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Early ww2 U.S.M.C 1st aid bag


skinsfan
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Hello,just wanted to share this little find i picked up...it appears to be a converted P41 haversack...beautifully painted but my guess is this was before it was common knowledge that the Japanese targeted medics...it is double stamped inside Supply Department...US Marine Corps and the last line is illegible to me, anybody know what it might be?...Also has a nicely stamped USMC on the front strap....Thanks for looking...Scott

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The stamping and canvas shade are typical of 1950s production haversacks. I think that the date on that stamp is 1952. I have quite a few postwar pack sets, and I have never seen any marked with U.S.M.C. on the outside.  

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oh ,so maybe a later bag then...i will have to find a way to read those stamps  ,my pics are not the best.....I would have thought by that time they were only using Navy corpsman bags??

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looking more closely it does look like a 1952...wonder what the preceding 3 digits are?....have not been able to find and reference to these being used as official medic bags so probably an improvised job??....due to the "not so waterproof" nature of these i would not think it would be a first choice ,assuming you had one...

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I just checked some of the examples that I have, identical to yours, and the stamps are equally blurry, but they are definitely 1951-52 production. I can't comment on the Red Cross, but I suspect that someone added the USMC marking to make the item more desirable. There are certainly others on the forum who could speak to that issue with much greater authority than I.

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Definitely a 1951- 52 example, M41 Lower. 

 

As stated the 'USMC' stamp is bogus. 

 

To my knowledge the only 'USMC' marked field gear items from this period (51 - 53) are canteen covers, shovel covers and carlisle bandage pouches.

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I am going to play devils advocate for a second....first of all ,I realize most of you have more militaria knowledge in your little finger than I have in my head....secondly i should have realized just by the shade that this was not an early piece and therefore my comment about being shot by Japanese sounds rather ridiculous as I was homing in on the depot stamp inside more than anything....next I am, not trying to make this bag something it is not against all odds....if you say they never came from the mill that way,(the frontal USMC marking...i am a believer no doubt....what gets my interest piqued ,and not just on this bag but many pieces of gear I have seen and handled over the years is all the artwork and markings of unknown origin on all kinds of gear....how many smaller field units etc. may have required there gear be stamped one way or another(UNIS excluded)...not to mention all the artwork done to pass away the long hours between the fight so to speak.....our troops have done enough artwork to fill a museum!.....anyway...when I am shown a bonafide fake it has usually been in my limited experience that it was trying to replicate something real or at least near too real......I guess I am just saying perhaps not all unofficial markings are forgeries to get higher dollar value...in this case, the auctioneer told me it had all been in a trunk for around 40 years and he is as honest as the day is long,yes forgeries are older than that....as I posted earlier ,this doesn't seem a good choice as an actual medics bag but in my opinion probably rode in some kind of vehicle stuffed with supplies in Korea or maybe even Vietnam who knows.....just seems there are always exceptions to most rules and I really wish they could talk....I respect all opinions here and lurk more than speak as I have more to learn than to teach...Scott

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