An allegedly german officer document crate

[Edward Lionheart]

Hello gentlemen.
The corpus delicti was first seen on a french militaria forum and has so far failed to convince me of its german origin.
After several attempts to identify it this crate remains a mystery, so it seems to me than asking for advice is the right thing to do.









To describe it briefly it is a metal crate of 36cm in height and 74 cm of length that has a rubber seam inside the lid and that can be secured with padlocks when closed.
When opened the lid seems to be used as a desk with removable / missing parts to support it.
It has been " identified " as a german officer document crate by some Facebook groups and in at least one russian fake YouTube video, which is all but a promising start.
An antiques dealer had one similar to the above pictures but painted in a more gray-green shade and with remains of an
address in the Pas de Calais region, which in itself doesn't prove anything.
So if anyone has an answer, a clue or any kind of info it will be greatly appreciated, thank you and have a good day.

[Willmore]

Hello Edward.

I think this is a document box, not for officers, but for the company clerk to keep paperwork in.

The pictures I have posted come from an amazing find from many years ago. A haul of Waffen SS documents was found buried in a forest (possibly in Eastern Germany), but I can’t remember which SS unit they belonged to.

Notice the box in the photos I posted. The quality of the photos isn't the best, but I would say the design and size of the box is the same as the example you have posted.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Will.

[Willmore]

The documents were found in the 1990s and relate to 32. SS-Freiwilligen-Grenadier-Division, 30. Januar. The find is known as the Halbe hoard/Halbe box.

Hortfund Wehrpasse "32. SS-Freiwilligen-Grenadier-Division 30. Januar“ in den 90er in Halbe - Tagesausbeute militarische Bodenfunde - Militaria Fundforum

Halbe Battle -
Battle of Halbe - Wikipedia

[Edward Lionheart]

Thank you.
The box seen in the pictures you posted ressembles the one I posted on behalf of the owner and the size could match.

[sfk20]

The OP's box is definitely a Wehrmacht item. They're usually referred to as documents boxes and seem to have been used to store unit paperwork.

There is a scene in the 1959 Stalingrad movie where Wolfgang Preiss is using one as a personal footlocker, so I suppose it's conceivable that officers may have requisitioned them for themselves.

[Edward Lionheart]

Thank you.
That's an interesting reference. I was at first wondering if it wasn't used for personnal belongings because of the possibility to use padlocks.

[lebus12]

Hello, doyou think this box is Russian WWII, post war or from another country ? Not German.

[Edward Lionheart]

Hello.
I have been looking into this for quite some time now and I haven't been able to find any period picture or document that proves without the shadow of a doubt that it is german and dates back to the Second World War.
It seems to be common knowledge that is a ww2 german item, so I cannot help but thinking that it is rather surprising, to say the least, that there is no trace of it anywhere.
The owner clearly wants it to be a ww2 item and keeps sending me links from sellers in Estonia or whatever, which doesn't prove anything, but so far I cannot share his blind optimism. I do not want it to be a fake or a period item, I just want to know what is, and so far I didn't found anything.

[Willmore]

Hello there.

Here is another one.

Description -
Wehrmacht officer chest from World War 2, made of galvanized sheet steel, size approx. 75 X 40 X 35 cm., Normal condition, originals;

Wehrmacht officer chest from World War 2

I know what you mean and I have never seen a period photo of one of these either, but I will keep searching.

Kind regards,

Will