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Field Desk Questition


illinigander
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illinigander

Last week I purchased a small field desk- the nomenclature tag calls it a "tent spec." with a 5/22/42 contract date. It is 15"T x 15 1/2"D x 20 1/2"W, has three drawers and a tray. It is all contained in an OD trunk-like package. Never seen one this size; so I wonder if this is what a WW1 field desk looked like?

illinigander

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Does it open from the front top down, to create a desk surface?

 

Does it have a key lock at the top center of the front panel?

 

Is the sliding tray located at the top left?

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illinigander

Bluehawk- Thanks for the reply. The desk in the link is similar but the tray is much deeper and there are no drawers.

Here is the nomenclature on mine:

Stock No. 26-0-135

Tent Spec. 1. 15-40 Type ll

Cont. No. W- 199-QM-25495

C.Q.M.D. 5/22/42

ABEL & Bach. INC.

My WW1 interest would be to use it in a French "75" display we are doing at the MVPA convention in June. (As in close enough?) However it also fits in well with the WW2 part of my display building.

Illinigander

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Ah... that is a whole different kettle of field desks, so must leave it to the experts - apropos of it being close enough.

 

Maybe, post something along that line in our WWI threads? I'll be watching, one way or another...

 

(I love those field desks!)

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illinigander

Bluehawk- Good idea, I will see if someone can provide a photo of a WW1 field desk, then see how close the two look. If you would like a photo of the front of my desk, I would have to e-mail it to you as I do not know how to post images on forums. Thanks for your interest.

Ken

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I'm pretty sure the WWII desks had lever snap locks on either side of the front cover, toward the top. The sliding tray drawer was fairly shallow, maybe an inch or so deep. At the top right was a deep drawer that had two inner trays - one for pencils/pens which fit into a second tray which was divided in small cubical sections, which in turn fit into the bottom section of that drawer.

 

At the bottom of the box were two identical drawers, right and left sides.

 

In the middle left was an open cavity.

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illinigander

Bluehawk- I have spent the last several hours cleaning and waxing the desk. Good job done. Your description in the last post is good except that this one has the snap-hooks mounted on each side at the top of the side. The deep drawer has only one internal piece (the other lost?). The internal piece has a block at one end with two bored holes, that must have held inkwells. Their diameter is quite small, smaller than the ones in "old guys" grade school desks. I found a WW1 ink bottle at Camp Logan in Houston, but I think it was larger. Two days later after buying the desk, I found a boxed WW2 V-mail bottle of Skirp ink, a good desk companion. The soldier clerk who used this desk used a piece of medical bandage tape to write incoming mail on a lower box. Thanks for your interest.

Ken

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  • 4 years later...

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