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WWII M2 Jungle First Aid Kit Help


Bellumbill
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Bellumbill

Ok guys -

 

What do I have here? I bought this kit off ebay for the contents - It was described as "British Made" but I didn't give it much credence because I have never heard of a British Made M2 kit and I have a lot of them. I figured it might be a civilian made item for coal mines or something since all the contents are manufactured by Mine Safety Appliances. My early M1 Jungle First Aid kit has a few MSA made items in it so thought if anything I could use the contents for an early war display.

 

At any rate, when I received the pouch as was able to look it over more closely I noted a few things. The snaps look like British army snaps to me, though I am not expert. The female snaps are brass, overpainted black and with a pebbled face and read "N.E. Ltd" or "N.F. Ltd." on the underside. The male snaps are different from American male snaps in shape, hard to explain but see pics below. The webbing on the back also looks different that US webbing in color and type. Again, pics below. It does have the standard US Army belt hook. There is no trace of a "US" on the front and no date. There IS, however, the remains of what looks like to me a broad arrow stamp on the inside flap. Check the pics below and tell me what you guys think. Have any of you ever heard of a British made M2 jungle medical kit? If so, are they rare? I have certainly never seen anything like this before.

 

I appreciate your looking and any help you can give me.

 

Very best regards,

 

Bill K.

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This was discussed on the Forum previously and the consensus of some members was that the case was a post war copy. I was discussing this with a collector friend and he was of the opinion it was Australian made and probably legit. All the contents are from a first version MSA roll up jungle kit. How or why would someone take components from an early jungle kit and put them in a post war reproduction case. I am not a canvas guy so I'll let them hash it out.

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Bellumbill

Survival -

 

Thank you for posting and for the information. I would love to see the link, if you can find it would you kindly post it here?

 

As I said, I purchased the kit for the contents - I knew they were like those in my 1st type jungle kit/roll. The pouch itself, if it turns out to be nothing, was of no consequence in my bidding. Its interesting, construction of the pouch on some levels seems like its was done for the military but in other cases it looks to be somewhat ungainly, the top flap particularly looks pretty lopsided.

 

My gut instinct is that this is either a prototype or just a plain ole fake as I have never heard or seen anything like this in all my years of collecting these pouches. On the other hand, your statement is compelling - why take those components out and put into a repro - the orignal M1 Jungle Roll with all its components would fetch much more money than I paid for this. On the other hand, the Salt Tablets being placed in the part of the interior where the carlisle bandage should go perhaps shows someone who didn't know what belonged in there? Or maybe they had the components and no jungle roll to put them in? Maybe it was lost or destroyed? So they made up a fake to put the stuff in. Placing a broad arrow mark in there would obviously have been a conscious attempt to fool people into thinking it was legit, or it IS legit. Again, these things are pretty hard to make, some intricate sewing particularly on the inside. Not saying it couldn't be done but again why someone through the trouble?

 

At this point, though, I'm going to assume its fake - display the contents and put the pouch away somewhere just in case. :)

 

Very best ,

 

Bill K.

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