1913 belt with iron ring

[imarangemaster]

Here's my 1913 belt with 15 round pouches on it. Also is the iron ring that I got from my dad who was signal corps on Iwo Jima. He said the ring was for hooking a safety/climbing belt on for going up poles and palm trees (non left on Iwo to speak of). The belt is a replacement, as I wore out what was left of his 1913 belt playing Army in the 50s and early 60s! I don't know if the ring was issue (I doubt it) or just local issue or procurement. I actually have two he left me. One is rusty from use, and this one is in better shape.

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[grits]

Yep, I had one of those in the 50's as well. Seems like they were .50 at the surplus stores then. Mine served me well and the green apple handgrenades!
I won all the time.
grits

[phil441]

Yep Grits, I had one of those belts as well. Also had the pack, helmet liner, canteen, medical pouch and a bunch of other attachments. Went into the AF in 1961 and when I finally came back home all that stuff had been thrown away. Green grenade included.
Kinda hurts, doesn't it?

Phil

[imarangemaster]

Was it the green grenade with the spoon that was hinged and allowed a cap strike, or the one with the weighted round end that you put the cap under? I had both, and a MKI my dad made into a cigarette lighter on IWO!

[imarangemaster]

Vintage Toy Military Army Grenade fires caps - eBay (item 320459107122 end time Dec-13-09 10:02:44 PST)

That's one of the kinds of toy grenades I had, but mine was a lighter OD green.

[phil441]

Mine wasn't the toy. It was the real deal with powder and fuse removed.
It was the standard "pineapple" fragmentation grenade.
It was rendered safe, but would still hurt like hell if hit with it.

[imarangemaster]

I still have the pineapple MK1 my dad made into a cigarette lighter, though when I was younger replaced the spoon and hammer to restore it (empty of course). I also have an empty Japanese grenade hull and hollow fuse assembly, and empty 20mm shell he mounted to a marble block. The prize, however, is the bottle of black sand from the beach on IWO he brought back. Oh, did I mention the pre-invasion headquarters planning map and post invasion minefield map and actual photograph of the FIRST flag he left me!

[phil441]

Rangemaster,
Now that you mentioned it I do remember our next-door neighbor (in 1951 or 1952) bringing over a Jap grenade bring-back for my dad and me to look at. I was probably ten or eleven at the time but I was impressed by that thing. The three of us broke it down (no bright people in attendance, apparently) and just ended up with a whole bunch of concentric wooden rings with a wooden handle, lanyard attached.

The next morning it was gone so I have to assume that the neighbor and my dad got it back together again.

That vial of black sand is a treasure as are the maps and picture!
I hope you find time to post pics of them here...

Anything that a relative brought back is a treasure to protect.

Phil

[imarangemaster]

Mine is a type 97. It looks identical to this, including the metal cap on the fuse assembly. The scary thing about it, I found out later from one of our PD bomb techs, THE JAPANESE USED PICERIC ACID? BASED EXPLOSIVE THAT BECOMES EXTRTEMELY UNSTABLE WITH AGE. Opening one of unknown origin now is a BAD idea. Mine of course was empty from when my dad brought it back. I will take some pics of the map and stuff when I get a chance.