The Sam Browne Belt

Northern Advocate, 28 May 1941, Page 4

The Sam Browne Belt

The Sam Browne belt is a broad leather belt worn about the waist, supported by a lighter strap running diagonally over the right shoulder. It is worn by officers in the United States Army and Marine Corps, and is also worn by British, French, Italian and Belgian ai’my officers. Sam Browne belts were in general use in the United States Army .some time before they received the official sanction of the War Department about 20 years ago. The officers’ belt was named after Sir Samuel Browne, a British Army officer who lived between 1824 and 1901. Samuel (or Sam) Browne was noted for his capture of the fortress of Ali Masjid, in the famous Khyber Pass, at the outbreak of the Second Afghan War.

Towards the close of 1858, Sam Browne lost his left arm in a battle at Nuria, during the Indian mutiny. It is said that the loss of his arm prompted him to set about inventing a special belt to support his sabre.

The sword belt which resulted from his efforts at meeting this special personal need was the original and literal “Sam Browne belt.” Slightly changed in minor particulars, the belt later became popular with his fellow officers, and finally won a regular place in the armies of several nations of the world.

The origin of the military belt has mistakenly been ascribed by some to another British military man, Colonel Samuel Haslett Browne, who, by a curious coincidence, also made a fine record for himself with the British arms in India. However, several authorities, including Webster’s concur in naming Sir Samuel James Browne as the actual originator of the belt which bears his name.—W. P. Keasbey, in the Christian Science Monitor.