WWII German M1911 K98 Rifle Ammunition Pouch - Late Pattern Gallery
These are pouches dated 1943 that are late pattern. This type of pattern features steel fittings, rivets, and short vertical belt straps riveted to the lower back.
1943
RBNr. 0/0390/0069
1943
Late
pattern pouch with black pebbled leather. Steel fittings painted feldgrey.
Sewn pocket lids and pocket bottoms. Rectangular "D" ring
for equipment hook. All dividers present. Interior pocket liners sewn
to bottoms. Unknown maker, unusual to find a date with RBNr. It is typical to find this RBNr with a date. (20070403-01)
RBNr. 0/0390/0069
1943
Late
pattern pouch with black pebbled leather. Steel fittings painted feldgrey.
Sewn pocket lids and pocket bottoms. Rectangular "D" ring
for equipment hook. All dividers present. Interior pocket liners sewn
to bottoms. RBNr is stamped twice making the number difficult to read. Unknown maker, unusual to find a date with RBNr. It is typical to find this RBNr with a date. (20070403-02)
GUSTAV SUDBRACK
1943
Bielefeld
Black pebbled leather with brown belt straps. Steel fittings painted feldgray (40% remaining). Pocket lids are sewn. Rectangular "D" ring for equipment hook. All dividers present. Interior pocket liners sewn to bottoms. Pockets retain a nice original shape. (20090127)
J. MARTIN PAUCKNER
BAMBERG
1943
Late
pattern pouch with black pebbled leather. Steel fittings painted black.
Rivets used for lid and pockets are 8 mm wide (heads). Rectangular "D" ring
for equipment hook. All dividers present. Interior pocket liners riveted
to bottoms.
A city of south-central Germany north-northwest of Nuremburg, Bamberg was spared from allied bombings in WWII. By 1943, most of the city's Jewish community had been taken to death camps in the East. The story is told in the book, "The End of a Community: The Destruction of the Jews of Bamberg, Germany, 1938-1942" by Karl Mistele. (20070211)
RUDOLF CONTE NACHR. THEODOR SEIBOD
OFFENBACH A.M.
1943
Black pebbled leather and all steel fittings. Pockets are sewn. Rectangular "D" ring for equipment hook. All dividers present. Interior pocket liners are sewn to bottoms. Steel fittings have about 50% of feldgray paint remaining. Maker mark and date is stamped on equipment ring loop. Two impressions from a belt buckle are on the left vertical belt strap that indicate this pouch was worn on the right side of the soldat.
A town just outside of Frankfurt, Germany, Offenbach was a center for leather manufacturing until World War II ended in 1945. Today the Deutches Ledermuseum & Schuhmuseum displays many items from the town's past leather industry.
The Nazi attempt to eradicate Jews and Jewish culture began even before World War II and the ensuing Holocaust. Religious artifacts and books were seized from Jewish individuals and institutions as early as the late 1930's, as the cultural parallel to the physical destruction of the Jewish people. Most of the Jewish cultural heritage was destroyed, but the Nazis intended to preserve a sample of this culture for educational or research purposes. With this in mind, the Nazis deposited these items in depots all over Europe.
At the end of the War, the custody of these millions of items fell to the United States Military Forces. The U.S. Army chose a location for evaluating these materials at the I.G. Farben complex in Offenbach, Germany. The resulting Offenbach Archival Depot was established in 1946, and within two years, approximately 2,000,000 books and materials had been restituted to their original owners or to the governments of the countries of origin. (20070227-01)
STECHER
FREIBERG
1943
Late pattern black pebbled leather. Clip dividers are present. Small eagle is stamped on back. The wing measures about 11 mm wide, 9mm high. The Courier style "M" measures 4mm wide by 3mm high. About 75% of original gray paint remains on equipment "D" ring. (20070730-02)
dfc
1943
Late pattern black pebbled leather. Interesting that this salty "been there" pouch still has it's ammunition clip dividers present. Unfortunately one of the belt loops has lost its rivets and reinforcement plate. This most likely occurred well after the war since the spacer was found inside a pocket after purchase and no other parts have been found. This does provide some insight into the construction of K98 pouches. The equipment loop is secured by four large rivets. About 85% of original feld gray paint remains on equipment "D" ring. (20080329)