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Gus’ Gear — haversacks

Today on Gus’ Gear I present a selection of haversacks used by several armies during the Great War.

This is an example of an Italian M1907 haversack constructed of canvas with leather straps. It would contain the daily ration, drinking cup, eating utensils, extra ammunition and grenades. The two leather straps on the lower body of the haversack are to attach a water bottle.

This is an example of an Austro-Hungarian Brotbeutel made of brown sail cloth. This has an adjustable shoulder strap as well as two straps with metal hooks to attach to the belt to support the weight. It would contain the daily ration and a water bottle with nesting cup would be kept in a special pocket inside the haversack. There are two canvas closure straps with roller buckles, the Austrian canvas equipment almost always has steel grommets in the canvas straps to reinforce the holes for the buckles

This photo shows the haversack opened, it has an internal divider to help organize contents as well as a leather strap to support the weight of the contents.

This photo shows the back of the haversack, the two D rings that are used to attached the neck strap are visible. Also shown is an example of the bread bag strap with a buckle adjustment and steel hooks on each end with spring closures.

This is an example of a bread bag made during the war, the grey sailcloth replaced the ochre cloth

This is an early war example of the German 1893 Brotbeutel made of ochre colored sailcloth. It would carry the daily ration and drinking cup, the D ring on the upper left of the haversack is to attach the water bottle by its spring clip, the leather loop below the D ring is to secure the water bottle by running the leather strap of the water bottle harness through the loop and attach to the stud at the bottom of the water bottle cover. This example has a brass D ring, it is a replacement as the original rings are of steel. It has two belt straps that have buttons that allow the bag to be removed from the belt without unbuckling it. There is a center strap with a hook to help support the weight of the bag on the belt. On the back side are two more D rings to attach a neck strap when a belt is not worn.

This is an example of a Swedish haversack. The equipment of the neutral countries was very similar to that of the belligerents, and by studying the equipment of all countries helps to avoid acquiring something that might look similar but is not correct. This one is well marked with the Swedish crown and easy to identify.

This is a well used French Mle 1892 haversack, that has had both zinc buttons replaced with shirt buttons. This would contain the daily ration, mess utensils, personal items and the cup when it was not suspended on the water bottle.

This is an example of a French Mle 1892 haversack of heavy canvas construction with two button closure and an adjustable shoulder strap. This is an unissued example that was recently found in an unopened crate.
 
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The is a British Mills 1908 pattern haversack with a single Mills brace attached for a shoulder strap. Commonwealth soldiers equipped with 1903 pattern leather equipment would use this type of haversack to carry daily rations and personal items as well as anything else they could fit in them. It has a divider inside and closes with two straps and buckles.