BRD "Coconut" Style Canteens

[Guardian 5]

Hello Friends - I still owe Klaus1989 and Varsity some input on the M1931 style canteens. But while I'm digging out the references and artifacts, here are some BRD coconut/Kokonus style canteens positioned next to an Afrika Korps canteen from the Wehrmacht.

There is some debate on the Wehrmacht threads that the kokonus never actually made it to Africa before the surrender in 1943 and were used instead in the Mediterranean theater as well as on the continent.

If I recall correctly, all of the canteens pictured here were made by Heinrich Ritter of Essinglen (H.R.E.). The AK canteen is the first on the left.

TJ

[Guardian 5]

Here is the reverse of the above picture.

Apparently, the molded wood design was fielded so that a soldier would not burn his hand on a hot metal canteen while reaching for a drink in the desert.

[Guardian 5]

These canteens were all used by the BRD.

[Guardian 5]

The reverse.

[Klaus1989]

Here is my Bundeswehr Kokonuß canteen for comparison, dated 1959 and made by Heinrich Ritter (of course). Ignore bad lighting! Besides worse condition as TJ's, material to protect "wood" is brown instead of greenish. Strange that under cup, it is almost intact though. The BGS version seem very rare (only seen one for sale), probably because they never complete replace M31 Feldflasche, which is more common in 1950s BGS photos.

Interesting to note that I was in army surplus store recently and noticed that US Army cups are nearly identical to cups on Bw Kokonuß canteens except unpainted.

regards
Klaus