It seems quite some time since I added a piece of modern Canadian equipment to my collection, so it was very gratifying to win today’s object on eBay a few months back for just 99p! The field message book has been in service with British and Commonwealth militaries in similar forms for at least a century, however this example is distinctly Canadian:

The cover of the book is bilingual, with both English and French language information as one would expect for Canada which is a bilingual nation. The national flag is also visible in the top left hand corner:

The pages within are all ruled into squares, again a feature that can be found on this type of message book right back to the First World War:

A few sheets of carbon paper are fitted to the back of the pad that can be pulled out and slotted between the pages so a few copies of a message can be made simultaneously:

This field message book has been used at some point as a few of the pages have been torn out, but the only thing of interest inside is this laminated timetable of exercises and events:

I have had something of a resurgance in Canadian post war kit and this is the first of a few posts that will be coming up over the next month or two.