Italian WWII Large Capacity Aluminum Canteen, North Africa POW, Maggio 1943, Jane A. Kimball Collection

Original era manufacture. Italian WWII large capacity aluminum canteen which is wonderfully hand decorated by an Italian POW taken prisoner in North Africa in 1943. Evidently the Italian soldier served with the tank corps, as several references to that service appear on the exterior, which also include a naked woman, Italian tank and fighter plane. The name of a US or British soldier also appears PVT John Vance, perhaps the soldier for whom the canteen was decorated. This canteen once formed part of the Jane A. Kimball collection. One of a kind.