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1945 11th Airborne Division -- Philippines Belt Buckles


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PhilippineBuckles

Here are two 1945 Philippines made belt buckles for members of the 11th Airborne Division. These are the only two Philippines made belt buckles for members of the 11th Airborne

that I've seen in the past eight years of collecting. If anyone has other examples, please post them.

 

The first buckle is one I bought on ebay earlier this year for John E. Clingerman with a glider infantry symbol. The second buckle for Michael J. Roberto has the classic parachute symbol and was sold on ebay in 2013.

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@patches - Thank you for commenting. I was kind of getting worried no one would reply. I was testing out whether starting a separate thread to the more general Philippine Made Belt Buckles thread I started might get more attention of Airborne collectors and get some one to post other examples of custom made Airborne buckles. The jury is still out.

 

If anyone has some other examples of custom made Airborne buckles, please post them.

 

I looked back through my records and I should note that I've seen two other Airborne Philippine made belt buckles from WWII sell on ebay in the past few years. Note how different the style is from other Philippine made buckles (i.e. punched letters that are painted and the applied parachute wings rather than everything being engraved).

 

Left buckle below: Merl M. Ingersoll 462nd PRCHT. F.A. BTRY. BN "B" Philippines

Right buckle below: Donald Lange 503rd PRCHT. Combat Team Philippines

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Since we are on the subject of theater made airborne buckles here is one I won on eBay (#222606170282) however I received the packaging minus the buckle. You could tell from the small size rectangular bubble packaging that the USPS dropped it on the ground and either stepped on it repeatedly or ran it over splitting one edge open. I did a USPS trace but nothing so someone else has my buckle. If someone comes across it I would appreciate it if someone would let me know.

 

 

 

 

 

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@Tonomachi - That really sucks, I'll keep a look out for you. That said, thanks for posting another theater made buckle. Expanding the thread to other theaters helps highlight the quality of Philippine made belt buckles.

 

I checked my files of ebay sales and here are two other theater made Airborne buckles. One is marked Japan but the other is likely a Japanese made one given it is a 511th PIR buckle like the lost buckle for G.F. Rocky.

 

Left Buckle: U.S. Paratroopers Co.F 511 Crockett

Right Buckle: Dominco Garcia Co. B. 187 GIR 11th Airborne Sapporo, Japan

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@hink441 - Hey Chris, thanks for reminding me about that buckle, I remember bidding on it :blush:. I'm not an Airborne/Army collector and I was unsure of why there was a parachute behind the Army Corp of Engineers symbol. Despite the buckle saying "Marianas Islands" (which is unique in what I've seen) I'd bet the bank that it was made in the Philippines.

 

Here is a USN Philippine Islands belt buckle for R. W. Springer dated October 1944 and marked Leyte which has a similar engraving style.

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  • 6 months later...
PhilippineBuckles

I was searching on google and I found out too late that there were two belt buckle lots sold at a Skinner Historic Arms & Militaria auction on April 27, 2018. Someone has won some nice buckles from the collection of Nicholas A. Penachio.

 

Lot 194: https://m.skinnerinc.com/m/auctions/3097M/lots/194

Lot 197: https://m.skinnerinc.com/m/auctions/3097M/lots/197

 

In Lot 197 there were these two buckles...

Harry Smith 503rd Corregidor

Updegraff 511th US Paratroppers

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  • 2 months later...
PhilippineBuckles

Harry Smith's buckle was sold on ebay on June 5, 2018 (here is a better picture of it). Plus a buckle for John S.Kilar 503rd Prcht INF RCT 2-16-1945 Corregidor buckle sold yesterday July 16, 2018. I didn't win either one but it's nice to at least look at them...

 

 

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