Quote:
Originally Posted by Bronzestar
Hi all I've looked on line I know it's Air Ministry but I'm not sure what the numbers mean. Does anyone know ? Thanks
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It is an Air Ministry contract number, with, as you say, the '40' referring to the year of contract (not necessarily the year of manufacture which may be stamped elsewhere). I'm not sure what the letters at the end stand for but many Air Ministry contracts take the same form.
Of the later NATO numbers each block refers to different things such as category of item, size, country of origin and specific item. The only one I remember is '99' being for UK manufacture.
I wondered for years what the various cut-outs on the button stick referred to until using one recently to clean webbing. The circular holes are for popper studs found on ammunition pouches, the wavy cut-outs for the riveted end tabs on belts and straps.