Pattern 1937 Pack : Private J M Bruce, 2/16 Battalion, AIF

1937 Pattern (carried over from 1908 Pattern) web equipment pack with narrow shoulder straps attached. All buckles and fittings are in brass. On the top flap of the pack is stencilled in black paint 'NX111315 BRUCE J A', while the service number and the letter 'A' are repeated on the right hand side panel. On the back of the pack is stencilled '61100' (a transport number) in green paint. There are pair of web loops on the base, the shoulder straps passing through them and attaching to buckles near the upper corners. There is also a short tab of broad (2 inch) webbing at each upper corner.

This pack was issued to Private NX111315 James Meikle Bruce, 2/16 Battalion, AIF. Bruce was born in 1923 and attempted to enlist in the RAAF during the Second World War. Having passed a medical examination for aircrew, he was recalled to Militia service and volunteered for the AIF. After a period spent serving as an NCO with an armoured unit at Singleton, he was remustered into the infantry, eventually joining 2/16 Battalion, with whom he served as a private in Borneo and the Celebes. Post-war, Bruce joined the CMF as a private in 1948, but was commissioned as a lieutenant (in the Australian Army Service Corps) the following year. He left the force in 1951.