The armies of the world have been given the accoutrements to do battle since the beginning of time – most notable being their unique uniforms, though just as important is the equipment to carry ammunition and camping gear variously known as ‘fighting’ or ‘marching’ order.

“1st June 1911 15459 – Haversack, other services. A Pattern of the above mentioned haversack has been sealed to govern and replace the Drab N.P.D.S. and MS and GS haversacks for services that are not equipped with the web equipment, Pattern 1908.”

A classic example of military speak which makes us wonder why we need the Official Secrets Act. ‘Pattern 1908’ is the crucial bit for our purposes as the wee haversack here in the collection would have been part of a full set of 1908 Pattern kit, albeit a later version dating from 1945 (the 1908 Pattern seems to have been in use throughout both World Wars). Hung from the waist-belt the haversack would have been used to carry everyday items such as rations & washing gear. As with this one, it could be adapted to carry over the shoulder or as a back pack. Thousands of these were sold off as army surplus after the war, which is when our pal, Ken MacTaggart bought it before kindly passing it on to us. The rather faded ‘M of S ^ 1945’ logo (pic above) refers to the Ministry of Supply which was responsible for many aspects of military equipment production, the crows-foot logo was stamped on all Ministry of Defence equipment back then.