Uncle Nelson's WW2 Kit Memorabilia & LIS Giveaway

4/1/2012

This week we look at WW2 Kit Memorabilia on Author Memories.

It's Anita Mae and this week I'm bringing a story from my husband's past. His Uncle Nelson was in WW2 and sent a box of memorabilia back to his family. My husband and his uncle share the name of Nelson Clement Draper and while growing up whenever they got together they were referred to as Big Nelson and Little Nelson.

My husband, Little Nelson, smiles whenever he talks about Big Nelson. They spent hours playing cards together with the family. Big Nelson passed away a few years after Little Nelson joined the military and shortly before I came on the scene back in the mid 70's.

Uncle Nelson's WW2 Memorabilia
by Anita Mae Draper

Sometime during our early marriage, my husband's father handed over a box of World War 2 kit memorabilia his brother had acquired and shipped over from Europe. Nelson doesn't think the personal kit effects belonged to his Uncle Nelson. Rather, he thought his uncle had picked them up as souvenirs of the war. The pieces have always sat on the top shelf of an old secretary in our bedroom. The box also contained a German helmet with a swastika on the side but I didn't feel comfortable with it in my room, so we packed it away.

As for these items, I've posted photos of manufacturers and identifying symbols wherever I could. If anyone has any information about these items, please leave a comment.

The Cartridge Belt

The first batch of photos are from what I'm guessing is a cartridge belt although I'm not sure if
it was issued together or if the belt was a personal effect:

Complete cartridge belt as received

Belt buckle 6.5cm x 9cm brass(?)

I can only make out the 4th word as "Belt"

All pockets/pouches look the same inside.

These next 4 photos show the still-working compass.

Compass opened flat.

Back side of open compass.

"U.S. Engineer Corps" from back of lid.

"3114 Made in Switzerland" from bottom of compass platform.

Brass Powder Flask

The lever on the top right still works good.

"DIXON & SONS"

Looks like "I O D"

There are still 4 more items, however they are all ammunition-making equipment and will keep for another post. I suspect the powder flask would have been part of the ammo making equipment which includes bullet molds and shotgun fillers but I really don't know for sure.

Again, if you have any information on the above items, please let us know. Uncle Nelson was in the Canadian Army but most of the equipment is American manufactured. Presumably different governments bought their supplies from the U.S.

What do you think about all this?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GIVEAWAY!

Leave a comment with a valid email address
by midnight, April 8th to be entered in a draw for
a new copy of Valerie Hansen's Love Inspired Suspense,
Night Watch.

Thank you to Valerie Hansen for this giveaway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Valerie posted here at Author Memories back in Oct and gave away a copy of Night Watch. As a thank you she sent several different books for me to keep or give away as I wished. Since we buy every Valerie Hansen book that's published, I have a nice supply to give away starting with this one.

You can visit Valerie at www.ValerieHansen.com

25 Comments

Linda link

4/4/2012 09:26:19 am

Love mysteries. Haven't read a book by Valerie. Please count me in.
Thank you.

desertrose5173 at gmail dot com

Anita Mae

4/4/2012 02:08:10 pm

Then I hope you win this book, Linda, because Valerie writes exceptional suspense books. Really keeps you on your toes. :)

Linda link

4/4/2012 09:28:12 am

Have you shown any of this to Tricia Goyer? She's in touch with WWII vets.

Anita Mae

4/4/2012 02:14:15 pm

Good thinking. I know several authors writing in the WW2 era but I never even thought of contacting them. I've been tweeting but so far none of them have come forward, either.

However, now that you mention it, I'll make a list and after I post the ammo-making pieces, I'll send start my inquiries.

Thank you for the excellent suggestion. I love it when people share. :)

Melissa Finnegan link

4/4/2012 11:20:45 pm

Great pictures,thanks for sharing.
This book looks very interesting, I would love to give it a read!

Anita Mae

4/5/2012 09:28:58 am

Sounds good, Melissa, and you're welcome. :)

Susie

4/5/2012 02:12:19 am

Wow! It's neat that you got stuff from your family's history!
I love romantic suspense books and would love to win this one.
Have a blessed day!

Anita Mae

4/5/2012 09:30:37 am

Hey Susie, yes, I'm blessed to have a legacy left from those who've passed before.

If you love suspense books, you will definitely enjoy this one. Throwing your name in the hat. :)

Ann Lee Miller link

4/5/2012 11:08:20 am

Thanks for the chance to win Valerie's book!

Anita Mae

4/5/2012 11:03:07 pm

You're very welcome, Ann Lee. I'm glad you entered. :)

DebH

4/6/2012 03:26:46 am

always interesting posts, Anita. i hope you get some info for the pieces of the memorabilia. it's always cool to learn the history of items. thanks for sharing.

Anita mae

4/6/2012 06:55:22 am

Yes, I hope someone can share some light on which country outfitted their soldiers with the items.

I was hoping you'd stop by, Deb. I've been thinking of you this morning since you left the comment over at the Inkwell. I've heard so many bits and pieces of your past. Someday I'm going to hear the whole story - in person. :)

Merry

4/6/2012 06:04:36 am

I am a fan of LIS and Valerie. I would love a chance to win Night Watch. Thanks!

Anita Mae

4/6/2012 07:22:07 am

Well then, Merry, you have very good taste and you've come to the right place. :)

Rachel Muller

4/7/2012 04:54:35 am

Wow Anita! I just love the photos! I write about WW2 and I am passionate about it! The belt does look like a cartridge belt, as for the rest of the peices, I'm not sure. There a few good websites on military supplies. I would google the items and see what comes up.
I'd love a chance to win 'Night Watch'! It sounds interesting! Love your post!

Anita Mae

4/7/2012 07:31:00 am

Rachel, you're right. I'll have to go searching on my own if no one comes forward before the end of next week because that's when I put up pics of the ammo-making equipment. I'm working on it now.

Thanks for sharing. I appreciate you stopping by. :)

Pegg Thomas link

4/7/2012 09:53:47 am

How lucky to have so many things from this era! Nothing has survived in our family from WWII. We didn't have a lot of family in the war. Time-wise it hit us between generations where some were too old and some too young, but those who did go didn't seem to keep what they brought home, or else they used it until it was worn out. Most were farmers and you know we don't waste what's useable!

Anita Mae

4/7/2012 12:45:58 pm

Pegg, that's a great observation. Not many things survived on my side of the family, either except photos. Uncle Nelson lived north of Toronto near Lake Simcoe where the grass is green and you can get at least 2 hay cuttings a year. But then again, maybe he had a special attachment to the items in the box because they were well cared for before hubby Nelson got them. We received the box about 35 yrs after the war and yet there wasn't any sight or smell of mildew. And not the kind of rust you'd expect for being that close to the Great Lakes.

You have brought up one thought however... I suppose many soldiers didn't want momentos of the war, either. Which makes me wonder all the more about the reason he shipped them to Canada and kept them all those years.

Thank you, Pegg. Always a pleasure to see you here.

4/7/2012 11:26:11 pm

Valerie is a new author to me and would love to read this book. Thank you for the opportunity of entering me.

Anita Mae

4/8/2012 04:33:31 am

Thank you for entering, Jo. And if you don't win this one, come back and enter my next post because it's another one of Val's since her parcel is sitting on my desk. If you like suspense, then you can't go wrong with Valerie Hansen.

Mary Galusha

4/8/2012 01:46:53 pm

Thank you for showing us artifacts from WWII. They are fascinating, especially the compass. Please count me in for the Valerie Hanson book. Hope you had Joyful Easter.

misskallie2000

4/8/2012 10:56:04 pm

Valerie is a new author for me and I love forward to reading her book since I do love suspense, throw in romance, and I know I will enjoy. My uncle will be 101 in Aug. and he was on Iwo Jima when flag was raised.
Thanks for opportunity to enter giveaway.

Anita Mae

4/9/2012 04:44:51 am

I hope everyone had a happy Easter weekend. I have to admit I'm still stuffed from the spread my sister-in-law put on yesterday in Regina.

However, in exercising my fingers I've wandered over to the random.org site and used it to chose a winner for Val Hansen's NIGHTWATCH. And the winner is...

Deb H!

Congrats Deb. I'll be sending you an email for your postal address info.

Thanks to everyone for stopping by and leaving a comment. This week I'm showing the ammo-making equipment from Uncle Nelson's box and giving away a copy of Valerie Hansen's Love Inspired Suspense, NO ALIBI.

So you have another chance to check out Val's suspenseful stories. :)

Thanks again, Anita Mae.

Carolyn Boyles

4/14/2012 09:38:23 pm

I thought this was a great posting on historical bullet molds. I asked my husband about them, but it's not his area of expertise dealing with historical weapons. Would love to see more historical item postings.

Carolyn
authorboyles at swbell.net

4/15/2012 12:54:13 pm

What a great suspense this sounds like. Would love to read the book.