Question about Canadian WWII Mess Tins...

You ask, we deliver.
These tins where found in Germany along with some other commonwealth items (as can be seen on the photo) on roughly the same spot.

Amazing Sipke, thank you so much! I just updated the table on the previous page...

I did some further research and found the following about Metal Stampings Ltd...

"In 1948 W. R. Case & Sons contracted with Pictou Cutlery Company of Pictou, Nova Scotia, to assemble and finish sailor and aircrew knives for the Canadian military. The blades and other components were made by Case in their Bradford PA factory. Case sent a manager to Canada to supervise the assembly work, some of which was done by members of the Grohmann family, who later went on to make the Russell Canadian Belt Knives. This joint Canadian - U.S. venture was called Metal Stampings, Limited. It ceased operation upon fulfillment of the Canadian military contract, circa 1950. This venture used several tang stamps, including M. S. LTD XX."

http://www.knifeforums.com/forums/printpost.php?tid/31720/

It would seem that this is a rather rare mess tin, as it was produced between 1948-1950. Not really sure how it ended up in Germany though...

Strange..
Looking at where it was found and with the items that where found with it.
A MkII lid with RA flash was also found in the area.
Could it be that they produced in small quantity's?
It should be wartime production.

Wgrenadier wrote:Amazing Sipke, thank you so much! I just updated the table on the previous page...

I did some further research and found the following about Metal Stampings Ltd...

"In 1948 W. R. Case & Sons contracted with Pictou Cutlery Company of Pictou, Nova Scotia, to assemble and finish sailor and aircrew knives for the Canadian military. The blades and other components were made by Case in their Bradford PA factory. Case sent a manager to Canada to supervise the assembly work, some of which was done by members of the Grohmann family, who later went on to make the Russell Canadian Belt Knives. This joint Canadian - U.S. venture was called Metal Stampings, Limited. It ceased operation upon fulfillment of the Canadian military contract, circa 1950. This venture used several tang stamps, including M. S. LTD XX."

http://www.knifeforums.com/forums/printpost.php?tid/31720/

It would seem that this is a rather rare mess tin, as it was produced between 1948-1950. Not really sure how it ended up in Germany though...

Hold your horses, I think the brand is "Supreme ware" ,the metal stampings thing means that they stamp object out of metal.
So ,this is not the knife maker you refer to.

Mess tins are 100% ww2 ,I mean why should a post war mess tin be buried in a German forest among other military stuff?

Metal Stampings Limited also manufactured Case M346 Clasp Knives for the Canadian military during the same 1948-1950 time frame.

I obviously meant no offence LSR, I just posted what I had found from online searches. I was able to find nothing on Supreme Ware, but this was the brand name used by the firm Metal Stampings, Limited (much the same way that Aluminum Goods manufactured aluminum items under the 'Wear-ever' brand name). It would make sense that few examples exist if the firm was only in operation for 2-3 years.

Your mess tins are undated like all Canadian examples, so precise dating is impossible. If your tins have a Canadian broad arrow, it would certainly suggest an earlier manufacture date (I couldn't see any in the available photos). If you find any clues to a different maker than the one listed above, I hope that you will post it here and add to the common knowledge!

Also, I think the the Canadian Army and the RCAF operated in occupied Germany in the postwar years.

I was waiting to see how long it would take for someone to realise that Canada had troops stationed in Europe during the post-war NATO era. The Canadian Army had 27 Brigade, later renamed 4 Brigade, was stationed first in Northern Germany starting in 1951; and the RCAF had an Air Wing in France-Germany during the same period. Quite a bit of WWII era equipment was used by these formations well into the 1970s.

As well, Canada provided vast amounts of WWII era equipment to our NATO Allies, specifically Belgium and the Netherlands which was again used into the 1960s.

The date of manufacture on items is just that; and not an indication of date used.

Of course the location of where this stuff was dug up is also relevant.

Close up of GSW stamp...