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WWII Garrison belt


Centurion1982
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Centurion1982

I’m trying to restore the uniform of captain Robert Calder. Robert was KIA and is buried in France. I would like to bring his restored uniform to his grave in France later this year.

 

Besides the insignia, the uniform is missing a belt. I would like to add a belt to this uniform.

 

What kind of belt do I need to add to this uniform? Would this be a garrison belt?

 

There is no size label in the uniform. What is the best way to figure out which size belt I need for this uniform? 


Thanks,

Marcel

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14 hours ago, Centurion1982 said:

A picture of Robert wearing his uniform

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In this photo Calder looks like he's wearing it as a student at a Military School, Uniform same looking as a actual army officer.s one, with a Brown Leather Garrison Belt, that's where the brass hooks are for, note the cap device and collar insignia, not Infantry Crossed Rifles (He wss an Infantry Officer) nor the standard U.S. Army Officer cap Device. This belt seen would not be the type worn later by him, what was worn was a simple matching cloth belt with open faced brass buckle.

ww2-army.jpg

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Centurion1982

Thanks for your replies. You’re correct this is a picture of his training period.

 

Would this be a correct belt to restore the uniform? The color isn’t matching, so I have to find a matching one if this is the correct type of belt.

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The first cloth belt with the flat buckle would be correct.  Referencing the holes in the lapels, are you 100% sure he was an infantry officer?  If not, the orientation of the holes might be for armored force brass being straight across as opposed to the offset nature of the posts on infantry brass

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Centurion1982

Thanks

 

Thats due to the wrong angle of my picture. The holes look to be diagonal on this new picture.

 

Calder was within the 46th Infantry Battalion.

 

I therefore think the infantry crossed rifles insignia were previously mounted to this uniform. Agree?

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What are the labels in this coat centurion. It may be a later coat he wore, and the brass hooks were for the Sam Browne Belt, making it an early Officer Coat. In fact the belt he's wearing in the photo may be a Sam Brown Belt, but doesn't seem to have the cross strap.

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Can you post a clearer photo of him? The Cap Device, it might just be the blurryness of the photo, but so far it dosent look like the U.S. Officer cap device.

 

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And a superb shot of the full Sam Browne Belt,

 

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4 hours ago, Centurion1982 said:

The complete group photo. I don’t have a higher quality of the picture.

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Yep that's a Military Academy, the Cap Device tells us that, which one???? The insignia on the lower lapels kinda looks like Engineers, but hard to tell from this distance.And note that only two cadets has the cross strap for his Sam Browne Belt, maybe these two wear commanders. By the date on the tag you posted inside the coat indicates this was his in the school, the buttons may or may not of been Federal (U.S. Army Eagle Buttons), if they were not Federal and were school buttons, he no doubt upgraded them to Federal to continue to wear this fine coat when he repoted for duty as a commisioned U.S. Army Officer.

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You want the cloth belt with the rectangular buckle. The oval buckle came out with the "new" version of the officer's four pocket blouse which did away with the seams on the chest. Captain Calder would have been deceased before he could have acquired one of the new uniforms. The Sam Browne belt was done away with just prior to Pearl Harbor if I recall correctly, but they were still worn by various ROTC units and academies after the US Army suspender the wear.

 

Allan

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Centurion1982

Thanks!

Where can I find such a cloth belt (size 38) for sale?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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On 7/27/2020 at 2:45 AM, Centurion1982 said:

Thanks!

Where can I find such a cloth belt (size 38) for sale?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Tried looking around for originals, but no dice so far, I knew it would be hard to find item. However as a last resort, they do make Reproductions, one company at least. And though we always love to see and get original items, this would be one option.

 

https://www.wwiiimpressions.com/products/belt-coat-officers-dark-shade-replacement

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Centurion1982

Thanks

 

I found this one a demaged uniform which is for sale. Would this be a correct belt to add to the uniform? 

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Yes. I have one or two that came with the hooks and cloth belts and the color match isn't perfect. In, say, 1940 when a guy picked one of these up, did it come with a cloth belt or was it expected to be worn with the Sam Brown belt exclusively. The early officer book implies that IIRC. I always figured the cloth belts were picked up later when regs changed and that is what accounted for the slight mismatch in the gabardine color.

Dave

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