In my never ending quest for items for my India-Burma archive I stumbled across this once common wooden crate at the Malvern Flea Market yesterday. I imagine that it has only survived because someone used it as a container on the long voyage home from India or Burma at the end of the war. There is in fact written evidence that it was used until at least 1955 by a youngster as a container for some unknown items. I will start with the basics, the lid of the crate is marked: RASC SUPS and (ineligible) FOR D.S.T. Calcutta. F.S.O 45167 in yellow paint.
The side of the crate is marked in red paint PACIFIC COMPO (6 MEN) W.D.U. LTD. Pkd 12/44. W.D.U. were presumably the contractors who packed the rations into the case.
