I enjoy learning about History. Artifacts and relics from the past fascinate me. Little did I know, I've had a piece of history sitting in my living room for the last four years.
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My grandfather was a fighter pilot for the United States Air force during WWII, the Korean War, and Vietnam. At the end of his career he had risen the the rank of colonel.
When I was a kid, my brother and I would often visit and look through the many footlockers he had that contained pictures and memorabilia from his service in the wars. After he passed in 2012 I was given one of his old footlockers. I had always assumed it was a U.S issued air force locker. Boy was I wrong.
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Curious about the red wheat chef symbol painted on the side, I posted on reddit in r/whatisthisthing. It wasn't until I looked more closely at the pictures I had taken that I noticed Chinese characters on the sides and top. The reply I got from SamCarterx206 amazed me and created a lot more questions.
He said that the Chinese characters on the side read "Veterinary suitcase no.1" and that it was used by the Japanese unit 100 during WWII (known as the Devil Force). Unit 100 was responsible for conducting research about diseases originating from animals . As most armies were still heavily dependent on horses, the Imperial Japanese Army hoped to find ways to kill them and therefore to weaken their opponents. Furthermore, they hoped to spread disease via animal carriers.
Say what?!? This is getting interesting.
The only other version of this box that I have been able to find is from the Dianxi Anti Japanese Memorial Hall in China. The words on that one read "Veterinary suitcase no. 4".
Unit 100 was associated with the infamous Unit 731 that was a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that undertook lethal human experimentation during WWII.
Unit 100's annual bacteria production capacity was projected to reach 1,000 kg of anthrax, 500 kg of glanders, and 100 kg of red rust (fungus). The goal was never reached, due to equipment shortages.
Right now it's just keeping my comic books safe.
Notice the straps and pocket for veterinary supplies.
Now that I know of this lockers past, I ask myself.... How the heck did granddad get this? I guess I'll never know. More importantly, Does it have enough historical value that someone would like to have it? How do I get in touch with them? I would like to donate it to a museum but I don't even know where to start finding one. Maybe this post will help. :)
sources:
Wikipedia page: (Unit 100) (Unit 731)
Dianxi Anti Japanese Memorial Hall
Upvoted and resteemed
Thank you kind sir.
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That's some crazy stuff. I wonder how your grandfather got this.
Resteemed and followed...can't upvote though :(