Preserving 45 cartridge belts.

[kratz]

Hello, my name is Kratz Leatherman. I am not a military collector. I was looking for preservation information concerning my dad's cartridge belt for his Navy service 45, and found this site and some posters talking about preserving cartridge belts. I will post pictures of the belt and clip holders if anyone can offer suggestions, or are they too far gone.

Thank you

[Backtheattack]

Hello Kratz, welcome to the forum! Think you will find answers here, let`s see the belt.

[kratz]

Thanks for the welcome. I am posting now that I understand how to do it.

The belt itself is fine. It's the pouches for the clips that are deteriorating. I just want to stop them from degrading any more. The clips are preserved.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

This was my dad's belt from his time on an LST in the Pacific.He was issued a 45, which was actually from 2 different manufacturers, the slide was a Remington, and the receiver was Smith & Weston. I don't know much about his time in the navy except for his journal, which is hard to read as most of it is handwritten.

Actually, I do have a couple questions. I don't think he was in any action on the ship. So, I would like to know:

1. When would he have been required to wear it on the ship?

2. I know he was in Hiroshima around 3 months after the war was over. Would he have been required to wear it then?

3. What was the standard practice for sidearms on board ship or other times?

4. Can someone interpret the printing on the pouches? What does this tell you about the pouches?

My dad, like many veterans, never talked about his time in the war. He of life onboard the LST, The journal is mostly mundane, boring, daily shipboard activities. I know he had a collection of records that were played on board for the crew as I had them and they are now on my computer.

One short story I only learned a short time before he died in 06'. While walking in Hiroshima he found 2 little china dishes about 3 inches long. He kept them and used to keep M&Ms in them in his room on ship. One was destroyed when it fell off the desk in a storm, but the other one has survived. My brother has that. I'm sure he never received any information about radiation poisoning, and though the dish has never been tested for radioactivity, I wouldn't be surprised if it was. My siblings and I used to joke that we now knew why we are the way we are.

Also, he was transferred to another LST to return to Hawaii or SF. I'm not sure which. He was in command of the ship. He had been an Ensign jg. I don't remember if he was temporarily promoted or what the practice was. He did remark about the ship being in terrible shape, with engine problems and limping back across the Pacific.

I also know he took midshipmen's school at Great Lakes Naval Training Academy, which was at Notre Dame? in 43 to 44.

 

[BEAST]

Hi Kratz,

Welcome! I had to laugh when I read your first sentence "I am not a military collector. I was looking for preservation information concerning my dad's cartridge belt..." as something belonging to our fathers is what got many of us interested in collecting. This is how it starts, first preservation, next looking for the holster, and other gear to complete what he would have carried, then next, restoring or recreating his uniform, its just a vicious cycle!

 

Others here will give you good information on the preservation of the webgear, but I would like to point you in the direction of Fold3.com. This is a site that has a great deal of information on military personnel including the USN ship's muster for WWII. You may be able to track your dad's service looking at the monthly reports for the ships on which he served. If you don't wish to purchase a subscription to the website, feel free to post your dad's name and others will try to research it for you. If you don't wish to post his name, feel free to PM me his name and I'll see what I can find. GOOD LUCK!

 

edit: I just reread the post and saw that he was an officer. He probably won't be on FOLD3 as that usually only has information on enlisted sailors, however, you can request your father's military record from the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis. There are researchers such as Redbird Research and Golden Arrow that are members of this forum that can help you request his records. You could also contact NPRC and request the records yourself, but usually that is slower and more expensive.

[kratz]

Beast,

Thanks for the information. I do know what you mean about collecting becoming addictive. I have a 1/32 scale tractor trailer collection that I would still be adding to if I had space. I also have 1/32 scale classic cars and that exploded too. In this case, I'm now interested in finding more about my dad's service, but I don't think it will go beyond that. In fact, what prompted me to this research is the need to sell my dad's 45 and holster which I was going to give to my son in law, a former Marine. I offered it to him, but they didn't have the money. Offered it to my 2 other daughters who are suddenly interested in it (go figure), and then being told he didn't think it was worth more than $3-400. This prompted me to get it appraised and it's worth a lot more. One daughter said it wasn't the value, but what it represented, a connection to her grandfather.

So, here I am, looking to preserve the pouches and find out what answers I can.

I really appreciate your response as I had no clue that I could find such information. That really interests me. As I said, his journal doesn't say much about where he was.

[Backtheattack]

Kratz, from the 3 pouches there where two World War I production (Mills - your third picture), and P.B.&Co. (1918). The middle in the row is World War II production. For myself I wouldn`t do anything on the pouches. But if you want to do something, try it with lemon juice or white wine vinegar. Dab it with a clean cloth.

[kratz]

Here is the only photo I have of the 988.

[kratz]

This was resized, but I couldn't get the whole ship in. How can I correct this?