Luftwaffe belt and buckle - Aluminium buckle and keeper for review. Maker?

[PaulW]

Hi all, many thanks for the help on this. I'm no buckle expert but have some fliegerblusen etc and thought it was time I got a belt! I've been looking for a set that looks like it might have been together, so this might be it. Looks like Dransfeld is the maker, knowing the maker adds interest for me. I shall order it!

Best regards, Paul

[weller]

Way to go Paul A nice, early combat set. Do now post updated pics once you have the set in your collection

[Ben Evans]

Yes please do, it would nice to see the belt and buckle on a set

[yellow12]

Hello,

yes as Ben said , a typical smooth backside like Dransfeld & Co Menden .

[PaulW]

Hi all, I received the belt and buckle this morning by next day delivery. For those interested I got it from Malcolm Bowers of M & T Militaria in Carlisle, England. His service and communication is excellent! His website:-

M & T Militaria - German Militaria, Nazi Militaria, Medals, Third Reich

As promised here it is on a torso with my Luftwaffe signals fliegerbluse (already reviewed here in the uniform section). In the hand (with a magnifier) I can clearly see "ANSFELD &" of the 'Dranseld & Co, Menden' stamp on the cut down tab. Also, I looked into the belt leather stamp and it reads "Joseph Moll, Goch 1938" and I can also make out "LBA (S)" so it appears to be a Luftwaffe belt leather as well which I was quite pleased about! I know that LBA stands for Luftwaffe Bekleidungs Amt (Luftwaffe Clothing Office), and according to what I've found so far the "S" in brackets means Sonneberg (Thuringia), the location of that particular LBA (Depot). Joseph Moll apparently made belts and other leather items in WW1 until at least the 1950's, not sure if they are still around. Menden and Goch are both in NW Germany so that doesn't prove the belt and buckle have always been together but it perhaps makes it a little more likely? Malcolm said he thought it was a brown belt, wartime blackened (as per regulations in 1940 I think?) which still looks dark brown to me. I compared it to a black belt in sunlight and it looks that way. The only history I have is that it came from the estate of a deceased UK collector.

I thought the belt goes well with this jacket/ cap as he would be the kind of NCO that might have joined pre-war and kept a pre-war belt. The cap was matched by a previous owner (I bought them together), has an early eagle and is dated 1936. Since I posted the fliegerbluse in the uniform section I've managed to trace it's history back to a Texas collector/ dealer who got it from the estate of a deceased US Army Air Force veteran who in turn took it from a (sadly unnamed) Luftwaffe airfield. It lay untouched in his footlocker/ trunk since the war.

On a side note, I think it's quite sad that so much history associated with the items we collect is lost as items change hands repeatedly. Lots of people and dealers just want "the stuff" and are less interested in the origin of the items.

Regards, Paul

[PaulW]

More pictures

[Ben Evans]

Thanks for the pics looks well on the tunic

[weller]

Nice Paul Here is a thread I posted with a nice, early Luft marked ammo pouch from J Moll - 1936...kind of mixed in at the end of post

Heer - Friedrich Turch w/belt

Jeff

[PaulW]

Great items Jeff! My trouble is I could collect everything under the sun, have to be disciplined and stick to a few defined areas!

Regards, Paul

[weller]

Yes, this collecting is especially habit forming , but very interesting!