WW 1 GERMAN CAVALRY BELT BUCKLE CIRCA 1900

[Bombing IP]

Story one
Ernest Hemingway wore a 'Gott Mit Uns' belt buckle given to him by his son.

Jack Hemingway was an OSS officer who parachuted into occupied France, was wounded and captured. For a time, he was at the POW hospital in Ludwigsburg Germany where Hauptmann Haas was chief of security. Jack was later liberated. the belt and buckle were sent to Jack in Washington by prisoners at the Ludwigsburg POW hospital. they choked Haas to death with it. Jack Hemingway later gave the belt and buckle to his famous father who wore it until his death.

i'm researching this story and trying to learn more about Hauptmann Haas and the circumstances relating to his strangulation.

i will be most grateful for any suggestions on where and how to look for any information about Haas. For example, there must be an officer's file for Haas. There must be a record of his death.


Story two

I am grateful to you both for the feedback. While you cannot say for sure that it is the Gott Mit Uns buckle, your responses do seem to indicate you believe it is likely a German WWII buckle. That is reassuring to my research.

The soldier in the picture is war correspondent Ernest Hemingway. He took the buckle and belt off a dead German soldier. Hemingway was attached to the 4th Army, 22nd Infantry Regiment, and acquired the belt and buckle either during the Allied push across France or during the Battle of Hurtgen Forrest. The uniform he is wearing would appear to be far too light-weight for Germany in November and lends credence to my speculation it was earlier in France.

if anyone would like to no more about this buckle, I invite you to visit my website PARADISE UNLIMITED


Click on the Gott MIT UNS section to go to the story, 'GOTT MIT UNS, the strange but true story of Ernest Hemingway's World War II Nazi belt buckle'. While I know a lot about this particular buckle, i most certainly am not an expert on buckles in general. So please let me know if you find any of my facts inaccurate and/or erroneous.

i hope you enjoy GOTT MIT UNS, the story.



BIP

 

[B-Man2]

Both of them interesting stories for sure. Thanks

 

[MikeyB-17]

Mikey you are correct ,which story did you hear on how he acquired it ?.

BIP

TBH it was an educated guess-I hadn’t heard any stories. Interested to hear the ones you’ve posted.

 

[Bombing IP]

Well Mikey that was a bloody good guess !.

BIP

 

[MikeyB-17]

He just seemed like the sort of bloke who might have worn such a thing.

 

[Pilot]

These two wore your Kavallerie Feldbinde...
They fought on the Eastern Front near Kolmar. Same guy but 2 different units prior and during WWI.

 

[B-Man2]

Brice
That looks like a very old book. What is that?

 

[Pilot]

Brice
That looks like a very old book. What is that?

Its not a book but two large original photos 25cmx35cm put on hard paper.

 

[B-Man2]

Original photos... from the period... impressive!

 

[Pilot]

Original photos... from the period... impressive!

Yup original studio photos...named.

 

[sammlerdude]

Here it is polished and assembled ,next the attachment of the clasp and the stitching to complete the project .

View attachment 22040View attachment 22041View attachment 22042View attachment 22043

BIP

Nice repair and polish job but the German always put the flesh side out on their enlisted belts since the early 19th century. You have the grain side out which cracks more easily, de-laminates (peeling), and doesn't allow finishes like "jacking."

 

[Bombing IP]

Here is the Cavalry belt finished .

It was a fun project I am now working on another WW1 belt .

 

[Bombing IP]

I came across this belt buckle from a gent in Poland he claims it was a WW1 Elite Stormtrooper buckle ,
it was obviously dug up ,I have cleaned off the rust scaling ..I t appears to have been brass plated and what looks to be steel underneath .What is strange is that the the findings on the back are brazed on and the piece has oxidized it also has some weight so it not aluminum . Place a magnet on it it does not stick ,its got me stumped .

I will repair the missing prong and make a belt for it .I have yet to verify its truly a Stormtrooper buckle as most I have seen do not have crossed bones they have crossed stick grenades . Interesting enough the belt size for this is 1 1/2" most are always bigger .Work in progress,sorry for the multiple same pictures I do not know why ? .
BIP

 

[B-Man2]

I came across this belt buckle from a gent in Poland he claims it was a WW1 Elite Stormtrooper buckle .View attachment 46665View attachment 46665View attachment 46665

I will repair the missing prong and make a belt for it .I have yet to verify its truly a Stormtrooper buckle as most I have seen do not have crossed bones they have crossed stick grenades . Interesting enought the belt size for this is 1 1/2" miost are always bigger .Work in progress
BIP

That looks interesting . If that’s an original, I would think that you’ve got a very unique piece of history there. I’ve read about the German WWI Storm Troopers . A gutsy bunch of young guys for their time . If you find out more about your buckle , I’d like to read about it.
Thanks for posting .

 

[Bombing IP]

So not being a belt maker what did I learn from this ,using a brad awl makes holes in leather only amplifies the inaccuracy in the stitches per inch . Using a pricking iron places the stitches in a nice angle pattern with perfect repetition as long as you repeat the thread under and over the same way .The other thing I had to make sure it that when the belt attaches to the buckle the hook is away from the end of the leather .This makes the leather to buckle seem one and does not show the hook and loop of the buckle .People have told me the belt should be roughout or should be black . I picked this belt leather and color because it was from Germany and its a color that I would use with what I wear .