Waffenmeister's & Armorer's Ersatzteilkasten (Replacement parts case)

[THunter]

Here is what is known as a "Ersatzteilkasten" which is a small metal case used to store replacement small parts used by Waffenmeisters and Armorers. These small cases can be found inside MG34/42 Ammunition boxes used by Waffenmeisters & Armorers.

There are several variations of these Ammunition boxes used by them, but the main two types that this small case would be found in are a "Vorratskasten" & a "Ergänzungskasten"

The "Vorratskasten" is a MG34/42 Ammunition Box that mostly contained spare parts for the lower-level Waffenmeister & Armorer to enable them to keep the weapons functional by replacing small parts as where the "Ergänzungskasten" mostly contained accessories for MG34/42.

Typically the Vorratskasten will be identified by a painted 'V' and the Ergänzungskasten will be identified by a painted 'E' on the MG34/42 Ammunition box.

This case is Waffenamt marked WaA65 for 'bdr' (R. Ehrhardt, located in Pössneck)

Thank you to Bergflak for providing information and there is some good information on the V & E Kastens on his site: https://www.bergflak.com/ezvkasten.html

There is also some good information on V & E Kastens here: https://fjm44.com/articles/mg34-and-mg42-ammunition-boxes/

 

[THunter]

More examples of Variations of the Ersatzteilkasten:

 

[THunter]

Examples of the “small parts case”. These pictures were taken from and older gunboards thread.

Of note is this case was sometimes found with alongside additonal metal trays that also held parts, that could be fit into the standard MG34/42 ammunition box.

Hope this post gives people an idea of how armourers transported and stored spare parts at the basic level for simple repairs.