Turkish Army Medical Backpack

Object Details

Description

Canvas and leather backpack containing first-aid supplies. On the outside of the back flap is a circular "Red Crescent" logo, symbol of the Ottoman Red Crescent Society. On the inside of the flap is a paper sheet with a list of contents in typed Turkish, "Sihhiye Cantasinin Muhteviyati" [Contents of Sanitary (Medical) Bag]. The contents are kept within the pack inside of compartmentalized, cloth pockets with string ties. There are also two folding compartments on the sides, holding rigid materials such as wooden splints. All of these compartments have labels in German. Contents include a rubber tourniquet; a sewing kit; numerous bandages, most in cloth packages tied with string; sealed paper packages of bandages: "3LUK KEMBRIK / SARGISI" [Cambric bandages].; a black, leather "red crescent" notebook with arabic print; thread; forceps; and splints. On one side of the pack, near the bottom corner, is a flap, behind which is a rectangular, metal box. The box-top is divided in two, with a hinge at the center. This case contains morphine packets, a syringe set; and five, empty glass bottles with labels in Turkish. Side drawer contains two ointment tubes: "Borsalbe / Hauptsanitats Depot / Berlin" [Boric Acid Ointment / Main Sanitary Depot / Berlin]. Some supplies in the kit come from the late 1920s such as: Individual bandage packets : "PIYADE HARP / PAKETI / 1929" [Infantry Warfare Packet, 1929], and on the back: ISTANBUL / Sıhhiye Transit Deposu" [Sanitary, or Medical, Transit Depot], and two (2) packs of ampules: "10 ADET / 18-EYLUL-1928" [10 Units, September 18, 1928], presumably one box is morphine and the other caffeine.

The first aid pack was a standard WWI German Army medical pack altered for the Turkish Army.

Location

Currently not on view

Credit Line

Gift of the Government of Turkey

ca 1917-1929

ID Number

MG.M-07166

catalog number

M-07166

accession number

106236

Object Name

medical pack, military

Physical Description

cloth, canvas (case material)

Measurements

overall: 16 1/2 in x 15 1/2 in x 5 3/8 in; 41.91 cm x 39.37 cm x 13.6525 cm

overall (in rehousing): 13 in x 27 in x 19 in; 33.02 cm x 68.58 cm x 48.26 cm

place made

Turkey

Germany

See more items in

Medicine and Science: Medicine

Health & Medicine

Military

Modern Medicine and the Great War

National Museum of American History

related event

World War I

Record ID

nmah_725763

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a8-817f-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa