Engineer's Pencil Case

The Engineer’s Pencil Case was a regulation piece of equipment constructed from cotton webbing and designed for carrying pencils and an alidade. The alidade, a sighting mechanism, was tied to the middle rivet at the top of the case. In addition to the alidade, it carried five pencils, a likely eraser, and three safety pins for pinning the case to the wearer’s jacket or shirt. An interesting feature included in each pencil sleeve was a brass thimble to protect the tips of the pencils from damage. The middle pouch with a flap was possibly for an eraser, although there is no mention of it’s intended use. On the back of the case near the top was the manufacturer’s stamp by Mills, featuring the standard bullet logo, a patent date, and the date of manufacture.