Captured MG08 Water Can, latest good buy!

[IMBLITZVT]

Well here she is. I just can't see spending $300 for one of these so I finally found one for $150.

"Souvenir of American Victory St. Mihiel Sept 12-16, 1918"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Saint-Mihiel

"The Battle of Saint-Mihiel was a World War I battle fought between September 12 - 15, 1918, involving the American Expeditionary Force and 48,000 French troops under the command of U.S. general John J. Pershing against German positions. The United States Army Air Service (which later became the United States Air Force) played a significant role in this action. [2][3]

This battle marked the first use of the terms 'D-Day' and 'H-Hour' by the Americans.

The attack at the St. Mihiel Salient was part of a plan by Pershing in which he hoped that the United States would break through the German lines and capture the fortified city of Metz. It was one of the first U.S. solo offensives in World War I and the attack caught the Germans in the process of retreating.[3] Hence, their artillery was out of place and the Americans were more successful than they otherwise would have been. It was a strong blow by the U.S., nevertheless, and increased their stature in the eyes of the French and British forces. However, this battle again illustrated the critical role of artillery during World War I and the difficulty of supplying the massive World War I armies while they were on the move. The U.S. attack faltered after outdistancing their artillery and food supplies, as muddy roads made support difficult.[1] The attack on Metz was not realized, as the Germans refortified their positions and the Americans then turned their efforts to the Meuse-Argonne offensive."

[lugercarbine]

I picked one up many moons ago for somewhere between 100 and 150 - original, at the Allentown PA GS. Does your's have the varnish/shellac peeling off on the inside. Whatever mine was lined with, it is peeling on the inside and appears to be some type of varnish that was used back in the day to make them water proof

[IMBLITZVT]

Nope, no clear coat of any kind on mine.

I am sure that happened long after they were originally painted. Does your say something on the side?

[rocco1911]

I must say that is quite nice good find...

[lugercarbine]

No - feld grau but IIRC I purchased it from Homer Brett at Allentown sometime in the mid 70's. Inside has some grayish goop inside the lid and looking with a light sometype of varnish on the inside. I have seen ones like you got quite a few times at Allentown or the old Baltimore show (5th Regt Armory). Even back then they sold for between 125 and 200.

[dwmmg08]

Yay Matt!

I had one of these painted exactly the same way!!!!

Seriously, the exact same wording, stencil and all. Gold paint. I've seen many of them, and some for different battles. A few years ago, a friend of mine and I painted over mine with feldgrau paint, and it's still the one I use today. But before we did, I did some research with him on where these may have come from. I believe we found the answer.

In Bannerman's 1920's catalogs, in the "Great War" section, there is an entry stating that for the "small" sum of like $3 or something like that, he would sell you a "Souvenier of American Victory" or something like that. HE WOULD NOT TELL YOU WHAT IT WAS. It was supposed to be a surprise, and was "guaranteed to be a real Great War Relic"! In talking about it, we realized that 1) there was probably only a small market for leftover used German MG watercans from WWI in 1925 or so, and 2) Bannerman was something of a showman, and 3) This would be a great size item to paint and stencil and sell for 3x its value, and 4) There are an number of these painted up watercans out there, with exactly the same paint and stencil.

I believe what you and I have is Bannerman's "Souvenier of the Great War" which you got for your money in 1928 or so. As such, it's a really cool piece of history. I also felt pretty good about repainting it to it's proper German army colors, and using it with my 08/15 at many events.
It's back!

These are neat! I"ve seen them (usually stenciled exactly the same, with a gold paint finish) all over the country, in small numbers. I can just see Francis Bannerman telling Luigi to "Take these cans of paint, and this stencil out to the dock and paint up about 50 of these cans. You can start with this St. Michel one" and turning back to his order sheets... He! Got another one!

[IMBLITZVT]

One of the most interesting parts is that its COMPLETELY painted! I thought this was odd. I mean there is not one piece of original paint that has not been covered. I also thought it was a bit odd to write "Souvenier" when that was pretty obvious...

Mine still has a lot of paint under it... I might repaint it... might.

[dwmmg08]

Yeah, mine was completely painted gold, too. All over, everywhere. So was my friend Heska's. In fact, that was one of the things that made us question it being done wartime, as well as the obvious question of where would a bunch of doughboys have gotten *Gold* paint in that kind of quantity??? And the stencils??? Ok, perhaps they could have gotten the stencils, but why not put their unit on it?? Or who captured it? Or something more substantial about capturing it??? I haven't ever seen too many items captured in the fighting that were re-marked with soldier's marks, that DON"T have something to say about who they were, or what unit they were in! That said, every one I've seen has the exact same stencil with only a few being other battles. The stencil moves somewhat, but it is generally in about the same spot. The gold paint is all over, and I mean all over, there isn't anywhere not covered!

That being said, it being done post-war, as a "Souvenier" Makes lots of sense. The fact that Bannermans had that ad in their catalog for some years, really looks correct to me as the originator of these things. He was one of the biggest post war surplus dealers anywhere at the time. He was far from above remarking stuff, or redoing stuff, to get it to sell. They did exactly that with the U.S. made Moisin Nagants, (rechamber to .30-06, cut down, new sights) Springfield Trapdoors, (made lots of them, out of parts, into cadet rifles, you name it) Surplus Uniforms of all kinds, (Converted into band uniforms, cadet uniforms, Scout stuff, etc) If it didn't sell as is, then it was a candidate to be reformed! What better way to redo an old water can than to make it something else.... your very own Mystery Grab-Bag type Souvenier of the Great War! Step right up ladies and Gentlemen! Cash, of course, no credit extended or wanted here! Have you seen the museum yet?

Luigi did a good job, he made sure to paint all the rusty cans really well, remember they made a trip over the ocean, and probably were part of a lot bought in Belgium, Poland, or elsewhere in Europe circa 1920 or later, so they may have been far from perfect when bought. Mine's worked just fine for me, and I found that it had been preserved pretty well by the paint!

I am totally confident that they are the real thing. German WWI M1915 type water cans, direct from the fires of WWI. They are usually in good shape, too, and sell for less than a decent condition untouched one... and many of those I've seen have holes somewhere, most of these "souvenier" ones don't. You got a good deal, it should be a good one to use with your gun!!!

[www.Prussia.us]

Again another great Mg08 thread. First, Imblitz, great snag, at that price and given its condition, I would say you did well.

Second, great follow-up information DWMMG08.

[dwmmg08]

And in pretty good shape too, notice how everywhere is painted Gold, and the same stencil!

http://www.militaryitems.com/product.ph ... ctid=18869

[MarkFinneran]

Matt gents just picked up these 2 postcards - how is that for a 'captured' beauty.
Wonder where it went

Mark


[img=http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/9710/mgbristol.th.jpg]

[LA MITRAILLE]

I live near the battlefield of saint-mihiel, it's a very big battlefield!!

It was a lot of bavarian troops in this area, they made a lot of special MG bunkers....and one time i decided to make pictures now, with a MG 08 in this special area made for MG troops.













Best regards
david

[IMBLITZVT]

David,

Man, I wish I had a custom built MG08 fortification in my back yard!!!

That is awesome! I see the hole for the MG08 and sled. Man, thats nice protection! What are the other holes for? Ammo? Where did the men go to hide?

I wish the pictures were a little larger so I could look in a little closer.

So I got to ask, did you get the police called on you going to do that?

[lugercarbine]

I got out my watercan and had to soften and remove some paint, but underneath it all it was stamped with the manufacturers name 'J. B. on the first line, Emmerich on the 2nd line all inside a rectangle, J.B. again below the box and something below that, just can't read it with a magnifier. HTH as far as info goes.