WWII RARE!! Mountain/Ski "T-handle" Shovel COVER M1910 ("B.B.S.Co. 1942")

Description: WWII RARE!! RARE!! ORIGINAL Mountain/Ski Shovel COVER M1910 with the "LOWERED" M1910 Belt Hook. The idea was to elevate the Shovel's handle out of the way on the Mountain/Ski Trooper's Rucksack -- and later on the M1943 Jungle Pack as well as by Paratrooper's on a heavily laden M1936 Pistol Belt. + Very few of these unique modified M1910 Shovel Covers were made! ONLY three manufacturers were awarded contracts: BRAUER BROTHERS SHOE CO. of St.Louis, Missouri, GEIB, Inc. and KADIN -- and ONLY at the very outset of the war during the fiscal year 1942. + Many of the surviving examples of this cover with the "lowered" M1910 Belt Hook have been 'damaged' by the relocation of the the Attachment Tab to the higher position on the back of the cover. This example is untouched! + The original seamstress's black "guide marks" are evident beneath the 2" web Attachment Tab! It appears that some of these ended up in the USMC supply system as evidenced by the photograph in Jim Moran's U. S. Marine Corps Clothing and Equipment. (See photo of this cover attached to the M1941 Haversack of the Marine bent over marking a map.) + Despite the introduction of the superior M1943 folding Shovel, the M1910 "T-Handle" Shovel remained in service through the end of the war by both Marines and Army personnel. This ORIGINAL Cover is made of a very heavy Light Shade OD#3 Canvas Duck, unlike current reproductions which are made of a much lighter weight duck. + As to be expected this mid-war example has steel hardware, i.e. painted M1910 Belt Hook, painted 5/8" Adjustable Strap Buckle (stamped on the underside "DAN DEE"), and blackened steel Ball Tip. + Boldly and legibly stamped with the "U.S." surcharge on the front and the contractor data on the reverse,B.B.S.Co.1942 + There are no tears, holes, frays, loose stitching to the canvas or edge binding. There is one very faint 1/16" superficial stain to the right of the "U.S." surcharge. And there is some minor, superficial rust to one side of the M1910 Belt Hook and the middle 'bar' of the small Adjustable Buckle That's it. + This is a NEAR MINT, "Combat Serviceable" example that appears NEVER to have been issued (as evidenced by the absence of wear on the M1910 Belt Hook) but 'suffered' exposure to humidity during long term storage. The interior is SPOTLESS. ***** History of BRAUER BROTHERS MANUFACTURING/SHOE CO., Inc. Brauer Brothers Shoes of St. Louis, Missouri, was known for its "Paradise" line of 'high end' women's shoes, which included 'platforms' and other dress heels during the war years and 1950s, in addition to a line of "leather and canvas" sporting goods marketed under the name of "Moose Brand Sporting Goods" which included "golf bags, dog collars, gun goods, e.g. holsters, and racket covers." Brauer Brothers has roots going back to the 19th century. The grandfathers of the founders, Arthur and Edward Brauer, were a saddlemaker and a shoe manufacturer. Brauer Brothers was established in 1898 as a maker of leather sporting goods. In 1919 the company started a division for making shoes for women and children. By 1938 the company was being run by Arthur Junior. In the 1940s and 50s "Paradise" shoes were designed by his wife, Jane Franklin Brauer. But tragedy struck in 1956 when Arthur and their daughter were killed in a plane crash. Jane remarried several years later and opened an antique store where all the profits were donated to charity. And a note for baseball fans, Stephen Brauer, Arthur and Jane’s son, is part owner of the St. Louis Cardinals.*****"Holes, Shovels, and Picks"Excerpted from the handsome, carefully researched work by Denis Hambucken, A G.I. IN THE ARDENNES: The Battle of the Bulge, (Pen & Sword Military Books, Ltd., 2020). "Second only to his rifle, the infantryman's most important tool is his ENTRENCHING TOOL. The M1943 entrenching shovel features a swiveling head that can be fully extended, angled as a hoe, or folded back for storage. The M1943 gradually replaces the M1910 Shovel, although many soldiers prefer the T-handle over the older model. Wherever a unit stops, the first order of business is usually digging in for concealment and protection against shelling and small arms. If they are only stopping for a few hours or to bivouac for the night, soldiers dig individual slit trenches about two foot wide, two foot deep and as long as the soldier is tall. Remembers William Campbell of the 28th Infantry Division: "It was like digging a grave." If the position is to be held, one or two-men foxholes are dug about four to five feet deep, usually with a step at the bottom, upon which soldiers can sit down, or stand to stay out of pooling water or to fire their rifles. According to army manuals, a foxhole with two feet of clearance above a crouching soldier protects him from tanks passing overhead, but German tankers learn to skid their treads over foxholes to collapse them and bury occupants alive. The longer they remain in a defensive location the more elaborate their underground "homes" become. Foxholes are improved with roofs made of logs, doors or corrugated steel taken from nearby buildings and covered with earth for protection against tree bursts and mortar shells. The floor is lined with hay or pine boughs. Soldiers carve out shelves for supplies, candles and ammunition. Frank Mareska of the 75th Infantry Division recalls that the much-dreaded German 88 guns left no time to duck:“You only venture out of your foxhole if it was necessary. Pissing or shitting had to be done either in a K or C-ration box, period! Renderings could then be thrown out over the parapet of your foxhole.”Larger holes are dug for machine guns and mortar positions, sometimes, entire vehicles are entrenched. When visibility is limited by falling snow, fog or obscurity, companies dig listening slit trenches some distance outside their perimeter to post sentries.Hard-frozen ground is doubly murderous for the infantry: It makes shells more deadly as they explode on the surface, rather than penetrate the ground, and it also makes it much more difficult to dig in. John McAuliffe of the 87th Infantry Division recalls that setting up a mortar position involves digging a large, two to three-foot deep circular entrenchment in addition to individual foxholes for the crew: "Sometimes we were digging a hole and we were almost done and they'd say: 'OK, we’re moving out!'“. After a long day of fighting, many are too exhausted to dig. In some places, the frozen ground is simply too hard for the entrenching shovel and few men carry the cumbersome MI910 pick-mattock.Most vehicles carry full-size shovels, axes and pickaxes. John Di Battista of the 4th Armored Division recalls: "The mattocks were heavy enough to go through the crust of ground. Once the crust was broken out, entrenching tools could do the job.[...] We were desperate hugging the ground waiting for our turn at a pick."Some units are provided with half-pound blocks of TNT with pull-type fuse lighters, fuses and blasting caps to blast through the rock-hard crust of the frozen ground. An obvious disadvantage of the TNT method is the attention it draws. Rocco Moretto of the 1st Infantry Division recalls: "Everything was going beautifully but the TNT threw up heavy black smoke in the explosion areas. The enemy observing this quickly began to rake our positions with heavy concentrations of fire and we began to sustain heavy casualties." Naturally, soldiers do not bother to fill their foxholes as they leave, consequently, Europe is riddled with millions of holes. It is not unusual for a foxhole to be occupied alternatively by American and German soldiers. After the war, It falls to landowners and farmers to fill in hundreds of thousands of foxholes and shell craters which are troublesome for machinery and hazardous to livestock. A post war survey of the grounds of the Castle of Rolley, an area of about 730 acres near Bastogne, counts no less than 2,490 foxholes to fill in.

Price: 155 USD

Location: Little Rock, Arkansas

End Time: 2024-11-06T18:44:42.000Z

Shipping Cost: 6.45 USD