Flashlight – Philips type 7424 -03 – Wehrmachtseigentum
Back in the 1940’s there wasn’t such a abundance of light after sunset. Especially outside towns in fields and forests. Flashlights where a vital tool for night time map reading, signaling with coloured lenses and many other uses. The blackout during the war also meant for a extended popularity of flashlights. Many carried them onto the streets to see as the streetlights where very rare and to top that of mostly blacked out. Most flashlights where fitted with blinds or coloured lenses to hide the bright light they produced. These coloured lenses where also used to signal between individual soldiers. These flashlights or Taschenlampen where mostly private purchase but in some cases where issued as well. Brands as Daimon, Petrix, Hassia and Zeiler where a few of many popular brands in the time. A flashlight can be seen worn on many original pictures.
Brand: Philips
Type: 7424 -03
Material: Steel
Colour: Feldgrau
Battery: Doesn’t have a battery but uses a small internal dynamo.
Filters: No
Blind: No
Notes: Philips “Knijpkat” flashlight marked Wehrmachtseigentum. These flashlights where made utilizing forced labour from Konzentrationslager Herzogenbusch. Unlike most of the wartime used flashlights the “knijpkat” doesn’t have a battery but uses a small internal dynamo. Normal civilian privately purchased examples can be found regularly but the German army issue type is very difficult to come by!
