Claus Espeholt's G43

CE: G43 – MP44 Collectors Service
G - K/43 magazine pouches

Your pictures of G-K/43 pouches are most welcome for posting.
In a letter from the "Infanterieschule" dated Aug. 15, 1944, it is described how the German soldier had 10 rounds in a magazine on the rifle and 20 rounds in magazines stored in pouches on his left side. The soldier carried 30 rounds in the issued K98k three pocket cartridge pouches on his right side. The same tells the little butt stock manual "zum einlegen in das Gerät"
It was also seen that the soldier simply cut the pouches in half and then had only one magazine in his pouch.

Some of the pouches represented here are genuine WWII German manufacture and some could be reproduction and post WWII manufacture. Most of the total fakes are made within from about 1990 to 2002. So these pouches will not exibit the natural aging process. The thread will respond to ultra-violet rays (black light) or is made of rayon and will not pass the "burn test". Sometimes the smell of the leather can help you decide if the pouch is genuine or questionable. Newer leather has a very distinctive leather smell to it from the tannic acid or other chemicals used in the leather tanning process. This smell stays with the leather for quite a long time.
Be VERY suspicious about the Gew43/Kar43 code. A WaA stamp late in the war on equipment like pouches isn"t normal since personel from the WaA organization were released for front line combat service. Note also that many fake pouches have a WaA - and genuine K98 pouches never have a WaA.
As we can see "ros" made magazine pouches of many different types. "ros" and "bla" used the same construction and I believe "ros" is the late war code for "bla". "bla" is known to be: E.G.Leuner, Bautzen.
I hope this information will be helpful for "newbies" looking for a pouch, but I must admit that the subject becomes more and more confusing in line with more and more types emerge. There are only a few types of K98 pouches, and why are there so many types of G43 pouches? Is it because they were made late in the war with no product description and because the factories were forced to use the matrials they had?
This website has been designed around the year 2000, and I have used material and color as the key words. But I must admit that I should have used type of construction as common denominator, because some manufacturers simply used what they had - brown or black leather - and so on.

"Demjansk" pouches
Since the summer of 2002 there has been a steady flow of pouches from an old storehouse in Demjansk in Russia. All these are considered to be genuine and there are seen following types: 1a1, 1a2, 1b2, 3a, 3a2, 11a, 11b, 11d, 11e, 11f, 11g, 11h and 11i. The price of a pair of G43 pouches could perhaps be $600 before all these pouches showed up. The prices today are sometimes $100 and in line with that it has become less and less profitable to make fakes, so we can say that this website here has become less interesting than it was some years ago.
The type 6a is very rare and did not come from Russian surplus stocks. Type 4a was often seen some years ago. I have only seen one type 7a (genuine?)

A "horror" photo

Perhaps not so much a horror photo for G43 pouch owners. I have got an email from the man on top of the pile. He tells that most of the pouches are Russian, but there are some Austrian too and a very, very few German WWII pouches.

1a1. Brown leather - brown belt loops

Code "bla 1944" inside the left pouch. Rivets.
Genuine: Yes

1a2. Brown leather - black or brown belt loops

Code "ros 1944" inside the left pouch. Rivets. Different front straps aren"t typical.
Genuine: Yes

1a3. Brown leather - no rivets - brown belt loops

Code "ros 1944" inside the left pouch. No rivets but stitched. This must be a rare variation since "bla"/"ros" normally used rivets.
Genuine: Yes

1b1. Brown leather - no rivets
Marked: on the outside of the front strap of the right pouch: "skl WaA721" The same type as below but marked in a different way - and the backside is different. Of a similar construction: "dtv 44" on the backside.

Genuine: Presumed - Czech made ?

1b2. Brown leather - no rivets
Marked under the lid in front of the right pouch: "cny 43 - WaA14", "cny44" or "cny 45". See also 3d, same shape but black leather
Genuine: Yes

1b3. Brown leather - no rivets - with brass studs and lines along the edges
No markings
Genuine: No I don't think so. I have seen another for sale - exactly the same type with brass studs. The Germans did never use brass for the G43 pouches.

1c. Brown leather, handle in the front.

Brown belt loops. Marked on the backside: "cxb 44". See also 4b - same shape but black leather.
Genuine: Yes

2a. Brown artificial leather

Code "gxy 44" on one loop. Kar43 on the other.
Genuine: No - Kar43 was never used on genuine pouches.

2b. Brown presstoff and brown leather loops

No markings
Genuine: Presumed not - but difficult to prove. Such material is unknown in other cases.

3a. Black glossy leather - brown loops (also seen with black loops)

Marked inside left flap: "bla 1944" and sometimes WaA159. Many came in from Russia in the summer 2002. Most have brown loops, some black loops and one of these has WaA159.
Genuine: Yes

3a1. Black glossy leather - a repro
Made by ATF and after some years use it will be difficult to distinguish it from the original. Has brown belt loops and a large eagle on the left loop. The real thing doesn't have such an eagle. The rivets for the D-ring are closer to each other - 5 mm - than on the org. pouch.

3a2. Black glossy leather - low botton
It's also marked bla 1944 - low botton and no horizontal straps. A late variant of the pouch above? or of the pouch below?
Genuine: Yes

3a3. Black pebbled artificial leather - low bottom.
No horizontal straps. Only the loops are made of genuine leather. Marked bla 1944 and WaA159 inside left pouch.
Genuine: Yes

3b. Black glossy leather - black loops

Code "epf 1944" inside the pouch (eqf is Karl Böcker)

3c. Black glossy leather - black loops

Makers code "hte 44" and WaA inside the pouch. Also seen with "eyp 44" on one belt loop.
Genuine: No, the leather is a bit too thick, and does not smell old enough to be original. Note also the lines along the edges.

3d. Black glossy leather - handle below

Black belt loops. Marked under the lid in front of the right pouch: "cny WaA14". See also 1b2, same shape but brown leather
Genuine: Yes

3e. Black, thin pig skin
Black leather loops and D-ring to the rear. Marked inside a pouch with greenish blue ink: "cvc" and some too: "45". Came out of Russia in the summer of 2002. (I guess it was rather few)
Genuine: Yes

3f. Black, thick pig skin

Is marked "hpc 45" on one belt loop which stands for "Historical Parts Company"
Genuine: No

4a. Black, thick pig skin

"RME45" ? on the left loop. 339 in blue ink inside right pouch. (not all have this ink stamp - Czech acceptance markings ?)
Genuine: It"s said that these are Czech post war pouches but I think they are genuine because they have a German makers code and made in a good quality. The Czechs used a poor quality after the war. The third reason: some have inside the flap of the right pouch an ink stamp in German: Die .....erung erfolgt zu den Satzen ... Wehrmachtstarif. It wasn't necessary to mention the Wehrmacht after the war so that's another reason for they are genuine. The fourth reason is that K98 ammo pouches with the code RME44 are seen in a some cases too.
Appeared in Czecho-Slovakia after the iron curtain fell. (it's told that a French found them - with some brown pouches - in a film studio in Prague in 1989)
(The third reason: I have later been told that die Wehrmacht in some few cases inspected the hides and placed a stamp near the edge of the hide. Pistol holsters have been seen with such stamps - they are very rare. So we must conclude that the leather has been inspected by die Wehrmacht, but not necessarily used in production before the capitulation)

4a1. Black, thick pig skin painted Einheitsfarbe

I presume the painting was made after the war

A pouch with WaA54 - twice - on the left front strap is rapported

4a2. Black pressed leather

The leather is pressed not pebbled. The owner believes that it has been made in DDR - that means after the war.

4b. Black, thin pig skin

Code "cxb" and "K43" or "cxb" and "44" on the backside. See also 1d - same shape but brown leather.
Genuine: Yes

5a. Black artificial leather

Black Ersatzleder. "dla 44" and WaA136 to one loop. G43 to the other. Brown belt loops. Also seen with G43 to one loop and WaA and "clg 44" to the other (can also be hms 44).
Genuine: No. It's said that these can be bought in a village outside Berlin for 35 $.

5b. Black Ersatzleder

Marked: "bmo 43"
Genuine: Presumed fake

6a. Dark grey-blue rubberized canvas

Marked on one loop: OTTO KOBERSTEIN LANDSBERG a.W. On the other loop: WaA14. The description of the color is: "dark grey with a slight bluish tint" The name Otto Koberstein, Landsberg am Warthe is also found on other leather goods. Perhaps the most desired pouch today. The same concerns: Max Koberstein, Landsberg / Warthe
Genuine: Yes

7a. Sand colored heavy linen with a red stripe

Other pouches have the red stripe placed elsewhere. Brown leather. No markings. This type is also seen as MP38/40 and MP44 pouches.
Genuine: Presumed, but I must admit that I only seen one of this type G43 pouch.

8a. Brown webbing

Black belt loops. Code "clg 44" and WaA.
Genuine: No, artificially aged

9a. Light green webbing

Brown straps. D-ring and belt loops in black leather. Code "oxo" or "oxq 44" to one belt loop.
Genuine: Presumed but I must admit that I only have seen one pair of pouches of this type.

9b. Light green webbing

Black leather. An old repro type.

9c. Field grey canvas

Black leather fittings. Straps marked "Gew 43 / Kar. 43", "emj 44" and "WaA86?"
Genuine: The max. price must be 20 $

9d. Green webbing
One of the belt loops is marked: "WaA204" and "44"
Genuine: Presumed not - same source as 8a. ?

9e. Green webbing
One of the belt loops is marked: "WaA204" and "44"
Genuine: Presumed since the pouchees are worn inside of the magazines. Or of DDR origin - with WaA204 and 44 later added. The belt loops are of a smart design because it is possible to put the bag on the belt without loosening the belt

10a. Grey-blue fabric

Black belt loops. Marked "Kar 43 coq ?" and WaA866.
Genuine: No

11a. Rubber impregnated webbing - pebbled surface

Black belt loops. Some have code "bla 1944" or "ros 1944" inside the left pouch. Rivets. Seen with "Lohmannwerke AG, Bielefeld, 1944" inside the lid of the right pouch. In that case without the "bla" or "ros" marking
Genuine: Yes