Wire spool
 

Yesterday i picked up a spool of wire, the fella I got it from said it was WW2 communication wire. It has olive drab colour on spool. Markings on spool are
RL-159 /U. CROSBY.
Does anyone know if it is indeed WW2 vintage for sure. It will be greatly appreciated for any information regarding this

Thank you

Eric

http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/at...1&d=1517584538

I can't speak as to the vintage of a Crosby made reel, but I can tell you that the reels are listed under NSN 8130-00-174-0812 and still in service today.

As far as the Crosby goes, I don't know either but the reels of telephone cable were in common use in WWII. My 1941 British built Armoured OP carrier had brackets for one of these, front and back of the carrier. There were also wooden frames that held these spools. A man wore them, at front, with the strap around his neck. This allowed him to walk and feed out cable or wind the handle as he walked to roll it up. I think these may have pre dated WWII, but not sure.

Reel
 

RL-159 is a post war reel, you can still buy these NOS with wire on them , the newer ones have CARC stamped into them,

I went and looked at my reels / drums, and they have wooden centers.

Thanks for the help, looks like may never really know for sure but that’s ok. Will just have to take the old fellas word for it.

Eric

Frank: Why would an RL/159/U even have CARC on it?

CARC=Chemically Applied Reactive Coating, usually found on newer military rolling stock, warning a Veh Tech to use certain repair methods, i.e. bodywork.

That's what a Veh Tech at Meaford told me.

Looking at reel closer I noticed some writing on it

For: Maj. Namer this part is very clear the rest not so much. What I can make out looks to me like. D. Truck. 50 cap + T something or other and possibly Lakehead

I will have to go to our local armoury to do some inquiries about to reel and if there was at one time a Major Namer locally at one time

Eric

reel
 

Hi Jon , at a point almost everything has CARC on it and the reels have it stamped into the steel, if it is not stamped then it is stenciled on, the earlier ones just have semi OD on them, look on ebay you'll see what I mean, the Line truck has a mix of both,

Per Frank’s description. Note the colour chart at the bottom.

The reasoning behind CARC is that it does not absorb the Chemical agents, and thus contaminate individuals after the fact. As such, the paint is used on more than just vehicles. I have seen the marking on surplus radio trays that were being sold at princess auto. The reason for the CARC being painted onto the items is because there are helth risks associated with the paint both on application and on removal of the paint, depending on how it is done. Burning the paint (via welding or to0rch cutting) will release the harmful element, which is believe is mostly the isocyanate.

This company made the WW2 Wiring... and will make it today for you if you ask them to... they just need a sample of the wire you want.

https://www.ormiston-wire.co.uk/

Tim