Did Canada make its own stretchers?

[derk derin]

I have a stretcher that probably dates back to the era of WWI by looking at period photos of stretchers used in that era. No military markings but a brass plate of the manufacturer. The metal legs also identify it as an earlier stretcher.

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[derk derin]

And out of all the stretchers in my collection I could only find 2 promising markings that identify them as Canadian military issue.
The one marked RCASC is most likely Royal Canadian Army Service Corps issued by the painted abbreviations under the wooden rail ( unless there’s a business out there with the same abbreviations???).
And this stretcher is the only one that has 37 pattern style web straps & buckles sewn to the canvas.

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[derk derin]

The other stretcher I found with markings was outside and although I could find no Cbroadarrow mark on it to identify it as Canadian military issue it did have a 1940 date of manufacture stamped in the wood that proves it was wartime manufacture.
It just so happens it was used by the Red Cross as marked in red paint on the underside of the wooden rails right over the date of manufacture stamping.

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[derk derin]

The nicest markings I found out of all my stretchers is the American stretcher I have. The canvas has nice stampings on it as well as stampings in the metal framework.

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[derk derin]

The one stretcher I have, while looks similar in design to a wartime stretcher that I purchased and later learned it was not are the stretchers with the reinforcing strapping on the sides to hold the canvas to the wood rails are stapled.
The wartime era stretchers have leather strips that are tacked. Other stretchers I have also use cloth or canvas strips but still used tacks to fix the canvas to the wood rails.
I later found one of these “ newer manufactured” stretchers marked with a “FEMA” stencilled marking on it which is the US department Federal Emergency Management Agency.

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