Irish Fusiliers Belt Buckle

[GregN]

Hi all, I've had this belt and buckle for a couple years. I think it is associated with the Irish Fusiliers of Canada but I can't be sure. It could be a British regiment as well but the construction of the belt and buckle tell me it's Canadian. Any thoughts out there on it?

Greg

[Toby Purcell]

Originally Posted by GregN

Hi all, I've had this belt and buckle for a couple years. I think it is associated with the Irish Fusiliers of Canada but I can't be sure. It could be a British regiment as well but the construction of the belt and buckle tell me it's Canadian. Any thoughts out there on it?

Greg

Greg I agree Canadian for 2 reasons. The construction of the belt is not as used by the British Army (although there are some similarities). Most tellingly though the ORs of British regiments had a 'standard' (Honi Soi Qui Mal Y Pense) brass belt buckle for all Line Regts with only the Foot Guards having 'regimental' buckles. Officers however, did have 'regimental' buckles but they were more elaborate affairs with floriated ends where the strap of the belt goes through the slots. In recent years a company has produced so-called 'Mazak' 'regimental' buckles for ORs but these are very modern in appearance as they are invariably an alloy coated with a 'stay brite' substance.

[Stanley_C_Jenkins]

I am not so sure about the British army having standard belt buckles - the ones I have seen appear to be specifc to various regiments. See for instance, this Oxfordshire LI buckle:

[Phillip Herring]

I have a similar buckle with web belt in my own collection. For some reason both parts of the buckle were numbered (stamped).
Keep in mind that these types of buckles came into use after the Second World War. The Irish Fusiliers of Canada were converted to Anti-Aircraft Artillery (66 LAA Regt RCA) in 1946.
One needs to be aware that there is sometimes a bit of deviation between what was authorized - which in turn means paid for by the crown - and what was actually worn by the regiment. There are a few Irish Fusiliers badges that were worn by the regiment, but were manufactured privately or obtained from the allied regiment in the UK.
It is quite possible that the belt buckles were cast from an Imperial original by the Canadian regiment. I can confirm that these were definitely worn by the Cadet Corps into the 1980s.
I hope that this is of some help.