thedawnpatrol Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Hi Does anyone know how to tell if these leather bandoliers are WW1 or WW2 , I can not find any date or markings of any sort ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 fv1609 Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Looks WW1 to me I have a black one that looks the same design. Sold to me as a mounted infantry one, but I spotted the significance of the stamp "LONDON 1922" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 paul_bish Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 this site should help http://www.karkeeweb.com/patterns/1903/components/1903_bandoliers.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Tony B Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 A lot of leather webbing was produced in 1914/15 to equip the new Kitchener armies as there was a shortage of cotton webbing. This was due to the cotton webbing being a commercial design and could only be woven on one set of looms, those of the Mills Eqipment company. The leather 1914 pattern leather was made in UK and scourced from US. It was not intended for front line use originally. The webbing be came looked on as a mark of Caine and was dumped for 08 pattern at the first oppertunity. Unfortunatley there are also a lot of copies about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 11th Armoured Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 That's the 1903 Pattern 50-round bandolier, Mark II, I believe (although I'd need to see the buckle to be absolutely certain). Without any stamps, I think it is virtually impossible to determine a date, however - apart from buckle differences between the Mk. I & Mk. II versions (as detailed on the Karkee Web site), the design remained unchanged throughout its production, which continued until the early 1940s in South Africa. On leather equipment of the period, if there are any markings, they're often quite feint, though, so it might be worth having another look (I use a magnifying glass & a bright light source shone along the surface, rather than directly down on it - that way the tiniest of shadows of any stamping usually become visible). The most likely places are towards the ends of the bandolier - mine is stamped '1915' & 'HGR LD' (which is Hepburn, Gale & Ross Ltd., Grange Mills, Grange Road, Bermondsey, London, SE1), signifying original manufacturer & date, but also bears 'SAP' & '4 28' stamps, likely indicating post-WWI use by the South African Police. HTH, Kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 thedawnpatrol Posted January 11, 2015 Author Share Posted January 11, 2015 Thanks Paul for the very interesting link...... Though I can still find not a single mark on any of the leather, I can see it is the MKII version. It's a shame as I would have loved to find a ww1 date. Jules Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Its me Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Just out of intressted if anyone is intressted I have a fair few ww1/2 dated ones which are for sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 REME 245 Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 If you have a Cavalry one I may be interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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thedawnpatrol
Hi
Does anyone know how to tell if these leather bandoliers are WW1 or WW2 , I can not find any date or markings of any sort !
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