Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice example of a rare Turkish Ottoman Army enlisted man’s belt and buckle. During the first world war, Turkey was allied with Germany as part of the Central powers, and received much aid from them in way of arms and other material. Turkey had long used German Mauser Rifles, and much of their field gear was patterned directly off the German model. The belts used by the Ottoman army were essentially clones of the German leather belt and M1895 buckle, with a different front insignia.

This buckle features two-piece construction, with a slightly convex, stamped brass metal box buckle, with an attached Nickel Ottoman Empire insignia. This features a five pointed star over a crescent moon, which has Arabic writing on it. There is a simple rope border around the insignia. To the reverse is its raised buckle catch, and a metal prong bar with dual prongs, for the belt’s retaining tongue.

The buckle is in very good condition, with a nice patina on the buckle, with the badge being a great shiny example with one small dent to the top left of the star. A very attractive display piece that still retains most of the detail on the insignia, with some wear and a few small dents.

A very nice example, the first we have had, ready to display!

History of German/Prussian Style Belt Buckles:

First introduced in 1847, the design of the buckle remained virtually unchanged
until 1918. After January of 1915, these buckles, which were also used by the Prussian-dominated states of Baden, Oldenburg, Hansa and Thuringia, were made of zinc-plated sheet iron. Originally the box buckles came in a 50mm, (roughly 2 inches), width until 1895 when the width was reduced to 45mm, (roughly 1 3/4 inches), in an attempt to lighten the weight load of the field gear. Initially the buckles were produced of brass with a nickel/silver face plate until 1914 when steel construction buckles were introduced.