First aid kit staff car

[stuka f]

My guess is it is a WWII periode box that has been refilled over the years...
Your toughts?

[stuka f]

A up right pic of the markings;

[Watchdog]

I can't say when these boxes were first introduced but what I can say is that this one and the contents are exactly as I recall from my own army service from 1975 - 1999. It looks completely unused rather than re-filled. I can't explain why but one just gets an eye for it over the years. The boxes would be filled from various supply sources and stored as complete kits before being issued to units as part of the CES (Complete Equipment Schedule) for many different types of vehicle. They were also issued as individual items to make up defficiencies in a units equipment. The differing dates on the contents might be due to replenishment in use or in fact due to items being superceeded whilst the kit was still in the stores depot. I recall it being the norm for WWII field dressings in particular to be found in such kits in the 1970's mainly because these kits had never even been opened. The kits and contents were produced in great quantity of course and, unlike an obsolete weapon system or other equipment that would be withdrawn entirely when superceeded. items such as this "on the shelf" would be used until stocks were expended The fact that it is designated as a "staff car" kit is simply a generic nomenclature and it might have been issued for use in a number of different vehicle types or classes. I recall them being part of the CES of police cars for example. The stencilled "First Aid Kit Staff Car" is the actual nomenclature. The stencilled "LET/OM" represents the vehicle or sub-unit to which it was issued which does indicate that it was actually in use by a unit rather than something that is "ex-stores". Although it looks like OM experience tells me that there might be a slight "tail" on the 'O' and that it is in fact QM for Quartermaster. It's a nice item but very difficult to date unless the box itself has a date on it. If it has a NATO stock number (13 digits divided into 4 , 2 , 3 , 4 number groups) then this will make it post 1974 which is when that catalogue system was introduced. If not then it could be (not definately) older. As a matter of interest the NATO stock numbers can be very reveling in themselves but I won't bore you with that here! Suffice it to say that for most collectors the two digit group is most important as it denotes country of origin eg 99 for UK or 13 for Belgium etc (sorry if you already knew that). Altogether a good genuine piece of British general militaria. Thanks for shoving me down "memory lane"!

Regards

Mark

[stuka f]

Hey Mark,
thanks for your informative answer!
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