German army WWII Canteen Early War WW2 Germany 1939 military

  
World War Two German military issue canteen / water bottle. First year of the war! With the aluminum flat-top cap. Marked' JSD 39' on the cap. Complete with the leather strap and aluminum snap hook. The leather has shrunken and is very tight. I would not attempt to remove the leather strap! After all it spent 6 years in the field! No doubt having been exposed to the elements during repeated bivouacs & battle field maneuvers. Early mfg fine rag felt grey cover. The snap buttons are all intact. The stitching along the side was crudely hand - Restitched in the field.. No doubt stitched together during a lull between battles.. By a solider with poor sewing skills!

The black painted cover snaps were worn down to the aluminum, with only traces of the original black paint remaining.. Or missing / busted snaps. The aluminum canteen body appears to be fine, with no big dents or dings. Do not pass it up! Early war mfg canteens are impossible to find today!

JSD was finally put out of business after the bombing of Dresden. In four raids between 13 and 15 February 1945, 772 heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and 527 of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) dropped more than 3,900 tons. Of high-explosive bombs and incendiary devices on the city. The bombing and the resulting firestorm destroyed more than 1,600 acres (6.5 km2) of the city centre. Up to 25,000 people were killed.

Three more USAAF air raids followed, two occurring on 2 March aimed at the city's railway marshalling yard and one smaller raid on 17 April aimed at industrial areas. A must have for all WWII history buffs. & German uniform & field gear collectors. I will be listing that soon!