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The bottles are most likely ink bottles. We didn't have ball-point pens back then, and all military documents had to be signed in ink. Fountain pens were common, and most officers carried one (at the risk of staining their pockets) and they had to be refilled every now and then, so an ink supply was an essential office item. "Dip" pens were also common desk items back then. No ink reservoir...just dip and write, dip again and write some more. I've still got a couple of each that say "Property U.S. Government" on them.

My boy scout troop had one of those which we used for our kitchen when we went camping...had a collapsible army field table that went with it too, VERY useful!

Now I can't 100% remember where I had heard/read this...but I seem to have heard that was part of a field kitchen; Whether or not that is correct is debatable, but I ran into another very similar one at a pawn shop a few years back which appeared to be the companion unit to this, and it had all the military plates and utensils in it

Lifer,
I won't say you are old... but if you remember dipping pins in ink in your military service.... you went in a little ahead of me . ) Could be though because they are both fairly short bottles and are black and fairly small so they wouldn't hold all that much. Dont think these ever had ink in them though. Those old pens sound like a cool old item to have too.

PWF, that sounds interesting... I would imagine that there were a number of simlar boxes used that were tailored to different uses. I am pretty sure this was an admin box but could see where a mess would need an admin box too. They list one in the historical section of the manufactures web site. Lifer had snooped it out. Mine is exactly like the one on their web site cept mine has that holy cow florescent green paint over the OD. I thought it was missing a drawer but the one on their web site that Lifer found doesn't have one either.

I think I will slowly and carefully get the old paint off and paint.... what would be the proper shade of OD for a WWII admin box? Any idea?

Thanks,
Mark

How about giving TSP a try, along with a soft bristle brush, try doing it in the shade, then maybe some type of solvent/thinner right behind the TSP? Are the panels/flats made of leather? Gillespie Coatings 2407, or paint it to match your rig?

Bruce, thanks may give the TSP a try. I don'think I have ever tried TSP but it's worth a try. Good advice about the color of my rig too.. didn't really think about that.

Thanks,
Mark