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H069258 MG34 GUNNER'S BELT POUCH WITH CONTENTS. (Werkzeugtasche 34 mit Inhalt)
BACKGROUND: The development and production of German army ordnance was under the supervision of the HwaA, Heereswaffenamt, (Army Ordnance Office), which was a subsection of the OKH, Oberkommando des Heeres, (High Command of the Army), and was responsible for testing, evaluation and eventual issue of all ordnance. The HwaA would issue all ordnance to a units Quartiermeister, (Supply HQ unit/Quartermaster), which contained the units Administration, Medical, Veterinarian, and Transport officer’s and its main responsibility was the control of all supplies to the forward troops including all vehicle fuel, and lubricant requirements as well as animal feed and rations and ammunition and accessories. Among other restrictions, the Treaty of Versailles banned Germany from developing any type of general purpose machine gun. To circumvent this, German development of an all purpose machine gun was secretly being done in Switzerland in the early 1930's. By 1934 designer Louis Stange of the Rheinmetall armaments factory had made improvements to the secret machine gun developed in Switzerland and the MG34 was introduced as an all purpose selective fire weapon. In spite of the relatively high production cost the MG34 was accepted by the Wehrmacht Ordnance department and deliveries of the MG34 began in 1936. In 1937 due to the high cost and manufacturing time of the MG34 development began on another general purpose machine gun which utilized stamped and pressed components making it cheaper and quicker to produce. Further developments resulted in the introduction of the MG42 general purpose machine gun in late 1941. The MG34 was manned by a three person crew with one individual being designated the "#1 gunner". The gunner was equipped with a specific gunners belt pouch which carried special tools and accessories for the weapon. Of Note: The MG42 Gunners pouch was almost identical but had a different internal configuration to accommodate the different tools used.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Roughly, 7" tall, 6" wide, 2 1/4" deep, smooth, molded, blackened leather construction MG34 gunners pouch with machine stitched seams features a fold over, top flap with a stitched on, vertical, leather closure strap with a single, cut-out, stud eyelet to the obverse. The closure strap affixes to a steel stud situated on the bottom of the pouch body. The pouch has eight natural steel and aluminum rivets in a circular pattern to the front body, and an additional two aluminum rivets to the upper right side and the bottom to secure the internal wooden plates and spring steel clips for storing of the contents. One of the front rivets is absent. The reverse of the pouch has two, stitched on, vertical, belt loops and a central, leather reinforced, steel "D" ring. The front body of the pouch is well marked with an impressed, waffen-amt stamp and the manufacturer’s three letter code and date, "evg 42", indicating manufacture by Max Oswald Lederwaren und Reiseartikel-Fabrik of Karlsruhe in 1942. The internal spring steel retaining clip, the wooden plate and the single leather pocket are all intact. The pouch is in overall very good condition with a few small scrapes and scuffs and the leather appears to have been treated and is still quite supple. The contents consist of a molded, black bakelite sulphur container, two assorted sized, blued, tooled steel, wrenches, a blued, tooled steel ruptured cartridge extractor, a natural, tooled steel spare bolt, a tooled sheet metal oilcan, a blued, tooled sheet metal starter tab, a rubberized, fabric muzzle cover and a molded rubber muzzle cover. Most of the metal contents have been well oiled and range from good to fair condition. Most of the contents retain the vast majority of their original finishes and most are marked with a waffen-amt stamp and/or manufacturer’s code. Nice MG34 accessory in overall very good condition.
GRADE ***3/4 PRICE $714.00
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