Original Item: One-of-a-kind. American soldiers were known for their love of souvenirs in the Great War; So, a lot of material history of the war came across the Atlantic with returning soldiers. Among collectors of military memorabilia from World War One "SOUVENIR BELTS" are items of interest.

German soldiers' leather belts, and other belts from participating armies, that were festooned with buttons from soldiers' uniforms are called Hate Belts / Souvenir Belts / Grave Digger Belts. These made for excellent collector's pieces.

"Hate Belt": the idea was that if a German soldier had killed or captured an Allied soldier, then he would have the button from the newly deceased or captured soldier attached to his belt as a kind of notch of conquest on his belt. This, no doubt, is the most intriguing explanation for those decorative belts.

"Souvenir Belt": this description is apt for many of the belts that are in circulation today. The souvenir belt would involve a German infantryman's belt being decorated with buttons and tabs from troops BOTH Allied and CENTRAL Powers and kept as a remembrance of The War.

"Grave Digger Belt": description is self explanatory, to a degree. Troops burying dead soldiers would sometimes remove buttons from those they buried as a remembrance. It is impossible to determine the origin of most belts, but some of these highly collectible belts provide some hints as to their origin. Nevertheless, these belts provide for excellent points of interest for collectors.

This example offered in very good condition features a black leather belt with a buckle and no stamps visible. It features an impressive 33 items in total attached to it, secured by a mixture of split pins, safety pins, and leather stripping and match sticks. A few are installed via their own attachment tabs. Most look to be German and Austro-Hungarian regimental badges from various units, with some other insignia. Insignias represented include the Luftstreitkräfte-German Air Force, rank pips, Naval, and more. The belt measures about 36 ½” inches long and 1 3/4 inches wide, with a brass buckle on the end. Unfortunately the belt was stored rolled up and has a bit of cracking in the finish now.

The back side of the belt is named and marked with a unit:

M.M. Ashland, Pa
Co. K 56th P.I.

Now this is technically named, it would be extremely difficult to try and identify the original owner of the belt, however, we were able to figure out the unit. The 56th Pioneer Infantry Regiment was formed in 1917 as the First Maine Heavy Artillery. The First Maine Heavy Artillery Regiment (minus one battery) was reorganized in 1918 as the 56th Pioneer Infantry Regiment. It served on the Meuse-Argonne Front in France for a few months and then spent the remainder of their service in Germany as part of the Army of Occupation. The battery that was detached from the regiment was renamed the 101st Trench Mortar Battery and went to France alongside the 103rd Infantry as part of the 26th Division. The coast artillery regiment was parceled out to fill other units, and formed the basis of the 54th Artillery Regiment, which also went to France. This resulted in the entirety of the Maine National Guard deployed for overseas service.

An extremely impressive pair of items! Ready to research and display!