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WWI Army Officer Sword Belts


SARGE
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Gents,

 

I have a couple of questions concerning the wear of sword belts by US Army Officers during WWI.

 

I know that Army Officers in the AEF wore the Sam Browne belt with a cross strap while in Europe. I also know that the cross straps had to be removed when they returned to US soil so the sword belt could continue in wear. These belts had bronzed double tongue buckles and fittings until the Sam Browne belt with polished brass buckles became regulation well after the end of the war.

 

I also know that Army Officers stationed in the US during the war had to wear the old regulation sword belt without a cross strap throughout the war.

 

Questions are:

 

Would/could Officers stationed in the US wear the old style belt (with a single buckle tongue) or the new Sam Browne style belt (with double buckle tongues) simply omitting the cross strap?

 

Would/could Officers in Europe or the US wear the mounted web pistol belt with the saber hanger or was this only worn by EM or NCOs?

 

Would/could Officers wear other types of belts with their khaki uniform coats during WWI?

 

Attached is an example of a Mass State Guard Officer khaki coat who would not have been stationed in Europe during the war. What sword belts might this officer have been authorized to wear?

Col Cox tunic close.JPG

Col Cox right close.JPG

Col Cox sword hangers.JPG

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world war I nerd

Sarge,

 

In respect to U.S. Army Saber Belts here is what little I know … The Army prescribed the following saber belts for commissioned officers:

 

1902 Officer’s Full Dress Saber Belt

1905* Officer’s Saber Belt (russet cowhide or pigskin)

1910 Officer’s Garrison Belt (olive drab & khaki webbing)

1912 Mounted Pistol Belt (olive drab webbing with D-ring)

 

*I’m not sure whether 1905 is the correct model designation for that particular belt. I’ve chosen 1905 as the information came from Horse Equipments and Equipments for Officers and Enlisted Men, first published in 1905, and revised in 1908.

 

Would officers in the US wear the russet leather Officer’s Saber Belt?

According to the 1912 Uniform Regulations, “The service belt with russet leather slings, will be worn with the service uniform, on the outside of the coat … The belt will not be worn outside of the overcoat.

 

By the way, when the saber belts were worn with the overcoat, the belt was worn over the service coat, inside the overcoat. The slings on which the saber was attached were passed through a small opening on the left side of the overcoat so that the saber could be suspended on the outside of the overcoat while the saber belt was hidden inside.

 

Here the term “service belt” is a reference to the 1905 Officer’s Saber Belt. Officer’s regulation saber belts were available in two styles: russet cowhide with a smooth finish and two layers of russet pigskin with a pebbled texture. Each type of belt had a matching sliding loop or “belt keeper” and a 1 ¾ inch bronze center bar buckle with a single prong. The saber was suspended by means of a matching (cowhide or pigskin) Officer’s Saber Attachment comprised of an Officer’s Belt Slide and Hook Attachment … i.e. straps.

 

The russet leather 1905 Officer’s Saber Belt for dismounted officer was replaced by the web 1910 Officer’s Garrison Belt, which was made in both olive drab and khaki webbing. According to the 1917 Uniform Regulations:

 

The garrison belt with slings will be worn with the service uniform, on the outside of the coat. The garrison belt for infantry officers is of olive-drab webbing; for cavalry officers it is of russet-leather. The present russet-leather saber belt may be worn for a period of three months after the date on which any organization may be issued the 1910 equipment.

Regulations for the Uniform of the United States Army, 1917, page 28

My interpretation of all this is that the russet leather (or pigskin) saber belts were worn by the infantry until such time they were issued with the new 1910 Equipment. After which, the 1910 Officer’s or Enlisted Men’s Garrison Belts were to be worn with the service dress which was defined as either the olive drab or khaki cotton summer uniform and the olive drab woolen winter uniform. Meanwhile the cavalry officers and enlisted men of the cavalry continued to wear the russet leather saber belts even after they had been issued the new 1910 Equipment.

 

Would officers in the US wear the Sam Browne Belt without a cross strap?

The Sam Browne Belt is an article of equipment that was never adopted by the U.S. It did however, have provisions for suspending a saber or other miscellaneous equipment. As mentioned, this style of belt was only prescribed for officers of the AEF; therefore; in the US, it was neither authorized nor worn. In fact, early in the war, Sam Browne belts could only be obtained at the Ports of Embarkation and upon arrival overseas. Later Sam Browne Belts, often under the name of “Liberty Belt” were sold at virtually every stateside retail outlet that catered to America’s military personnel.

 

Although I’ve never seen a photograph supporting this, it is entirely possible that some returning officers may have removed the Sam Browne Belt’s cross strap, and worn only the belt, despite the fact that it had a two prong buckle and D-rings. The length of time an individual officer would have been allowed to wear a non-regulation belt of this type would depend entirely upon his commanding officer’s interpretation of the prevailing Army uniform regulations.

 

Would officers in the US or Europe wear the Mounted Pistol Belt?

Mounted pistol belts were authorized for all officers, NCOs and enlisted men in all mounted organizations that did not carry a rifle.

 

Initially the D-ring was meant to carry the 1906 Cavalry Saber, Light Artillery Saber or NCO’s Sword. However, when the much heavier 1913 Cavalry/“Patton” Saber was adopted it was too heavy to be suspended from either the mounted pistol or mounted cartridge belts. Therefore, the Patton saber was carried on the saddle instead. This fact made the D-ring unnecessary except in the case of mounted troops still armed with the obsolete 1906 Cavalry Saber, and NCOs who carried either the Light Artillery Saber or the NCO’s Sword.

 

According to the 1917 Uniform Regulations, “Officers will not carry the saber* in the field”. Since the pistol belts were only to be worn for field service … i.e. in the field, unless a soldier was carrying the 1906 Cavalry, Artillery Saber or an NCO’s sword, it would seem that a mounted pistol belt would not be needed.

 

*In this case, the saber referred to is the 1902 Officer’s Saber.

 

I am not positive, but I am pretty certain that the 1902 Officer’s Saber, as well as the Artillery Saber, and NCO’s Swords were not included in the articles of equipment prescribed for the AEF. Therefore, I doubt that it would have mattered whether an officer, NCO or enlisted man serving overseas in the AEF wore a mounted pistol belt with a D-ring to attach the saber hanger or the more common dismounted pistol belt without the D-ring.

 

Stateside, the men of mounted organizations were likely still issued mounted pistol belts while the officer’s commanding foot troops probably still received dismounted pistol belts. With the need for the Mounted Pistol Belts diminishing, at some point, it probably no longer mattered what type of pistol belt an officer, NCO or soldier was issued. The men were likely issued with whatever style of pistol belt was on hand at the time of issue.

 

Would officers wear other types of belts with their service dress?

I presume you are referring to only the WW I era, therefore, I will stick to the most commonly used belts worn between 1917 and 1919.

 

1905 Officer’s Saber Belt

1910 Officer’s Garrison Belt

1912 Dismounted Pistol Belt

1912 Mounted Pistol Belt

1916 Officer’s Medical Belt

Sam Browne Belt

 

In addition, all styles of enlisted men’s rifle cartridge belts were authorized to be worn by AEF field officers in the trenches. Also British and French issued belts were occasionally worn by AEF officers who served under the command of either of those Armies.

 

Sorry for the long winded reply, I'm sure that I forgot something, but I hope that it helps.

 

 

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Many thanks for the detailed, and well researched, reply. This is a subject that is confusing at best... at least to me. Here is a similar thread on questions concerning sword belts and hangers that I started some time ago in the Edged Weapons section.

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/70564-sword-belts-hangers/?hl=%2Bsword+%2Bhangers

 

Here is my immediate problem. I am using this Mass State Guard stateside militia uniform in a display of US M1902 Army Officer Sabers and I want to get a proper stateside belt and hanger on it. The one shown would be correct would it not? How about the web pistol belt with D ring? Here is an example of that web belt taken from the Colonel's Cache website in order to show the style of belt under discussion.

 

Thanks again for the excellent reply.

 

 

beltwithsaberhanger.jpg

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world war I nerd

Despite the fact that the 1917 regulations clearly state that the web 1910 Garrison Belt was to replace the older russet leather saber belt, a fact that surprised me when I read it yesterday, I don't think that that regulation was rigidly enforced. As I have seen numerous photos circa 1916-1917 which show officers wearing the russet leather saber belt instead of the web garrison belt. This leads me to believe that the russet leather belt you have displayed on your Mass. NG service coat is acceptable. Especially, given the fact that the NG usually lagged behind the Army by a few years in respect to the issue of new equipment.

 

Whether or not the 1902 Officer's Saber was ever suspended from the 1912 Mounted Pistol Belt ... I've never seen photographic evidence of that happening, but of course that doesn't mean it never did. Going back to the regulations - web pistol belts were to be worn only for field service, meaning it was essentially a work belt; the officer's saber was not to be worn in the field, probably because it was ceremonial and not really a weapon. Based on that, I probably wouldn't combine the two items, but I also wouldn't dispute the fact that they are worn together.

 

Nevertheless, I personally think you are safe using the russet leather saber belt. I'm pretty sure that there is a well known photo of Pershing walking next to Foch in which he is wearing a russet saber belt with the officer's saber suspended from it.

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Very good information. I really appreciate your reply and thoughts. What you say makes sense in this era of experimentation with different equipment boards and transition to new items.

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  • 2 years later...
Retired Army Noncom

Gents,

 

I have a couple of questions concerning the wear of sword belts by US Army Officers during WWI.

 

I know that Army Officers in the AEF wore the Sam Browne belt with a cross strap while in Europe. I also know that the cross straps had to be removed when they returned to US soil so the sword belt could continue in wear. These belts had bronzed double tongue buckles and fittings until the Sam Browne belt with polished brass buckles became regulation well after the end of the war.

 

I also know that Army Officers stationed in the US during the war had to wear the old regulation sword belt without a cross strap throughout the war.

 

Questions are:

 

Would/could Officers stationed in the US wear the old style belt (with a single buckle tongue) or the new Sam Browne style belt (with double buckle tongues) simply omitting the cross strap?

 

Would/could Officers in Europe or the US wear the mounted web pistol belt with the saber hanger or was this only worn by EM or NCOs?

 

Would/could Officers wear other types of belts with their khaki uniform coats during WWI?

 

Attached is an example of a Mass State Guard Officer khaki coat who would not have been stationed in Europe during the war. What sword belts might this officer have been authorized to wear?

Please correct me if I understand wrong, is the difference between an officer's sword belt and an enlisted sword belt that it has brass grommets at each of the adjustments holes?

 

Thanks

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Good Morning, Gentlemen!

 

Great discussion on a subject I have paid virtually no attention to in all my years of collecting. My officer groupings are all from overseas serving men, so they came with the Sam Browne. This discussion triggered a memory of a book in my collection that had a large number of officer pictures in it. With the Army at Hoboken, by Captain King W. Snell, Copyright 1919 by Elbert E. Wonderly, New York, is a history of the Port of Embarkation, New York. It is full of photos, mostly officers, pertaining to all the units involved there. After perusing the book's photos I noted that very few of the officers are wearing any belts at all! The photo of the Court Martial Board was the only one in the book where I could find any belts being worn (the Model 1905?). A photo of all the officers of the 13th Infantry Regiment assigned to the port also show no belts being worn. Another photo including foreign officers show no belts on anybody. Were stateside officers only required to wear belts for parade or other special duties? As mentioned above, all outdoor photos of officers wearing greatcoats show no belts. Interesting topic! MHJ

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Retired Army Noncom,

 

The short answer is yes. The belt shown on my Mass State Guard uniform above has the bronzed brass grommets in the adjustment holes but since these "Officer" belts were private purchase some variations will be found. Smooth or pebbled russet leather are mentioned by WWI Nerd as are the photographs of General Pershing wearing this single tongue leather belt without a cross strap when he first got off the boat with the AEF in France. Later photographs show that he too changed over to a Sam Browne with a dual tongue buckle and a cross strap while wearing his M1902 Army Officer Saber.

 

Littlewilly,

 

I think this is a great discussion too. It really helped me clarify some questions that I had about these sword belts and how they were actually worn. I don't know if the officers at embarkation ports were under arms or not so that may be a partial explanation of why they were not wearing belts but I frankly don't know. It sounds plausible since the foreign officers were not wearing belts either. An interesting observation though.

 

Here are a couple of photos of the leather officer belt with grommets and the web officer garrison belt that is also called Mills gear. This is timely as I am doing a M1902 Army Officer Saber display at ASMIC in Kansas City next month that will include this same Mass State Guard Colonel's uniform. I have elected to use the Mills gear garrison belt and hangers this time since the State Guard was never Federalized nor went overseas.

 

 

Col Cox belt.JPG

Mills hangers and frog.JPG

Mills belt markings.JPG

Mills hangers.JPG

Mills hangers markings.JPG

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