Mess kit cover

This post is formally about the insignia of the 131st Infantry Brigade. But before I get to that, I want to share a few things about the attached photo. The photo is captioned, and on it we see some of the soldiers of the 131st brigade during the distribution of lunch. The sender is one of the two corporals sitting in the middle. The picture is interesting because, although it depicts an everyday scene, it is rare that it shows such a large number of tools used during meals. This is especially exciting because my front-line researcher friends often find such objects, for example mess kit covers, hidden in the ground. However, they haven’t found one thing yet: the lower, larger bowl part of the chick.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what could be the reason for this. I didn’t come to anything other than that there might not have been such a lower part. Perhaps only recent mess kits have two parts. Their upper part is similar to what can also be seen in this picture. But then maybe there was no lower part, the cover’s strap was not connected to the lower part, but to some other equipment. The food container is also interesting. This did not change almost anything until 1980, when in camp conditions I also received my menagerie from such a “Kochkiste”.

For the record, here is the insignia of the unit associated with the image, the 131st Infantry Brigade. This is related to the Arkansas company’s Pine Twig General series. Unfortunately, I don’t see this on the caps of the soldiers in this picture.