Some sort of military drop parachute container??

[serialins0mniac]

I was given this item by a member of the family and they said it was some sort of military container. I have enclosed pictures of it. I need help identifying the age of it and what it was used for.
There is writing on the side canvas which I cant read all of but it says:
"8 ___
Container
Part of Parachute
_____ __ ___"

Any help would be very appreciated, thanks in advance to all reply's.
-Nicole

[Grimebox]

That is a very nice carrier pigeon drop cannister! You pop your pigeons in and parachute them down to whoever needs them! It is WW2 and American

[Grimebox]

To be more precise it is 'Container, Pigeon PG-101/CB' printed on the outside should be '8 bird container part of parachute equipment'. Finding a parachute may prove very difficult, however, I have seen them for sale.

[cricketchris1944]

That is correct.
I do not know if they were ever used,you see them in the US and England.
chris

[Grimebox]

I can't find any accounts of this type of pigeon drop cannister being used at the moment, however, I see no reason why these ones weren't used. They were in the US inventory for pigeon equipment and it is well known that all countries used carrier pigeons. Pigeons were certainly parachuted to the Resistance in France and the low countries and there are a variety of different sized container available. Pigeons were also parachuted to units that were in the (far) front line as well as to troops in the jungles in the Far East.

[Torch]

Fantastic find,not overly common!

[serialins0mniac]

Thank you everyone for your wonderfully detailed responses, especially Grimebox. It is really fascinating to learn about. I am going to sell it I think, I just don't have any space in my collection for this item. I am into more displayable WW2 military items. Any value to this item?

[Grimebox]

There's a value to every item I haven't seen one for a while so I don't know what the going rate is. It is a rare piece of kit, but rare doesn't necessarily mean expensive. I think I saw one for sale through a dealer last year for around $200 - $300, however, that one was unissued and in very good condition. I have had a quick internet search I can't find any others for sale at the moment to give you a price comparison. Your best bet would be to sell it through an internet auction site (making sure that you list it in the right section with the correct title), this would probably get you the best price for it. I don't know what area of collecting you are into and how (or where) you display your items but personally I would get a couple of pigeons (taxidermy, or plastic decoys if you're squeamish!) and put them inside and display it - it makes a brilliant talking piece (check out my pigeon - Speckled Jim - in this thread - https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/colle...ou-got-204740/ - and would mind adding a couple of your pictures to this thread whilst you're there)

[serialins0mniac]

I'm not squeamish at all, I have a human skull in one of my display cases I collect more the kinds of items I can fit into a display case, I don't really have space for this but I am upset to sell as I am kind of falling in love with it. I am an animal lover so this is right up my alley, I just collect a lot of different things and space in quite tight, heh.
-Nicole

[serialins0mniac]

Oh and Grimebox I added the pictures to the other thread you suggested- Animals at War - Carrier Pigeons, War dogs, Cavalry, etc - Reference thread - What have you got?