british ww2 tube

[Mike Cecil]

It is the Unit Serial Number (USN). It was a British system also picked up and adopted by other countries such as the USArmy.

The British three colour bars correspond to the last two digits: second last digit/last digit/second last digit repeated: from top to bottom if British it should be:
0 - dark brown
6 - buff
0 - dark brown

The USA three colours should be:
0 - dark brown
6 - blue
0 - dark brown

Seems to correspond most closely to a US Army unit in the ETO, but that USN is not on the published (but incomplete) list of 1st US Army D-Day list.

Nor is it on the British War Office Field Force Units list.

It is on the Australian Army list as Queensland Lines of Communications Band. However, many of the USA numbers were duplicates of numbers already issued to far-off Commonwealth countries such as Australia.

Looks like a map tube.

Mike