WWII German M1911 K98 Rifle Ammunition Pouch
These pages are dedicated to Kim Henvig (kmh) from Copenhagen, Denmark who unfortunately passed away October 26, 2006. Kim's passion was WWII German ammunition pouches and bayonets. As a frequent contributor to the Wehrmacht-Awards Forum, he once said, "You are entering a minefield if you decide to collect pouches by makers". As I collect these pouches by maker, I completely understand Kim's statement. The information here would not have been possible without Kim's research on K98 pouches. He will be missed by his family and friends.
These pages are updated often as I find new and credible information. If you feel that the information is incorrect or can add to it, please let me know.
The leather
German Karabiner 98 (K98) rifle ammunition pouch or Patronentaschen 98K was one of the
most widely produced field gear items of World War II and was designated
the M1911. Its predecessor from the First World War was the M1909
which could hold a total of forty five rounds. Each of the three pouches
of the M1911 could hold two - five round 7.92mm K98 rifle clips.
This gave each pouch a total capacity of thirty rounds. With each
soldier having been issued two pouches (one for second line personnel),
the number of pouches produced was quite large and as a result, required
many manufacturers. These suppliers were in many locations throughout
Germany and its occupied territories. It is unknown exactly how many manufacturers
there were, but the numbers were easily in the hundreds. The Patronentaschen
98K was produced for the Heer (Army), Kriegsmarine (Navy), Luftwaffe (Air
Force), Polizei (Police), DRP (Deutsche Reichspost) and the combat arm of the Schutzstaffel (Waffen-SS).
Production
of the K98 ammunition pouch changed during the Third Reich years 1933-45. It was produced in
three general variations or patterns; early, transitional, and late.
The early pattern used all aluminum fittings and had two open style belt
loops. This style of loop was machine stitched and/or riveted to top
of the pouch back, and the end would fold under the pocket bottom to
be secured over an aluminum post. The wearer could attach the pouch
without having to remove the belt. Early pattern pouches are found stamped
with the years 1933-1942. During 1940, a transitional pattern began to appear
that used a combination of aluminum and steel (or all steel) fittings with
the open style belt straps. Transitional pattern pouches are found dated
as late as 1944. The late pattern pouch appeared in 1941 with a closed style
belt loop and steel fittings used throughout. This style of belt loop
was fastened to the top of the back as the early style, but was permanently fastened with rivets
at the lower edge of the back. This effectively "closed" the
strap and forced the wearer to remove his belt to get the pouches on and off. Late
pattern pouches are generally found dated 1942-1944 with 1941 dated pouches
being rare. Only two manufacturers of the late pattern pouch are known by the author for
the year 1941, these being "Lederwerke Windelen K.G." of "Heinsberg/Rhld." and "FR. OFFERMAN u. SOHNE" of "BENSBERG".
Pouches dated "45" are rare and are known to exist from only two manufacturers, "dmb" and "0/0378/0005". Both of these pouches were made in the late pattern. Various methods of lid strap attachment and pocket bottom contruction was
used during the entire production of the K98 pouch. Stitching was used for
early pattern pouches, riveted and/or sewn for later. The stitch direction
on the lid straps was usually horizontal, but vertical stitching was also
used, even with the addition of rivets. Most K98 pouches that were destined for service in the Luftwaffe are made of dark brown thread. All other pouches used thread in an off-white color. 
Pebbled leather was the primary material used in the manufacture of the K98 pouch. An unknown manufacturer produced late war (closed belt strap) pouches with a "diamond" pattern. An example of this leather type used in a pouch can be found here. Another variation, called the "Stone Wall" pattern, has irregular shaped pebbles giving it the appearance of a stone wall. The unknown manufacturer EZGJ used this leather type in 1943 and 1944. Images of these leather patterns are found below.
Twenty-two separate pieces of leather made up the early pattern pouch. The parts include (1) three pocket pressed-formed unit, (3) rawhide clip dividers, (3) pocket lids, (3) lid straps, (2) backing, (2) belt straps, (2) belt strap spacers, (1) equipment loop, (2) lower belt loop straps, and (3) inside pocket bottom liners. Late pattern pouches didn't have the two (2) lower belt loop straps, but did have two (2) belt straps spacers. Late pattern pouches may or may not have the three (3) pebbled leather liners inside each pocket bottom.
The color of the leather pouches produced in the thirty's was various shades of natural leather. Branches of the Wehrmacht had a preference for certain shades. The Heer, Kriegsmarine and Police generally used pouches that were natural (tan/butter) in color. The Luftwaffe used a chocolate brown until 1942. There is no steadfast rule for colors used by the branches and many variations can be found. Sometime in October/November 1939, a High Command order was issued changing the color of leather items to black, possibly for camouflage reasons. Many early pouches can be found with the original natural color on the belt side and the outer surface dyed black to conform with the order. It is still possible to find pouches that were not field dyed, although they are not common. By the end of 1940 going into 1941, manufacturers were producing most pouches with black leather materials. Some pouches can still be found brown with a 1942 date. Pouches used in the early days of the Afrika Korps (DAK) were sometimes natural but this color was not used for very long and the DAK adapted black as the standard.
Construction of the pouch was always at least in part, machine sewn together with metal rivets and washers used at stress points on mid to late war pouches. Aluminum was used until 1941/42 when it was replaced with steel. Inside each of the three pockets was a narrow rawhide divider to separate the ammunition clips. It was held at each end with a single rivet and reinforcement washer. It is not unusual to find these dividers missing from used pouches as they were easily damaged and/or removed by the owners in the field. Most K98 pouches captured by the Russians have had these inner dividers removed. The belt side of the center pocket had a short leather loop with an equipment ring attached. The ring was either shaped like a "D" or rectangular. Aluminum was used for early pouches while steel was used as the war progressed. The "D" ring style is found on early pouches while the rectangular style ring was used for later produced pouches. The leather loop was sewn and secured with two rivets near the top edge of the back. Later style pouches/equipment loops were attached to the back with four rivets instead of two with stitching. Various reinforcement plates were used with these rivets; single washers or rectangular plates. In the field, the equipment ring was then attached to the soldiers combat "Y" strap hooks. The equipment belt also supported the weight of other fieldgear.
The belt side of the
two end compartments each had an 18mm wide (sometimes wider) vertically mounted strap that
the equipment waist belt would go through. The leather used for the
strap was smooth and usually has two lines pressed near each of the long
edges although later types may not have these lines. The top of the
strap was sewn (one row of six stitches) and riveted to the back. A small (approximately 18mm x 7mm) rectangular plate was used for reinforcement. Between the back and the top of strap
was a small wedged shaped piece of leather that spaced the strap away from the back of
the pouch. This gave the equipment belt some room between the strap and the pouch back. Early
style pouches then slipped under a small strap (riveted at each end to the
pouch back). The remaining end would fold under the pocket and onto
a metal post. The belt straps used on later style pouches were simply sewn
and riveted at the bottom and did not fold under the pocket. They
also included a small leather spacer between the back and the lower strap
ends, creating a thin gap for the belt to slip through. Most late pattern pouches have at least two rivets at each end of the belt straps. Note: The author has in his collection a rare example of a late pattern pouch with a single rivet/washer to secure each of the lower belt straps (LEDERWARENWERK CURT VOGEL COTTBUS 1942) with no underlying spacer.
Each
of the three pockets were covered by a lid that was sewn between the two inner and outer back pieces and
folded over the top of each pocket. The lid ends were curve tapered and sewn to the lid
outer edge with around 12 stitches at each end. Each lid had a 16mm wide strap that was usually pebbled
to match the pouch, some had a smooth finish. The early pattern pouches had straps that were typically sewn to the lid with two horizontal
rows of six stitches. The strap extended down the outside of the compartment,
then folded under the pocket bottom and ended with a large hole in the end
that was slipped over a metal post mounted to the pocket bottom. This
strap securing method was used on all types of K98 pouches. It is
uncommon to find pouch lid straps with two vertical columns of stitches,
but they do exist. Even more uncommon are pouches with two rows of
vertical stitching and rivets in between. By 1942, two round head
rivets began to replace the stitching on lid straps and in other areas of
pouch construction.
The post mounted to the bottom of each compartment was either aluminum and/or steel depending on the manufacturing period. Early style posts were aluminum and extended about 15-16mm from the compartment bottom. The center post had a round ball shaped end, while the ends were more pointed. With transitional pattern pouches, it is possible to find a mix of steel and aluminum posts on the same pouch or just all steel. I have in my collection a transitional 1940 dated pouch, manufactured by LIEFG.-GEN. WIRTSCH.-GEB.III (20061005-02), with all steel posts on bottom of each compartment. The post was shortened when the belt strap was no longer folded under the compartment as with late pattern pouches. This type of post was usually steel and all three had a ball or mushroom shaped end. It is possible to find some late pattern pouches with long posts.
Maker marks are commonly found on K98 pouches. While some pouches
were never marked, most had a manufacturer stamp pressed into the back of the leather pouch.
Some pouches were maker stamped, but time and age has weaked the text as to make them unreadable. The impression was made into the back before the pouch was assembled as evidenced by some pouches that have the loop and belt straps (in the case of two pocket pouches) over the stamp. An example of a manufacturer stamp is shown above. In some cases, the equipment loop partial covers the impression.
The most common stamps were placed in an area below the equipment ring/loop
that indicated the manufacturer, location and year produced. These
manufacturer named stamps are found on early M1911 pouches starting in 1933.
Manufacturer names and cities are usually found on pouches up to around
1940 although it is possible to find them as late as 1944. Manufacturer
Enders (Viersen, Germany) is an example of a dated 1944 pouch with
maker text (see photo left). Three letter codes in uppercase (ie
"ABC") are usually abbreviations for manufacturers. In 1940, three
letter codes in lowercase (ie "abc") characters were also starting to be
used and lasted until the the war's end.
By
late 1942, the use of names and three letter codes was to be phased out.
They were replaced with National factory code numbers. This system may have simply been a better way to track all the thousands of components manufactured for the war effort. Some say the system was created to hide the factory
locations that could have been used by the Allies to bomb factories.
This factory code system is called the RB Nr. (Reichbetrieb Nummer) system.
The RF. Nr. (Reich Fabrik Nummer) number system followed in late 1944.
Both numbers are found in the format 0/0000/0000 with the first number either
a "0" or a "1", the former the most common. Today these RB/RF numbers
are rarely connected with a specific manufacturer but some pouches have
been found with the name and RB number pressed on the same pouch or other
equipment. This has been the only known way to decipher the numbers
as a complete conversion table is not known to exist. Although very uncommon, RBNr numbers are also found
on the lid strap, belt strap (shown above right), and ink stamped inside a pocket lid.
Waffenamts were almost never used on K98 pouches. The author has a black leather pouch dated 1941 that has an unusual eagle over SS runes followed by "ZZA". This stamp can't be ruled out as a waffenamt and deserves further research. More on this pouch below.
Inventory stamps in ink or impressions are sometimes found inside the lids of Heer and some Luftwaffe pouches. It is speculated that the pouches were shipped with only the maker mark impression on the back. The supply depots would sometimes ink or impression stamp an inventory number. Unit designations were sometimes added as well. In both cases, the underside of the lids was a common location for these stamps. It is thought that the Kriegsmarine did not ink stamp the pouches. Examples of inventory stamps are, a "B", "K", "E" followed by a two digit year number. The "B" indicates Heeresbekleidungsamt of Berlin and "E" is Erfurt. Inventory stamp "L 37" is also known and is most likely a Luftwaffe inventory stamp. An uncommon acceptance impression starting with a "K" (ie "K35") may indicate the depot in "Königsberg" which was isolated from the rest of mainland Germany during Weimar period by the Polish Corridor. After the soldiers were issued their K98 pouches, they sometimes put their names and/or unit markings inside the lid or straps although these additional markings were phased out around 1940.
Branch markings varied depending on the military arm. It is common to find "DRP" impression inside very early pre-war pouches (1933-34). It is thought that the letters "DRP" are short for Deutsche Reichspost or German Post Office. It is not clear as to why the DRP needed rifles and pouches, perhaps the markings was a ruse to keep it non-military. The Kriegsmarine
commonly used a "M" under an eagle and swastika stamped on the backside
(seen at right). At least three overall designs of Kriegsmarine
markings are known to exist with many variations. See the Kriegsmarine Acceptance Marks page for more information. The Luftwaffe use the letters "LBA" (Luftwaffe
Bekleidungsamt or Clothing Depot) followed by a number stamped under a pocket lid, usually
the middle one.
The Waffen-SS used the RZM stamp with runes on many items, but these markings are not known to exist on K98 pouches. The SS stamps are rare and many fakes do exist. The author has in his collection a 1941 dated late pattern pouch that has an eagle over what appears to be the text "SS-ZZA". This is stamped below the maker mark "FR. OFFERMAN u. SOHNE BENSBERG". Both stamps appear to be old and seem have been applied during the same period. The runes are difficult to see but are clear under a magnifying glass.
Known Leather Patterns
From left to right; Regular pebbled leather, "Stonewall" pebbled leather (EZGJ 1943 and EZGJ 1944), and the "Diamond" pattern at the right.