My Weekend finds

[1stCTHeavyArtillery]

This was a great high water mark for me- I bought this from a US Marine, a veteran of WWII & Korea. This was the actual field worn items from WWII. A great soft spoken man from Holyoke, MA. He was laughing when he told me he tried the helmet on the night before he sold his items to me and said he remembered why he hated wearing it- it was always slamming into his head but he was too young to worry about concussions- ha!
He did not go into his experiences when I had asked him, he had a sad smile and just said it was tough times.

I'm proud to care for these items in my collection.

His helmet, liner and cloth camo helmet cover all are marked with matching serial numbers stenciled on.
The canvas Marine canteen cover is the only sample of this type I currently have.
Ammo belt and straps & med pouch, plus uniform belt.
Backpack pouch and a spare camo cover.

I also have his duffel bag, garrison cap, 2 versions of the Marine officer cap and a later green version pus some dress belts and odds and ends.

[1stCTHeavyArtillery]

Ok, so I thought I was not going to get out the last weekend but I did get a chance to run out after all and found a few things even at a late hour on the field- ha!

2 US Vietnam (1961 dated) pouches

A (possible WWII but unknown) WWII U.S.M.C. marked bag- Does anyone know what this bag was for?

US Army cap badge (on cap in pic)

WWII US entrenching tool- saved from the scrap heap as it was just going to be tossed out- just a little WD-40 and it works just fine.

DORNIER 217E2 restricted poster.......not sure if it's original or repro but there's no printers mark at all.

1961 repro Uncle Sam "I want you" propaganda poster. the top & bottom are dog eared but I'm gonna frame and mat it up and hang it in my business.


A unexpected fun hunt day.

[Ryan B]

The bag is for an experimental WWII U.S.M.C Water bladder. I have one in my collection

[cricketchris1944]

Cool stuff.
chris

[1stCTHeavyArtillery]

That's great- yet one more bit of helpful intel from you- thank you sir! I was wondering what the remains of the fabric was on the inside of the bag. Looks like it was converted to a carrying bag.

I have a few different methods of hunting, the local cheap flea markets & antique shops- I know that some of this stuff would get tossed out in the trash if the people don't sell it- I trade a lot of it off to people who want the bits and pieces- all cheap buys....then I pay higher prices for the other good stuff I keep- honestly I love the hunt- ha!

I have a lot of back weekend finds to post here yet

[Ryan B]

The strap on the inside is where i think the Latex bladder is secured in the bag.

Ryan

[1stCTHeavyArtillery]

So it's just Thursday but I found a few patches in a shop by my house, one is a Alaskan
Command patch and the hour glass design is unknown to me- anyone have any clues?

[1stCTHeavyArtillery]

Updated catch up post:

This was a great find, I drove up to a newly found antiques store to look over a US WWII helmet listed for sale- turned out to be a Vietnam lid........but upon asking if they had any other helmets for sale he said no then reversed it and said he had this German helmet for sale.........yes!!!

It's a early M-35 helmet Heer (sans the decal) as it seems by the serifs in the heat stamp lettering, it also has brass helmet pins (wish it still had the liner & chinstrap ). But the helmet came with the soldiers ID book, it was from the client of the estate that they were selling the items for- so either the veteran brought back these from the same prisoner, or he just picked up bits and pieces along the way- either way I bought the both as a set and for a real good price

I did notice a name scratched into the helmet, different than the ID book.

*I have to get an original liner/chin strap for this little gem now!