Help with kanji on NLF (?) Canteen please . . .

[Mauser HSc]

Hello:

I've been wanting an Army canteen with kanji for some time but I couldn't resist this one! I know it's an IJN type canteen but is it NLF?

Will someone please interpret the kanji for me?

This is my first Japanese items field gear item and I hope to get more.

Domo ari gato!

[Mauser HSc]

oooops . . . forgot something . . . photos would help I suppose!

I've seen another IJN canteen on here with 3 kanji characters in white in the same pattern as on this canteen that identified it to an NLF unit. I'm hoping for the same!

[Mauser HSc]

Here's the link to the other canteen I'm talking about. actually. It's on e-Bay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...c#ht_741wt_936

[Mauser HSc]

Here's the link to the other canteen I'm talking about. actually. It's on e-Bay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...c#ht_741wt_936

Looks like he bottom character means "seventh man" according to this listing. The one above it is a 9th regiment.

[chen]

Three Kanji (from top to bottom):
1.Tiger
2.Ninty-
3.Seven

[chen]

For translation of item 2 below, whether it is Ninty or nine depends on whether it will relate to Seven or not.

[Mauser HSc]

Thank you for the translation! That Tiger really had me stumped!

[Nick Komiya]

Unlike in the army, where canteens were issued to individuals, the navy had these as items held by units that would be rented out according to operation needs and returned to stock later. That is why they normally have abbreviated unit makings rather than names of owners. Tiger may have been for the Navy 261 Flight unit. The one on Ebay would be from some unit at the Sasebo base.

[Mauser HSc]

I've tried to find information on this unit. All I can find is as follows:

"The 1st Air Fleet had a very low state of training. Among the Zero units 261 Ku was ahead of the others. In February 1944 they started to deploy to the Marianas. This was about five months earlier than originally planned. The invasion of the Marshalls had upset the Japanese time table. On 23-24 February when there were very few Zeros based in the Marianas an American carrier raid destroyed 94 aircraft. The Zero units 261 and 263Ku as well as some bomber units were sent to reinforce the 26th Air Flotilla on Palau on March 31st and lost heavily to carrier raids in progress there."

The 261st may have been a fighter unit!

The canteen's excellent condition could be attributed to light use with an air unit rather than heavy use by an NLF infantry unit. Makes sense!

[Nick Komiya]

261 was a fighter wing. After operating out of Guam and Saipan, they disbanded in July 1944 and got absorbed into the 201.

[Mauser HSc]

I'm pleased to learn that the canteen can be traced to an IJNAF fighter wing. Thank you for your assistance!