Das Kochgeschirr - The Mess Kit Part 1

In the German Army each soldier was issued a mess kit or Kochgeschirr and the 2 Chevauleger was no exception. At the outbreak of the war in 1914, the 1910 pattern mess kits were made from aluminum and came with a metal lip to rest the soldier's spork (a combination fork and spoon that each solider was also issued). In practice, the spork would often come loose so soldiers often stuck them in their pockets or bread bags. For the cavalry, mess kits were unpainted since they were normally kept contained in a leather case with attached to the saddle. Below are a few pictures of one such mess kit what was issued to a soldier in the 2 Chevauleger:

1910 Cavalry Pattern Kochgeschirr - Front view

Close-up of the handle attachment

1910 Pattern Kochgeschirr - The back side

The regimental marking was stamped on the top part. All prewar equipment was marked in some way with the unit it had been issued to.

View of both parts. On the top of the bottom piece to the right you can see a small metal lip where the spork was locked in. For the infantry and artillery, the issue mess kit in 1914 looked like this:

The cavalry mess kit was carried in a leather case, Das Kocheschirrfutteral which attached to the saddle:

Bottom view- the mess kit would slid in and be held in place by two straps. This example is a reproduction.

Side view - The case was attached to a staple set in the saddle that slipped through the leather ring in top. A leather strap then was passed through the staple, securing the case to the saddle.

For the infantry, artillery, and other subsidiary arms, the mess kit was issued in black. Below is another example with the spork set in its holding place:

The spork in its resting place in the mess kit. This particular mess kit is an infantry pattern which is readily identified by the loop on the handle that allows a strap to pass through, which attached it to the soldier's knapsack.

As the war progressed, there was a strong drive towards standardizing equipment as much as possible as a means of simplifying production and once the initial stocks had been used up, the cavalry was issued the same pattern mess kit as the rest of the army, especially since most of their work was being done dismounted and the mess kit would be exposed to view since the saddle carrier wouldn't have been used.