Partial WWI Trophy Belt

I mentioned that some of my badges from last week’s posts came from unsalvageable trophy belts. These were popular souvenirs put together by soldiers in WWI. Here’s a partial trophy belt I bought this year. Several of the loose badges that were with it were used to upgrade my collection, but I’ve kept the intact section together, and it perfectly fits my display drawer!

Stable belts originated with personnel detailed to care for horses, but their popularity spread to all of the British Army. They were a favorite for making into trophy belts because of their width. This one is 2 ¼ inches (5.7 cm) wide and made of glove leather sewn around cotton batting. The tip is belt leather, stamped with the manufacturer’s logo and name “CAMEO”.

1. German/Prussian Tunic Button

2. British officer’s rank pip. number of pips indicates rank. The pip bears the star of the order of the bath, so it was for an officer in other than the “household” regiments.

3. The New Zealand Fern Leaf collar badge. Small version of the early WWI cap badge.

4. Australian Rising Sun collar badge. The smaller collar version of the famous hat badge.

5. Glengarry badge of the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders.

6. Cap badge of the Queens (Royal West Surrey Regiment) missing part of its scroll from rubbing against its neighbor badge.

7. Coldstream Guards Cap badge.

8. Glengarry badge of the Black Watch – with much sharper detail than the one shown with my collection last week.

9. Cap badge of the Grenadier Guards.

10. The 7th Queen’s Own Hussars cap badge. The monogram is normally white metal, but this is an economy version issued in 1916.

11. 2nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys) cap badge. Commemorates the capture of the standard of the French 45th Regiment at Waterloo.

12. Collar insignia of a United States Army Reserve Officer.

13. Canadian General Service cap badge.

14. Glengarry badge of the 14th (City of London) Battalion (London Scottish). This was the first territorial battalion to go into action in October 1914 in the Ypres Salient.