Any thoughts on this water bottle? The seller claims it's from Rommel's African Corps and that only officers and pilots had one.
This is a regular tropen type bottle. It was used in Africa , Italy , Greece, Croatia etc.. by whoever could get one, not only officers. The pressed plywood kept the water cool for longer than in an aluminium or metal bottles , epsecially in intense hot areas. You bottle is however extremely common, almost as common as regular bottles. They are usually dated 42 or 43. (yours is from 1942. They sell for about 10 € as is, (they mostly come with the much harder to find bakleite cup and even the artificial cloth belts aren't that common. I would not buy it incomplete, It would be more expensive to buy spare part than actually invest 60€ for a complete one with cup . The Germans called this bottle 'Kokosnuss' " the coconut" http://normandiemilitaria.over-blog.com/2016/08/gourde-dite-noix-de-coco-tropical-allemande.html
Thank you very much for the info! The seller's price is around 30€ so I guess I won't be buying this one.
