Posted 3 years ago
fortapache
(3293 items)
38 was a can opener This is the slightly larger First Aid belt pouch used by GIs in WWII. The M1942 used a smaller tin and this one has a cardboard box to hold the battle dressing. These were carried on the web belt. It is 3" x 5 1/2" and is made from canvas. Note that the US Army used the same designation for different items. The M3 was both a light tank and a medium tank and completely different vehicles. The P38 was a can opener and an airplane so the M1943 is also used for many items. Anyway this is the M1943 First Aid Pouch or some such.
Inside is the small Battle Dressing kit. Basically a large bandage and I think there was also a morphine syringe. This doesn't have the morphine. But it does have the handy date of June 30th 1943 on it which is quite handy for dating it.
The bandage is still in its original plastic wrapper. It is supposed to be camouflaged but it is hard to tell.
This was barely over a year and a half of direct US involvement in WWII. The war in the Pacific was well underway but mainland Europe was still a few months away.
Got a few other items that go with this piece so it will be back.
I still have a bunch of P38 can openers in their original wrappers. Early on, I put one on my dog tag chain so never opened a new one thereafter and just saved them after that.
They were still issuing this first aid pack in 1968 so no telling what if any war it was worn in. The gov't as usual had millions of them made and stockpiled them. I still have mine somewhere packed away with my uniforms etc.
Thank you very much kwqd. Sounds quite clever.
Thank you very much fhrjr2. That is an excellent point.
Unfortunately, I saw these use in Vietnam during 1966. I was an Infantry officer in the USMC. Much of our equipment at the time, packs, and other fabric items, etc., were from WW2.