BACKGROUND: Military belts and their corresponding buckles date back centuries and were initially designed for attaching swords and daggers. In 1847 Prussian Hauptmann Virschow introduced a new, innovative, box buckle with a quick release catch and corresponding belt for EM/NCO’s ranks and initiated a new method of carrying personal equipment with the belt and shoulder straps supporting the majority of the weight. This system, with modifications, remains in use in most of the armies in the world to this day. During the Third Reich era, (1933-1945), there was a prescribed form of wear of the belt and buckle with the buckle being positioned on the right side and the corresponding buckle catch on the left side. On January 24^TH 1936 a new pattern EM/NCO’s belt buckle was officially introduced to replace the previously worn Weimar Reichswehr era, (National Defence Force, Circa 1919-1933), belt buckle. The basic design of the Reichswehr buckle was retained with the addition of the new Wehrmacht, (Armed Forces), style national eagle. This pattern buckle was worn through-out the Third Reich period with minor manufacturing variations and different colored finishes. The colored finish was determined by regulations depending on what form of uniform it was to be worn with, with silver for dress wear and field-grey for field wear. Originally military buckles produced under government contract had the addition of a leather, (canvas web for tropical buckles), tabs which were designed to help support the ammunition pouches and prevent slippage but regulations in 1942 discontinued the tabs to preserve leather although the directive was not completely adhered to. The standard issue belt buckles were roughly, 4.5cm-4.7cm, (roughly 1 3/4"-1 7/8"), tall, while private purchase belt buckles were generally a little smaller ranging from 3.5cm-4cm, (1 3/8"-1 5/8"), tall.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Roughly, 1 7/8", (4.7cm), tall, 1940 pattern, field-grey painted, die stamped steel construction, combat box buckle features a smooth outer field with a high relief, embossed Wehrmacht, (Armed Forces), style eagle with down swept wings, clutching a canted swastika in it’s talons, to the slightly domed center, encompassed by an oak-leaf cluster to the bottom and script, "Gott Mit Uns", (God With Us), to the top. The oak-leaf cluster and script are on a ribbed background and are encircled by both an inner and outer simulated twisted rope border. The buckle only retains hints of its original field-grey paint and appears to have had another, darker, field-grey paint or a protective lacquer applied which is retained about 90%. The buckle shows some light surface pitting. The reverse of the buckle is a mirror image of the obverse. The reverse has the brazed buckle catch, prong bar and prongs all intact. The reverse also has the faint, mostly illegible, stamped manufacture’s initials and date that appear to be, "ESL", in a circular format encompassing the date, "40", indicating manufacture by Ernst Schneider of Lüdenscheid in 1940. The prong bar has a heavily age and usage darkened leather tab stitched around it. The leather tab is well marked with the faint, illegible, impressed manufacturer’s mark within an oval cartouche.