The
Breadbag M31 is a piece of equipment that can be found on almost every
soldier in WW II.
It's a simple one compartment haversack which contained the ration of a
soldier. Ofcourse next to the bread,
it contained a lot of personnel stuff which will be dealt with in the
breadbag contents
section.
Below a collection of breadbags which gives a good view on colour
variations
The breadbags are in a range dated from 1932 until a very late war Model
44 example
Early examples have aluminium hardware but when the war started,
production changed.
Steel and zinc was used to save the costly and precious aluminium.
Also noticable is the use of the leather tabs which was abolished later.
Above, from left to right:
- early war breadbag with
leather reinforcements
- mid war breadbag with straps
- mid war tropical breadbag with straps
- late war simplified breadbag (also known as model 44)
As
can be seen on the picture above, early war types were field grey,
while sometimes in 1941 the colour was changed to olive green.
Below an example of an early war breadbag (dated 1940)
The belt loops (which could be
unbuttoned) and the hook to secure the breadbag to the belt are visible.
This early example still has the leather reinforcements present.
Also noticable on early war examples is the greenish paint on the leather.
Under the belt loops the D-rings can be seen which are used to hold the
Field bottle (and Mess tin).
Normally the Field bottle was attached on the right, while the Mess tin
was attached to the left.
Underneath the D-rings, the leather tabs are visible which were used to
secure the Field bottle and Mess tin's strap
to prevent these items to bounce when a soldier was running.
On the back side of the bread bag, two smaller D-rings are fitted for the bread bag shoulder strap.
Below an example of a mid war
breadbag (dated 1941)
Notice the hardware has changed
from aluminium to steel and zinc.
Also the leather reinforcements on the belt loops are no longer present
The picture on the right shows the
opened breadbag.
The bag itself was "closed" with a single strap with 3
buttonholes.
The flap is closed with 2 leather straps which have 2 buttonholes.
Also visible are the leather
reinforcements for the smaller D-rings on the back.
The 2 leather closing straps simulaneously are the reinforcement for the
leather tabs on the front
The picture below shows the breadbag
strap attached to the breadbag ,but this item was rarely used for this
purpose.
Most of the time the breadbag strap was discarded, or used for other
purposes (like in carrying belts for ammo boxes,
helmet folliage strap or replacement for the Y-belt).
On the picture below that, the strap
is shown. This example is stamped 1941.
Also notice that one end is brown, while the other is black.
The breadbag strap is made of 2 pieces. 1 long adjustable end, which is thicker in the middle, and 1 short piece.
Below a few detail shots are shown.
Finally, below some detail pictures of the belt straps, 3-hole zinc button, belt hook and leather tab
In other sections, the tropical breadbag and the Model 44 breadbag will be examined