Wwii Usmc / Japanese Haul

[Striking 9th]

Nice haul and thanks for posting. Just curious...what Marine Division did that vet serve in? Very unusual for a Marine to have landed on Guadalcanal and Iwo as the 1st Mar. Div. (and 2nd) that made the 'Canal landings never fought on Iwo?

Thanks, Eric

It was actually pretty common for Marines to go to different units for a variety of reasons. Seriously wounded and laid up for a long time. Down with illness. There are many vets out there that did time with at least two divisions (sometimes more) within or outside any one of the amphibious corps. John Basilone is just one example of a Marine who fought on the Canal then later Iwo Jima. The 5th & 6th Marine Divisions were loaded with guys previously with other units.
Scott

[Striking 9th]

I would like to caution against trying to "clean" any of these items until you have a chance to carefully examine their condition and materials. For example, using leather treatments - especially the wrong ones - can totally ruin certain items.

It would be best to gently dust off the items at most, get them stabilized in a temperature and humidity controlled area and then take the cleaning portion much more slowly and after some careful consideration. I have seen items that survived decades in storage, only to be ruined the day after discovery by someone trying to clean, sand, burnish, polish and otherwise "fix up" an item that should have been left as-is until its rehabilitation could be carefully considered.

Just a thought.
Jim

This is very correct. It did not even occur to me what kind of cleaning could take place. I would just get a lightly damp rag and get the dust off of them like said above. I will never forget the poor guy who posted the helmet his Dad brought home. It was in nice shape with a very nice liner. A week later he posted pics of the liner he had treated to preserve it. Very sorry nobody posted a warning like this before it happened.
Scott

[RussellM]

Wowee, three trunks worth - great find! Look forward to seeing some more pics of these items when you get time.

Regards
Russ

[Milton]

Thanks Jim. Very good points indeed, and thankfully I've been at this long enough to know just what you mean. All I intend to do w/ the leather gear is gently brush it off, as for the most part, the leather is all still quite pliable. As for the "rubberized" items, they may have to have some special treatment only if and when necessary, as for the most part, they can stay coiled for the time being. I long ago stopped using most "cleansers" etc, and will only apply any leather treatment (non-petroleum based) if it's ABsolutely necessary to prevent any further deterioration. Thanks again for dropping in!

[Jim B.]

Good to know Milton, thanks. A friend of mine - who knew military history and should have known better - came onto a Japanese rifle his uncle had picked-up off the ground at Tarawa. In the closet with the rifle were several bayonets. None of the bayonets seemed to fit the rifle correctly and they mistakenly assumed that one of them was actually for the rifle and somehow "something was wrong.'' So before bringing the rifle over to show me (like the night before) they took it out into the garage and filed down the boss for the bayonet socket until the bayonet kind of fit (not correctly of course).

So I got to examine a rifle known to have come off the ground at Tarawa which had survived in its original condition for 60 years, only to have been horribly defaced 24-hours previously.

Good luck with the find, it will be interesting to see what else comes out of the trunks.
Jim

[Milton]

Hi again Jim. Sad story THAT is...what kind of bayonet did they actually grind up in order to "fit"??
Regarding this stuff, I spent a couple of hours this afternoon cleaning it all up. All I used was an old terri-cloth face towel w/ a bit of water and everything came out really, REALLY nice. The rear and front ammo pouches look great, ALL intact stitching and nice, totally pliable leather. Also, the bakelite oiler cleaned right up w/ just a simple wipe-down. The rifle cleaning kit components also came out very nice as did the case. One of the rubberized canvas items (rifle sling), is actually still quite pliable, and I believe w/ just a bit more work, will actually still mount up to a Type 99 w/ a little patience. There is one leather waist belt, (appears to have remnants of a thin chrome plating on the buckle)...one rubberized one, and a rubberized rifle sling along w/ the pouches and cleaning kit. Thanks again for your words of caution. Wise words indeed and I hope others will likewise adhere to them.
Milto.

[Jareth]

Milton I sent you a PM

[blinky]

I want to cry....

I love finding stuff in this condition.....you know it probably hasn't been touched since 1945 and you really don't know what you have until you've cleaned them up! Please post more pictures when you have the time, if I can't be the one to find them I at least enjoy looking!

eric

[Milton]

Thx. I put in a few good hours on Friday afternoon cleaning up the leather gear. End result was quite nice. All I used was a damp terri-cloth towel in the end. At some point in the near future, I'll endeavor to snap some more pix of the stuff (sans scuzz and cobwebs).

[Escapeh]

I would like to see the shelter half.

[Alan Smith]

In photo #3, one of the leather straps is tied together with what (to me) appears to be Japanese communications wire. This is a thin wire with a cloth covering over it.

I own a length of identical wire that came from a similar "trunk" find, with the vet having put a tag on the wire that reads "Jap communications wire".

Nice finds.