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QM Winter Equipment Testing


craig_pickrall
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General Apathy

Hi Craig, thanks for posting these photographs from the magazine, I was paying particular attention to the sweater

in post #9. Is it possible to tell from the photos you have in the magazine if the collar seen to the right of his face is part of the sweater and is there what looks like a button-hole in the corner to attach to the button on his shoulder.

 

Regards ( Lewis )

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craig_pickrall

Hi Ken,

Yes I think there is a button hole on both sides of the collar and you can see the buttons on the sweater near his shoulders.

 

There is no way to be sure if this is a US military test item, a cold weather issue item or maybe even British or civilian.

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craig_pickrall

My guess is that canteen never got out of the experimental category. They made a wide variety of sizes of soft bladder canteens from 1 quart through 5 gallon size but they were configured for jungle / hot climate use.

 

These are a few of them:

 

post-5-1215143153.jpg

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The Meatcan

gotta love that "paper underwear"

I wonder how long it took those design geniuses to figure out that it "easily went to pieces when wet"? :blink:

 

thanks for posting Craig. Some really interesting stuff there.

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ehrentitle

The Quartermaster Museum at Fort Lee, VA has the US flag that the expedition took to the top of Mt. McKinley, I believe they have other items as well.

 

Here is a "This Week In Quartermaster History" piece on the expedition that the QM Historian, Steve Anders did a few years back:

 

In the summer of 1943, as the United States and its allies had become fully engaged in a worldwide struggle to defeat Nazi Germany and its allies, a small team of Quartermaster-led scientists, researchers and renowned mountain climbers were contributing to the war effort in a far-off corner of the world, atop Alaska’s highest peak -- Mount McKinley.

 

The Office of the Quartermaster General put together the 17-member team to test new cold weather rations, clothing, and equipment. It had only been 29 years since the very first group of explorers had attempted such a perilous journey.

 

The wartime expedition lasted nearly ten weeks. And there were thrills and spills aplenty on the treacherous slopes. At one point their Commander, LTC Frank Marchman, QMC, slipped into a fast-moving river at the foot of a glacier and was swept downstream -- but survived. The harsh winds and thirty-below zero temperatures gave ample opportunity to test QM-designed tents, coats, sweaters, shoepacs, mukluks and other equipment.

 

On 23 July 1943, CPT Robert Bates, QMC, and three of his teammates struggled the last 150 feet to reach the summit of the 20,300-foot mountain . . . and in so doing added another bit of history to the Quartermaster legacy.

 

http://www.qmmuseum.lee.army.mil/historyweek/22-28jul.htm

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'Flage Guy

Man, that is some interesting stuff! Very surprising to see those plastic canteens being tested for arctic use- like others here have said, I don't know that those ever got past the testing stage.

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  • 3 years later...

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