Mk 2 Carrier water can

[Ed Storey]

The colour of water cans has nothing to do with camouflage, it has to do with being able to distinguish water cans from petrol cans. These colours were specified by the War Office at a time when the British Empire and Commonwealth troops based their training and doctrine on those of the British. I can see grey as a more practical colour then white for camouflage purposes which may have been the reason for the colour change in 1943.

Locally produced, how, by a team a navvies stamping them out of tinplate? Canadian and UK 2 Gallon cans were produced in the thousands, to a pattern established by the British, so locally produced is kind of a misnomer. GSW was the manufacturer of Canadian cans, a well established firm that specialized in many types of metal products. I will admit that I have never seen an Aus, NZ or Indian manufactured can so I have no knowledge of those cans although I am speculating that they were also mass produced to UK specifications.

Great photo of the green can; what was the date and manufacturer and more importantly has the can been repainted?

As for Jerry Cans, the US produced two distinct types, one for fuel and the other for water, confusing the two would be difficult as the water can has a huge spout.

German fuel and water cans were similar in construction although the water cans are embossed with 'Wasser' and it was common to paint the stamped reinforcing ribs white.

British cans were copied from the Germans, and I cannot say with any certainty if those used for water were embossed as such although again painting the reinforcing ribs white was a common practice to distinguish water from petrol.

[Lauren Child]

4 gallon cans definitely got locally produced, and the plant for doing so in the field is mentionned in RASC training pamphlet no. 8.

British water jerry cans were of a specially embossed type with a different lining as of 1947 (when "The Jerrican, Notes on its care and use" was published). I think i've got a 1945 one somewhere. Theres a couple of threads on HMVF that may help (hope it's OK to link across) - http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread...ater-jerry-Can and the one linked from it.

That probably doesn't help with the 2gal cans though.

[Lynn Eades]

That's Fine Ed, Just trying to rationalize the green water can, as being more suited to being carried on a combat vehicle.
We do have many commercial two gallon cans in this country as pre-war, all the fuel in N.Z.,came in, in 2 gal. cans, packed in wooden boxes.
Also I have no doubt at all, that large quantities of Canadian and British 2 gal. cans were in use here. It is just that I have not noticed them here with the cap chain arrangement that Stewart has shown us.
I have about 4 of our locally produced cans. They are about twice the weight of one of yours. They have survived because they were made of heavy gauge quality material and hence, don't rust easily. They had a die cast alloy cap. I stated tinned in my last post, but on thinking about them, they are made from galv. steel with soldered seams.
Most seem to survive as the motor mower fuel can.

[David Dunlop]

Don't forget the most important can of all, the French Army Wine Can!


David

[Robert Bergeron]

Friends,

As promised and acknowledging the prior postings from all my MLU friends, here are my dates.

1- GSW ( A Canadian manufacturer like Ed said ) 1943 for the white can.

2-GSW 1944 for the grey can.

3- A WD 1944 Black Jerrycan ( Gerrycan ? ) , it's British so i don't know.

So , in wartime pictures , on a Canadian Carrier , we could see all three, yes ?

[Robert Bergeron]

And the proverbial 1945 dated green/ olive WD Jerrycan.

Original content unknown but probably fuel.

Not much to differentiate the two but the small '' water '' marking/ stamping at the bottom of the water can and of course the white paint..

The water coming out of these steel cans must of tasted like ... petrol.

[Ed Storey]

Yes, you could potentially see all three in use at the same time in NW Europe, plus US Jerry Cans and even German cans. For sure, the water could taste like petrol if the cans got mixed up, that is why the 2 gallon cans were painted in very distinct colours.

The manufacture of 2 gallon cans pre-dates the Great War. During that conflict there was another set of colours in use and one of the complaints by Veterans of that conflict was that the drinking water regularly had a film on it and it tasted like petrol.

[Robert Bergeron]

Thank-you Ed,

I have a few examples of the US jerrycans, water and gas. I do not think our friends in the US used the word ''petrol '' .

When i have a chance i will take a few pictures of those and post them for future reference. They were indeed all carried ( Canadian , Brit and US ) by the Canadians in combat . I have seen a lot of pictures of Canadian Carriers with the 5 Gal jerrycans tied up on the top of the back plate , two on each side . 5 gallons is much better than 2 when travelling fast across France, Belgium and Holland . That was before coming to a complete stop on the Breskens Peninsula...but that is another matter.

Anyway, the idea of having only 2 gallon containers for anything like precious petrol for the machines and water for the crew was outdated from the beginning in a war of movement. That the Germans understood well and that is why they invented the ''Jerrycan '' before North Africa . Indeed Ed, the 2 gal can precedes the 1 st World War, thank-you for reminding us. My point if you see it coming is that it was absolescent after WW1 .

The 2 gal can for armored vehicules was absolescent since the late 20's and early 30's when the great joint Russian / German school of armour at Kazan was formed and it's teachings impressed the future European armoured officers . Armoured doctrine and Guderian already predicted that the next war would be a war of movement. Hence the ''Blitzkrieg '' ( correct my spelling ) .

Before i post some of the US Jerrycans, can any of our British Commonwealth friends post pictures of their country's period water and petrol cans as they were carried on their country' s Carriers for comparison to the Canadian practice please ?

Lauren, as far as local 4 gallon cans , i think you were alluding to what was / is called '' flimsy's '' , am i correct ? Post a few pictures please so we will be able to see the great advantages of the jerrycan vs the flimsy for a mechanised army in campaign.

Let me state a few : 1 gal more content. Reusable infinitum. Can be carried in pairs no problem by one man.

Many thanks.