Extremely rare Postschutz Canteen (G&CL35)

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Extremely rare and fully matching Postschutz Canteen in very good condition.

Availability:In stock

Only 1 left

Product Number

27129

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Details

The overall condition is very good. The alluminium cup contains almost all of its paint and the felcover is in great condition. All the leather straps are supple and solid and the buttons are present and workable.

The cup, the canteen, the canteen lid, the canteen lid strap and the feltcover are all marked with the same maker code 'G&CL', which indicates the maker is 'Gehardi & Co' from 'Lüdenscheid'. Every piece is also marked with with the year of production '1935'.

The alluminium cup and the feltcover (on the in- and outside!) are also marked with 'D.R.P.' (Deutsche Reichspost) and 'S.c.h.w.' (Schwerin) which means the canteen was issued to a member of the 'Postschutz' or 'armed postal guards' stationed in (most likely) the city 'Schwerin'.

On March 7, 1933, the Postschutz was established to secure postal transportation facilities against Communist excesses and raids. By the end of 1933, the Postschutz had about 26,000 members and by the beginning of 1939 it had about 40,000 members. In March 1942 the Postschutz came under the command of the Allgemeine-SS and by mid-1942 the Postschutz was subordinated to the Waffen-SS.

Much military equipment (such as this canteen) was given to the 'D.R.P' (until 1935) so that it could later be used for military purposes. This was just a simple trick to circumvent the limited numbers of militaria equipment, which were allowed to be issued to the army, due to the Treaty of Versailles.

Probably one if not the rarest canteens we offered so far and a missing piece in most canteen collections!

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