Too incredible to be true?

[kevin powles]

Hi, Its definitely a 'T' because its been painted with the name 'bren' and number both sides, the downward shot is the other side. It will be on its way in the post to me soon, so will check when I receive it. It also has the remains of desert paint on it, it is either from the vehicle or someone has seen that carrier pic many years ago and painted the can to match that carrier say back in the 60's or 70's, it has 64 on it is that a division number?, could be another clue to its authenticity?.

kev.

[horsa]

64 could be the vehicle designation in the division. That was the number used by the support battalion / machine gun battalion which was carrier based.

[RichardT10829]

if it is pucker then i would say it was worth a pretty penny to a collector thats for sure

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Just to muddy the waters, I'm almost certain that is a Canadian can. The 'Highly Enflamable' stamping usually dates from 1940 on the similar cans I've seen. The paint is just such that I can't make out the date or absolutely confirm the C broad arrow.

Pic added for comparison.

[Philliphastings]

Hello Kevin - this could well be one of those rare coincidences which colour our hobby.

Of course all of the early carriers came from the factory with standard stowage for one of these cans as well as one of the narrower oil cans.

I have a collection of ex Australian issued cans and there are a variety of styles and manufacturers.

If I were you I would bid on it and keep it as a conversation piece. Maybe the carrier itself will turn up next

Cheers

Phill

[jack neville]

I go with the repro theory from someone seeing a photo. How many Te Anau LRDG trucks have been made now? If you came across a beaten up piece of kit with Te Anau written on it how excited would you really get these days?

[Gunner]

When we pulled into a laeger or "DP" we would not use the can on our veh unless it had already been emptied earlier. It stayed, full, on the vehicle and we gassed up using what the echelon or the service battalion delivered.

To back up Rob Love's points we, the users and abusers of the mechanised artillery, (Rob will get the reference being a RCEME type ) hardly ever hung all our clag and gear on the outside of the vehicle because it would disappear. Our rucksacks were generally stowed outside 'cause, frankly, who wants my smelly, skid marked clothes? The veh stores (tools, etc were carefully marked and carefully locked in the carrier or SP gun to prevent the five fingered discount!

On rail moves everything went inside, even the sopping wet cam nets, to prevent pilfering at every little whistle stop along the way. We even had to gun tape the periscope glass as vandals would chip away at them with sharp rocks!

Congrats on finding a possible historical link between a wartime photo and and an actual artefact.

Cheers, Mike