Pair of leather ammunition pouches : Turkish Army

Pair of red-brown leather box ammunition pouches, lined with leather, made in the Turkish Empire during WW1, made to hold rifle ammunition clips or lose-rounds. These are each equipped with a strap and stud fastening, and a pair of belt loops on the rear.

The Ottoman Imperial Army traditionally employed artisan-soldiers to manufacture in field workshops much of the replacement equipment needed by a soldier, and this pair of ammunition pouches were made using the earlier French Army's box ammunition pouch as a model. The French model had been part of the Ottoman soldier's basic equipment prior to 1908, when replaced by the later 1909 German Mauser pouches.