buckle collection. And it has an interesting history to it etc.
Very nice piece of history. Agree with Brodie, if it was important enough for your Grandfather to bring home, then if you are comfortable, you should keep it in memory of him.by anfirmor
I'm sure your Grandfather picked this buckle up from a pile of captured equipment like most Vets did. Just like the piles we see in these photos (BTW - the 2nd photo is from North Africa)
"Please", Thank You" and proper manners appreciated
My greatest fear is that one day I will die and my wife will sell my guns for what I told her I paid for them
"Don't tell me these are investments if you never intend to sell anything" (Quote: Wife)
Again thanks for the posts. He also had a tin of medals that had, what looked to me to be, and iron cross in it. I suspect a cousin has those. Can't see him getting medals from an equipment dump so, as I said, the buckle is not something that holds any endearing memories for me and I can't say I'm entirely comfortable with having it. So perhaps it's best to place it where it will be better understood.
It's all very interesting though and I appreciate the knowledgable and considered advice.
Medals were often removed when processing captured soldiers.
"Please", Thank You" and proper manners appreciated
My greatest fear is that one day I will die and my wife will sell my guns for what I told her I paid for them
"Don't tell me these are investments if you never intend to sell anything" (Quote: Wife)
Thank you MAP
Again something I didn’t know or understand which is really very enlightening. Or course he would never have talked about such things and I would never have asked. Good to know.
After some discussion with family we have decided this buckle is something we probably wouldn't want to hang on to. Probably better to be in a collection where it will be best preserved and appreciated. Not down the shed.
Is there a protocol for offering the buckle to forum members as I would not wish to step out of line or break any rules. It may be crass to ask but what would be considered a fair price. I'm not a collector and have learned more on this forum from helpful members than I ever knew but am clueless otherwise. Apologies if this is rather clumsy.
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