LEICA III STRANGE STAMP

[dubois pierre]

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Hello, I'm asking you this question about a Leica III that was delivered to the USA in 1937 and has a still-visible white paint stamp, "LG." I suspect this abbreviation refers to a US Army service, "Logistics Group."
Thank you for your analysis and possible answers.

Pierre

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[PG Black nickel]

Hello Pierre, 
To my knowledge, the US Army mainly used Kodak and Graflex cameras. The markings consisted of letters and numbers, for example PH-324...K17...etc. Of course, Leica cameras could be used by the US Army, but they often had letters and numbers marked on them. Perhaps you should look on the German side for a correspondence or perhaps the initials of the camera's former owner?

[dubois pierre]

Yes, Philippe, it's possible, but this Leica III was officially registered in the United States in 1937, which is why I'm looking for the meaning of this abbreviation. Usually, the owners' names were engraved on the edge of the rear cover, never with such large characters on the stencil or stamp coating.

Pierre

[250swb]

I think at the very least cameras in the military were engraved to stop a low paid enterprising individual using a dab of paint stripper to remove printed on letters and scratching out the serial number. I imagine they were signed out and signed in again on the basis of the Army/department number to keep track of usage and repairs etc. For example after the war the M2 was referred to as 'Camera Set, Still Picture KS-15(4)' with very few, if any mentions of Leica in the service guide. So maybe an owner, from a newspaper, news agency, or other business? 

Edited Wednesday at 03:19 PM by 250swb