A Reich Labour Service Officer's Brocade Dress Belt with Buckle; Published Example

(Reichsarbeitsdienst =RAD): Buckle in silvered die-stamped aluminum on the right end, maker marked with the stylized Assmann "A" (F.W. Assmann & Söhne, Lüdenscheid), marked "DRGM" (Deutsches Reichsgebrauchsmuster) and numbered "37." (1938) on the reverse, the buckle measuring 47.2 mm. Belt is fabricated from a fine aluminum wire with three rows of brown embroidery on the upper, the sides and reverse in brown wool, with two sliders that have matching uppers and reverses to that of the belt. Brown leather tab stitched in place on the underside with a smooth finished upper at the left end with ten rows of two holes each for length adjustment and marked "100" in blue ink on its reverse, with matching silvered receiving clip, the belt measuring 47 mm x 1,075 mm. Scattered silvering wear on the buckle. Extremely fine. This particular buckle is illustrated on page 327 of "Belt Buckles & Brocades of the Third Reich, Revised Edition" by John R. Angolia and came from his personal collection.

Footnote: From the collection of approximately 900 German buckles accumulated by John R. Angolia, who start collecting buckles, belts and brocades from 1944 until around 1990; most of the buckles were obtained from the American and German veterans; most of these buckles present a core of Angolia’s book “Belt Buckles & Brocades of the Third Reich”, published in 2001.