Hi Adrian, first of all, very nice and informative thread.
But I'm wondering about the canteen. Was it more often carried in the smallpack or in it's carrier on the belt?
Hi Wouter, it was designed to be carried in the pack, but it is mostly seen in wartime photos worn from the cross straps at waist level (so not actually on the belt itself )
Contents are a full pack of smokes, marked "HMF" his Majestys Armed Forces, shaving kit personel buys, the razoe blade is as much as a 100 years old. And of English make. Extra safety razors, KFS set all 1945 dated, and the soap tin 45 dated as Adrian stated, foot powder, issued early 1941 dated mess tins.
We use them in my WWI re-enactment unit and they seem to have been standard issue for a good long while, though I don't have the sources in front of me to cite dates. The received wisdom seems to be that they were not actually issue items but private purchase - from the NAAFI? - and they certainly show up in WWI photos. The top of the mess tin was the official drinking vessel but that's even clumsier than a tin mug which chars your lips as you use it to sip hot tea!
The brown mug seems ot have been the [official] WWII replacement.
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