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WORLD WAR ONE US ARMY MEDICAL DEPARTMENT FIELD
SURGICAL INSTRUMENT POUCH – CARRIED BY THE MEDICAL
OFFICER WHILE IN THE FORWARD POSITIONS WITH THE SOLDIERS
– A SCARCE “LIKE NEW” WELL MARKED COMPLETE SET:
This World War One era US Army Medical Officer’s
Instrument Pouch has survived in excellent condition
with all of the original instruments intact and showing
little if any use. Larger than the Medical Officer’s
Belt Instrument Pouch, this pouch, measuring 7” long was
intended for the medical officer to carry in his pocket
while on the front lines or when advancing with the
troops into a forward area.
The five instruments – two scalpels, a pair of scissors,
a retractor, and a cone shaped tube probably intended to
relieve a wound to the lungs – were the basic
instruments necessary for the doctor to provide
immediate life saving care to the wounded soldier before
he was evacuated to the battalion aid station or field
hospital.
This pouch is in excellent condition, with a legible
“US” ink stamped on the front cover. There is what
appears to be a name written in ink along the inside of
the edge binding of the cover. The pouch is clean with
no wear points to the web body or the contrasting
binding, and only a very minor line of dots of some
stain on the back of the pouch. The closing buttons
retain all of their brown “OD” colored enamel finish and
both snaps function properly.
The instruments are in excellent condition showing
little sign of use, all having a bright finish with no
corrosion and no damage.
Due to the utilitarian nature of these sets, it is quite
likely they were taken into the doctors’ civilian
practices after the war and were consumed through the
years of use on his rounds – which probably accounts for
their scarcity today. This is an excellent set to add
to a World War One Medical collection.
SOLD
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