Need help with British canteen identification

[Daniel Bellew]

Hi all,

I have a couple of commonwealth canteens but none like this one.Can anyone help the markings ect I'm thinking maybe homeguard?

[karkee]

Hey Daniel! This water bottle is kind of a mystery. Here's what we know...

1. The stopper is Australian and features the Department of Defence "D/|\D" stamp.

2. The stopper cord is the First World War style 18 inch type, which Australia produced into the Second World War.

3. The very late production Mk II Water Bottle Carrier is Australian-made (R.G. BROWN is shown below on an Australian-made fighting knife sheath). The letter code, rather than numbers, on the inspector's stamp also denotes Australian manufacture. The mystery with this carrier is that it is black leather with a blue canvas shoulder flare (rather than brown with khaki). Perhaps it was made for Air Raid Precautions, Civil Defence or RAAF?



4. The other mystery with this item is the bottle itself. It is a cobalt blue Mk VII bottle since it has an eyelet for the stopper cord welded to the neck of the spout. I don't know if Australia produced Mk VII bottles during the war and your bottle is late Australian production or if it is a British-made RAF bottle that made its way to Australia. Does it have any markings whatsoever?

[Ubique]

Here is the water bottle that was handed down to me from my late father in law which he obtained when he was a Cadet post WWII. I usually recognise the black/midnight blue leather with the blue-grey shoulder strap as RAAF (their webbing was also blue-grey). The inspector on my example is H.W. under a broad arrow. Unfortunately the stopper was missing, which I have replaced. There is no cord attachment at the neck on mine. The maker is K.W. 1943 (looks a little like a 9 in the photo, but its a 3) .




Oz.

[Danmark]

I have an almost identical one to the OP'S. Mine also has a black carrier marked R.G.Brown 1944 but my inspector was M.l. The seller I got it from about 40 years ago said it was RAAF issue.

Dan

[Danmark]

This is my one ...... cork is a replacement ( done at the time????? who knows ) but in other respects the same as the initial post.

Cheers, Dan

[Daniel Bellew]

Awesome cheers for the info guys,Dan