Historical information

This gear bag was issued to Sergent Harold Loraine Reed, who was born in 14 Aug 1889 in Portland, Victoria. Reed enlisted in the army in 1940 in Ballarat to serve in WWI, and was discharged from 8 Battalion in 1943.

Gear bags such as this were standard issue to servicemen. Soldiers would fill their gear bags with essential equipment (mess tins, clothes, etc.) and carry them with them from post to post, or ship them to their destination ahead of time.

Physical description

Khaki coloured canvas bag that is cylindrical in shape with the owner's rank, name, and service number written on the front of the bag in white paint. The base of the bag is rounded, while the top is open with 11 eyelets (one missing) through which a cotton cord has been threaded. Each end of the cord has been wrapped with red tape.

Inscriptions & markings

V58131 / S/Sgt. H.L. REED