POWDER MAGAZINE/BANDOLIER for Comment

[colin henshaw]

Nice piece Stu, with good honest wear. I like it. With the Omani type buckle, what about East Africa for origin ?

[thinreadline]

Could the stamp say 'Middlemore & Lamplugh' ? This was a firm of Birmingham leather equipment manufacturers to the War Dept up to 1920 . What is it about the brass buckle that indicates Omani to you ?

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by thinreadline

Could the stamp say 'Middlemore & Lamplugh' ? This was a firm of Birmingham leather equipment manufacturers to the War Dept up to 1920 . What is it about the brass buckle that indicates Omani to you ?

Thanks Threadline. Yes the stamp likely says Middlemore & Lamplugh. As I said it is rather indistinct. Thank you for the clarification. However the pouch style is not the same as those shown in your other post. Yours show a single layer flap, and the one on my belt has a double layer.
In relation to the buckle, it is similar in shape and design to those used on most true Omani belts and has been discussed elsewhere on the Forum. This style appears to attributed to the interior of Oman....Rostag/Nizwa regions.
Attached is a pic of an Omani ammunition belt with the same buckle.
Stu

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by colin henshaw

Nice piece Stu, with good honest wear. I like it. With the Omani type buckle, what about East Africa for origin ?

Maybe, as Omani traders/slavers were all over the region. The belt/flask of yours recently on the Swap Forum, I believe, also has an Omani belt, but merged with a flask from somewhere else in Africa.
Stu

[thinreadline]

Thanks for that info re the buckle. My mistake re the flap . in that case your pouch is the Infantry Pattern 1903 ammunition pouch . This has the double flap and the 5th rivet to the rear which would have originally retained a brass 'D'.

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by thinreadline

Thanks for that info re the buckle. My mistake re the flap . in that case your pouch is the Infantry Pattern 1903 ammunition pouch . This has the double flap and the 5th rivet to the rear which would have originally retained a brass 'D'.

Yep that looks like it. So it also fits with the 1909 date stamped on the back. I have no doubt that the pouch was likely "souvenired" from British equipment and used (maybe) to hold lead balls....sounds logical anyway.
Stu

[thinreadline]

Originally Posted by kahnjar1

Yep that looks like it. So it also fits with the 1909 date stamped on the back. I have no doubt that the pouch was likely "souvenired" from British equipment and used (maybe) to hold lead balls....sounds logical anyway.
Stu

Yes that will be it ... the 1903 equipment although designed initially for infantrymen , it saw long service ( up to the late 1940s ) by mounted troops especially in India and South Africa .