Other Ranks 1888 Pattern (Mark II) Valise Equipment waist belt : New South Wales Military Forces

Buff leather waist belt, 1888 Pattern (Mark II) Valise Equipment (described in List of Changes 6504 March, April and June 1891) with NSW Other Ranks cast brass union locket buckle. The belt is 1 3/4 inches wide and made in three sections joined with two sewn-in brass loops. There is an adjustable billet and brass buckle at each end so that the length can be adjusted while keeping the loops in their proper positions for braces when worn. Three brass buckles are secured along the centre back of the belt between two layers of stitched leather. The two outer buckles attach to braces when worn and the centre one attaches to a mess tin strap. A running loop with a brass ‘D’ is provided at each end of the belt for the front of the brace to pass through. The belt has a tapered safe (tongue) behind the buckle which the belt loops through. The tongue of the buckle depicts the cross of St George with a lion in the centre and four eight-pointed stars at each corner representing the Southern Cross. The circular surround has the words ‘NEW SOUTH WALES MILITARY FORCES’. The belt is stamped in ink with ‘1NL 788’ in two places and with a two headed broad arrow. “N??SON” is faintly handwritten in ink inside the proper right side.

The 1888 Pattern Valise Equipment was also known as Slade-Wallace equipment, after its two designers, Colonel Slade and Major (later Lieutenant-Colonel) Wallace. The complete equipment consisted of one waist belt, two ammunition pouches, a pair of braces with movable buckles and a keeper, two greatcoat straps, one mess-tin strap, and one valise to carry clothing, cutlery and other personal equipment. This pattern was issued to British and colonial forces but was replaced with 1903 Bandolier equipment after its performance was criticised in the Boer War. The 1888 Pattern equipment was in service at most for 15 years though some parts such as waist belts, were retained for ceremonial purposes. The Mk II pattern waist belt varies from the Mark I in that the belt is made of three sections of leather joined by brass rings and not one piece as in the original pattern, and the three buckles of the back section are secured within a double-thickness of leather. Buckles in the original pattern were sewn into individual leather pockets. NSW infantry and artillery are shown wearing this pattern of belt and locket buckle in the 1890s.

• 1888 Pattern Valise Equipment braces and straps : British and colonial forces
• 1888 Pattern (Mark III) Valise Equipment ammunition pouch : British and colonial forces
• 1888 Pattern (Mark III) Valise Equipment ammunition pouch : British and colonial forces
• 1888 Pattern Valise Equipment strap : British and colonial forces
• General Service (Mark II) bayonet frog : British and colonial forces