unidentified bag

[steelspy5]

good evening guys, found this with some of my fathers childhood things. Anybody able to identify what it is?

[Neil Hever]

Lacking any army markings I will guess it is some kind of Scout item? Neil

[steelspy5]

That was my first thought too Neil. Just want to make sure its not military before I put it with the rest of my families old scout stuff

[Neil Hever]

Yes, I would expect to see some kind of stamping if it was an issue item. I could be wrong as it is possible that stamps have been washed out but it looks like typical scout gear. I'm not sure what purpose it served. The steel or aluminum reinforcement panel is curious. Hope others chime in. Neil

[BlackCat1982]

I don't have an example to verify it with, but could it be a version of the medical corpsman bag?

[Neil Hever]

It could be a Medic bag. Here is a photo of a repro - how does it match up. This is why I said wait for other feedback! NH

[steelspy5]

It very well could be they are similar. The reinforcement panels seem to be some sort of hard cardboard. No visible markings anywhere, although they could be very faded.

[Rick W]

Id guess it's a civilian issue gas mask bag .

[Kohima]

It’s a medical satchel.. apparently with the front and rear lace-up plackets, for reducing its depth, either removed or never fitted (I cannot determine any trace of stitch holes in the images).
A nice, transitional two colour model from the mid-war period. Not all American kit is well marked.

Many medical units and individuals had various alterations and modifications made to these, such as fitting a permanent shoulder strap. I have a few, but they’re not easily get-at-able at the moment..

Several European armies used these in the post-war period, too, but the known history of this example precludes such use.
All in all, a nice example.


By the way, the strap is interesting. At first, I took it to be one of the cantle straps from the medics’ field equipment setup (which can be used to support a stretcher), but on closer inspection, it has an unusual adjustment buckle arrangement. It’s still ‘of an age’ though..