German soldiers gas mask tin partly over painted and re used post war with some original paintwork used by the 116th Panzer Division recovered from near Houffalize in the Ardennes forest from battle of the bulge winter 1944-1945

This is a very nice condition German soldiers gas mask tin very solid and retains some of its original colour but has been over painted post war for use and with some light surface rust. The tin is near complete but is missing its holding bracket to lock it but still has the moving clip it has all of its original paintwork but mostly over painted the lid still opens and closes and is air tight but is missing its cloth carry strap it has no maker markings that can be seen and has been nicely cleaned up. The gas mask tin The tin was available for the first time since the war outside of the Ardennes Forest ware it has been for nearly 77 years .This gas mask tin along with other parts were taken from abandoned German vehicles after the war in the village of Mont which is just North of Houffalize all the vehicles belonged to the 116th Panzer Division. It was taken of the tank or vehicle properly in around 1946-1948 by a local farmer and was used on his farm for many years until it was found by a local collector who had them in his private collection until 2022 when it left the Ardennes area for the first time since the war. This is a very nice relic from the Ardennes Forest campaign during the battle of the Bulge in the winter of 1944-1945.This real bit of history from this famous battle which was Hitlers last offensive in the West and comes with A5 laminated information card.

The 116th Panzer Division, also known as the "Windhund (Greyhound) Division", was an armoured formation that was constituted in the Rhineland and Westphalia areas of western Germany in March 1944 from the remnants of the 16th Panzergrenadier Division, and the 179th Reserve Panzer Division. The 16th had suffered heavy casualties in combat on the Eastern Front near Stalingrad, and the 179th was a second-line formation that had been on occupation duty in France since 1943.