Belt of a veteran

[rove]

hello
i got this belt of a german veteran who collect in wartime this badges of KIA enemies. maybe it is possible to verify the units?
thankful for viewing and your answers,
best wishes

[upbeek]

Splendid!
I love these they are a time capsule

Kind regards Chay

[leaftree]

I don't see a lot of unit badges, I see occupational specialty badges such as engineers, medical, artillery etc. from commonwealth countries.

[Marc Sherriff]

They look to be from Belgium and possibly The Netherlands, with a single button from the USA.


Marc

[ROBB]

Yep nothing British there . Rob

[peter monahan]

Agreed: the vast majority appear to be Belgian.

BTW, one of the more persistent myths of 20th century military collecting revolves around these so called 'Hate Belts'. No, they did not represent all the units from which the wearer had killed men. Sorry. Great story but wrong.

These began in the late Victorian period with British units garrisoned in Indian and elsewhere in the Empire. Strictly unofficial and worn for 'walking out' [IE: going down to the pub] they showed all the units which the owner had been brigaded with, passed in a train station or otherwise encountered and the badges were traded or sold, not stripped from bodies. Early British examples often contain only British badges.

This German belt was, I'd guess, put together by a Soldat stationed in Belgium who may or may not have been a front line fighter but, even if he was, also had access to POWs, others who had met Belgians and to flee markets. Among POWs, badges could be a currency - 3 cigarettes for a collar dog and so on. All that siad, this is a lovley example of this kind of belt. I'm very jealous!

[ROBB]

They were also put together by guys on burial duty , taking badges and shoulder straps off poor demised Germans in WW1 so I have heard. Rob

[Edward]

The WWI belts were either put together by Allied veterans as souvenirs, or were done by local communities who had turned it into a cottage industry for sale to soldiers.

[byterock]

Originally Posted by ROBB

They were also put together by guys on burial duty , taking badges and shoulder straps off poor demised Germans in WW1 so I have heard. Rob

Keep hearing some more

Another myth.

Having read a few reports/diaries/letters by the guys on burail duty did not have the time and or inclination to put such things together.


Peter is quite correct the 'hate belt' predates The Great War by some decades.

The etymogy the term 'hate belt' is most likely a corruption of the word

'08 belt' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1908_Pattern_Webbing

Say '08 Belt' in a good northern accent it comes out

'ate belt.

or to us non-native english speaker

'hate-belt'

[peter monahan]

"The etymogy the term 'hate belt' is most likely a corruption of the word

'08 belt' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1908_Pattern_Webbing

Say '08 Belt' in a good northern accent it comes out

'ate belt."

Never thought of that! Very interesting and even plausible.
Or, like many 'folk etymologies' it may have been made up from whole cloth.

Peter

[Ir 143]

Whta is the width of this belt ? Looks like french if 50 mm width.
The two guns with a knight helmet are for french tankers. Some number maybe also.

[ROBB]

08 Belt hate belt sounds plausible, today though they are Hate belts. I have a few myself and they are very cool . Rob

[Rogerd]

Hi to all, this is a Belgian Belt used during the German invasion in 1940. All badges are common Belgian badges. The numbers are regiment numbers, some are speciality badges and rank badges.

[Rogerd]

I also see badges of different regiment-branches: infantry, cyclists, medical, airport-ground-troops, engeneers, Anti-aircraft, artillerie, armoured... regiments

[Rogerd]

Originally Posted by Ir 143

Whta is the width of this belt ? Looks like french if 50 mm width.
The two guns with a knight helmet are for french tankers. Some number maybe also.

Indeed the French used this badge too, but the Belgians had the same badge for armoured crew. With all the other badges beeing 100% Belgian, this one must be too. Probably picked them all up in a POW-camp.

The belt is Belgian too. It is visible because of the three lines of stitching at the end.