World War One Canteen on Omaha Beach?

edrob357

Active member
Last week I found a US Army issue water bottle on the bluffs in Sector Easy White on Omaha Beach here in Normandy, but although it's in pristeen condition (considering it's been buried for 60+ years) and even still has the cork in the cap, it's marked "U.S.", below that, "L.F.& C" and below that "1918". Considering the nearest fighting to Normandy during World War One was about 400 miles away, my question is Were the US Army issuing World War One Surplus Water bottles to the troops in World War Two, most specifically, can anyone tell me what Canteens the 29th Infantry Divison were issued with in 1944 (I know that's a very long shot)?Thanks in advance to any help given.

Having seen my replies, yes, sorry, there's no Easy White sector on Omaha. Dog White is what I meant to write. Beween Exits Dog 1 (Vierville sur Mer) and Dog 3 (Les Moulins) where a mix of A Coy, F Coy and G Coy of the 116 Regiment of 29th Division made it up the bluffs before cutting accross West to Vierville is where I found it. About ten feet from the top of the bluff.
 
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There is no Easy White sector on Omaha.

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When my uncle shipped with the 34th ID in 1942, everyone in his unit had WW1 kit. I can't really speak for the 29th on D-Day, but I imagine there was at least a few WW1 canteens still being used by the troops.
 
Hell, I was issued a canteen cover that was dated 1921 during basic. I mailed that home and said I lost it during a FTX.

The Army works on this simple idea. "Just because it's old doesn't mean it's useless."
 
Photo

Sorry, I havn't got a photo of it to put here but I'll see if I can get a friend of mine to do it for me (I'm only new to the internet and I havn't a clue how to do something like that).
edrob357
 
Sorry it took a bit of time to get back to reply. It wasn't just sitting on a rock but it was on the surface of the ground (not buried). It was in grass about 2 feet long that hasn't been cut since the allies burned it off during the naval bombardment in 1944 (the slope of the bluff where I found it is about 60 degrees to the horizontal and very difficult to walk on). I found it with my metal detector. It was under a layer of dead matted grass about 6 inches thick on the surface of the sand of the bluff. I found about 60 rounds of .30 caliber, about half still in their clips the rest the fired cases, about 40 German bullet casings, all fired and an mg 42 machine gun belt on the same day.
 
edrob357 said:
Sorry it took a bit of time to get back to reply. It wasn't just sitting on a rock but it was on the surface of the ground (not buried). It was in grass about 2 feet long that hasn't been cut since the allies burned it off during the naval bombardment in 1944 (the slope of the bluff where I found it is about 60 degrees to the horizontal and very difficult to walk on). I found it with my metal detector. It was under a layer of dead matted grass about 6 inches thick on the surface of the sand of the bluff. I found about 60 rounds of .30 caliber, about half still in their clips the rest the fired cases, about 40 German bullet casings, all fired and an mg 42 machine gun belt on the same day.

Neat story! I like go there to find something!
 
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