A RAD General Officer's Brocade Dress Belt with Buckle by Overhoff & Cie; Published

(Reichsarbeitsdienst = RAD): Fire gilt aluminum buckle on the right end, marked "GES. GESCH" (Gesetzlich Geschützt), maker marked with the "OLC" (Overhoff & Cie, Ludenscheid) insignia and marked "36" (1936) on the reverse, illustrating the RAD upward-facing shovel insignia surrounded by a wreath of wheat sheaves, the buckle measuring 48.5 mm. Brocade dress belt in fine aluminum wire with three rows of brown embroidery on the upper, interlaced with white threading, brown wool sides and underside, fire gilt aluminum buckle on the left end, thick smooth finished brown leather tab stitched in place on the underside on the left end, the tab with seven rows of two holes each for length adjustment, two sliders on the belt with matching uppers, one with a tab that has brown cotton upper and brown wool underside, the belt measuring 47 mm x 1,215 mm. Scattered gilt wear and one spot on the buckle, mothing evident on the tab attached to the slider. Extremely fine. This particular belt with buckle is illustrated in black and white on page 327 and in colour on page 639 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.