Dated June 20th, 1942 this WWII military issued first aid and wound care artifact is labeled “Plain Gauze Bandage”. Labeled as being produced under contract number N 140S-4833A, these tightly compact bandage gauze were used by all branches of the military during WWII including the Navy, Army, USMC, and Army Air Corps branches. These bandages are ‘sterilized’ and are meant to be used for field treatment of wounds from bullets, shrapnel and other various wound care. These were carried by not only first-aid medics on the battlefield, but also in the pockets of soldiers to aid in quick and fast treatment of wounded servicemen until more advanced treatment could be available. Some of the most famous photographs of World War II are of Allied soldiers with these very same bandage gauze wrapped around their faces, arms, and legs. This early war Johnson & Johnson produced government contracted bandage is unused and still and its original packaging, with a waxy and waterproof coating. 

During the year that these bandages were produced in 1942 the U.S. and other Allied countries were in the midst of WWII. 

• The United States and Philippines troops fight the Battle of Bataan,

• President Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur out of the Philippines as American defense of the nation collapses.

• The United States Navy defeats an Imperial Japanese Navy attack against Midway Atoll in The Battle of Midway.

• The Battle of Guadalcanal begins – USMC initiate the first American offensive of the war with a landing on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.

• Operation Torch – United States and United Kingdom forces land in French North Africa.

Early in WW2 and following previous standards (as applied in the Great War and during the interbellum years), many medical items were merely wrapped in white or brown kraft paper and marked in black (stamped or printed). At the beginning, commercial products were still in vast supply (for commercial reasons, packaging,  appearance, outlook, and overall presentation were always highly stressed), but gradually concessions and amendments were introduced with respect to color, weight, protection, presentation, in order to reduce cost, supply, and limit visibility (items mainly used in the field). U.S. Government requirements impose certain rules with respect to the use and display of Medical Department stock numbers, contract numbers, manufacture dates, specifications, patents, etc. and the fact that the ‘product’ was destined for official U.S. Government use (i.e. the Army of the United States).