This week I was lucky to buy this lot of 12 late war mess kits. 6 are unmarked, 2 are marked MN 44, and 4 are marked MN 45. I bought these very cheap- only $160 for all 12- and I was happy to get them, especially the rare 1945 dated ones. I believe these are unissued but they have been stored very poorly over the years- some of the handles are very rusty, the paint is scratched, they have some big and small dents, and most have bent bales. They are also very dirty, and some even has what looks like soil inside! One of the 1945 tins has the very rare plate that goes inside the bottom half. I bought these from a guy who apparently had picked these up as surplus. Out of the 12, I noticed that 3 of them had almost illegible markings on the top... see details below!
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The 1945 date... -
These three kits have stampings on the top. The stampings appear to have been there for a long time but were stamped after the tins were painted, of course. The nearly illegible markings read "SS Uschule ........zell". When I saw these my immediate reaction was that it was a shame that someone had ruined these with a fake stamp. But after examining these closely I wonder if they might not be real SS property marks? They definitely weren't put there to make them more attractive to me or make them seem valuable- I paid less than $15 each for these. Also if a faker went through all the effort and expense of making a metal stamp, why only stamp 3 tins out of the whole lot? Some of the handles in the lot are rusty, others in good shape- the same goes for these SS marked ones. Could these tins really have been the propery of an SS school in 1945? I am going to sell these cheap either way- even if they are real SS items, I am only interested in Army stuff and these have no special value to me- but before I put them on the E-Stand I would love some opinions on when these stamps were put there. Sadly this stamp is on the rare plate inside one of the tins as well, otherwise I would be keeping it.Comment
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It seems far-fetched to me that a faker would put these stamps on a few of these tins and then sell them so cheaply.Comment
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This is the last photo for now. Of the three, this is the most legible. I can take more photos if anyone needs more. I would be very grateful for any thoughts or opinions. Thanks in advance.Comment
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geat messkits !!! maybe they're not in mint condition but they're looking great
!! One of these 45 dated would be looking very nice with my 45 dated steel canteen 
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