Canada, Cef. A Sam Browne Belt, Major Catto Mbe, Royal Naval Air Service

This belt is fabricated from a very durable, high quality smooth-finished dark brown leather, well-stitched with an intricate pattern incorporated, that folds on the left side around the buckle and continues on to the mid-back, the back portion named in black ink "JOHN M. CATTO RNAS". Stitched behind the buckle is a tab, marked "100" in green marker, with the belt itself supporting two D-Rings hanging from the top on the left side, the front one connected to a wide adjustable leather shoulder strap on the left side, that, when swung over the left shoulder, connects to the D-Ring at the back. The belt has a post to the left of the buckle with a sliding adjuster loop, while the right side has four rows of two holes and five central slotted holes. When the belt is fed through the buckle, it is held firmly in position with the two prongs of the buckle and the post wrapping around one of the four slotted holes and fed through the adjuster loop. The belt is also equipped with an additional D-Ring on the top and two others on the bottom, along with a upward pointing clip to the left of the post. The belt measures 55 mm wide, with all the accompanying hardware in brass. The belt exhibits very little wear, retaining its beautiful finish and remaining very supple to the touch, quality workmanship, extremely fine. Accompanied by a copy of his Attestation Paper and assorted research papers.

Footnote: John Maurice Catto was born on May 11, 1899 in Toronto, Ontario. He was a resident of York Mills, Ontario when he signed his Attestation Paper as a Private (2365381) with the University of Toronto Overseas Company, at the University of Toronto Training Company, Toronto Mobilization Centre, on July 12, 1917 in Toronto, at the age of 18, naming his next-of-kin as his mother, Leila Catto of York Mills, stating that he had two years' previous military service as a Corporal with the Corps of Guides, that he was Single, that his religion was Church of England and that his trade was that of Student. Five months later and now overseas, Catto was discharged from the University of Toronto Overseas Company on December 1, 1917, as "Having been accepted as a candidate for a commission in the Royal Naval Air Service", his character noted as "Good". He was subsequently transferred and accepted into service with the RNAS on December 8th at Greenwich, stating that his mother was his next-of-kin. He is documented as having served at the RNAS Training Establishment in 1918, in the rank of 2nd Lieutenant. His son, John Catto Jr. would later note in an interview in 2016 that his father, John Maurice Catto "was a young daredevil seeking adventure. He qualified as a pilot and eventually piloted the largest night bomber the air service ever had." He flew a massive double engine Handley Page aircraft, known as Handley Page Type O, a biplane bomber. A great source of pride for Catto’s father was a successful night bombing mission that began on November 4, 1918. During this attack, the Allied Forces dropped 15, 112-pound bombs on Metz, France, with the younger Catto stating "The Germans gave up the next week. I think it was a big lark although they must have been terrified out of their skulls." 2nd Lieutenant John Maurice Catto was repatriated from the Royal Naval Air Service on August 23, 1919. He returned home to Toronto in the summer of 1919 and studied engineering at the School of Practical Science. He would then go on to serve in the Canadian Air Force until it was disbanded in 1924, then transferred over to the Corps of Guides until it too was disbanded. During the inter-war years, he married Erie Marjorie Sheppard (1899 -1973) on October 2, 1926, at St. Simon's Church in Toronto. In 1928, Catto joined the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals and was deployed overseas for a second time, at the age of 41, serving in the Second World War from June 1940 until the fall of 1945. "After he went overseas, we didn’t see him until September 1945,” recalled his son, John Catto Jr. "For six years of my childhood, dad was overseas but we had lots of letters." John Maurice Catto served in France, Belgium and Holland and was 46-years-old when he returned home from the Second World War. After the war and until his departure from the forces, he served with the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals, later being named a Major. In this rank, he was awarded the Efficiency Decoration by Government Order 176 in 1940, was made a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire on December 15, 1945, the announcement of the award appearing in the Supplement to the London Gazette 37442 of Tuesday, January 22, 1946, on Thursday, January 24, 1946, page 630. He was later awarded the Canadian Forces' Decoration. His personal honours included being Past Honourary Colonel of 799 Toronto Regiment, the Founder and President of the Clifton Company Limited of Toronto, the Past President of the St. Andrew's Society of Toronto, the last President of the WWI Flyers Association and a life member of both the Royal Canadian Military Institute and the Toronto Board of Trade. His son, John Catto Jr. (1933-2020) would later achieve the rank of Colonel in the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals. John Maurice Catto died on April 18, 1990, a month shy of his 91st birthday and is buried in St. John Anglican Cemetery in Toronto.