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Armor/AFV: Axis - WWII
Armor and ground forces of the Axis forces during World War II.
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What were jerry cans made of?
hellbent11
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Posted: Monday, November 14, 2005 - 08:36 PM UTC
What were German jerry cans made of exactly? I've heard some people say that they were made of some type of plastic but this sounds pretty far fetched! I'm almost positive that they were made of metal exclusively but why don't more modelers show "banged up" cans that would be accurate with metal cans? Also, the white cross on some cans signifies drinking water right?
matt
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Posted: Monday, November 14, 2005 - 11:05 PM UTC
The majority od the WW2 era cans are / were Stamped Steel
Braystaff
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Posted: Monday, November 14, 2005 - 11:17 PM UTC
Yeap, white cross where used for water and Wasser was normaly stamped into the metal along the side.

Benzinkanister was stamped on to petrol cans and had no painted cross

Jerry cans are made of pressed steel


Quoted Text

The jerrycan was actually invented by the Italians in Africa and adopted by the German Army sometime around 1937. The Germans called it the Wehrmachtskanister.

At the beginning of the Second World War, the British Army were equipped with simple rectangular fuel containers. A 2 Imperial gallon (9 litre) container made of pressed steel and a 4 gallon (18 litre) container made from tin plate. Whilst the 2 gallon containers were relatively strong, they were expensive to produce. The 4 gallon containers, which were mainly manufactured in the third world, were cheap and plentiful but they were not very robust. Consequently they were colloquially known as flimsies.

Whilst adequate for transportation by road in Europe, the flimsies proved to be extremely unsatisfactory during the North African Campaign and severely hampered the operation of the British 8th Army. The transportation of fuel over rough terrain often resulted in much of the fuel being lost as the containers easily punctured. The resultant leakages also made the transportation vehicles liable to fuel fires.

When the British Army saw the German and Italian fuel cans first-hand they immediately saw the advantages of the superior design. The containers had three handles on them to allow for easy handling by one or two people; the sides of the can were marked with cross-like indentations that allowed the contents of the can to expand; when filled, the cans retained an air pocket so that they would float on water and rather than a screw cap, the containers used a cam lever release mechanism. The British used cans captured from the 'jerrys' (Germans) -- hence 'jerrycans' -- in preference to their own containers as much as possible and soon began to produce their own cans that were exact copies of the original.

jazza
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Posted: Tuesday, November 15, 2005 - 09:15 AM UTC

Quoted Text

I've heard some people say that they were made of some type of plastic but this sounds pretty far fetched! I'm almost positive that they were made of metal exclusively but why don't more modelers show "banged up" cans that would be accurate with metal cans?



Plastic is used in the modern day army around the world but they werent widespread in WWII as the guys have already mentioned.
tankmodeler
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Posted: Tuesday, November 15, 2005 - 09:19 AM UTC

Quoted Text

What were German jerry cans made of exactly?


Painted Steel. All of them.

Quoted Text

I've heard some people say that they were made of some type of plastic



Modern 20 lt containers are frequently plastic, especially water containers, but not in WW 2. There were no plastics invented at that time that could be manufactured easily and contain petrochemicals like diesel and gasoline.


Quoted Text

why don't more modelers show "banged up" cans that would be accurate with metal cans?


Because:
a) the cans really were relatively strong and resisted serious banging up, especially when filled with fluid.
b) the cans were handy and valuable to crews who protected them relatively well.
c) trying to replicate the dings & dents in a jerrycan in a plastic part with thick walls, is a real pain in the *ss to get to look right.

:-)

Paul
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Posted: Friday, November 18, 2005 - 03:17 AM UTC
"Benzinkanister was stamped on to petrol cans and had no painted cross"

The words "Kraftstoff - Feuergefahrlich" are also encountered.

I have seen surviving jerry cans and another variation is between SS and WH ones - those made exclusively for the SS have the twin sigrunen in the centre of the can; WH ones have "Wehrmacht" near the base.

The earliest cans had a simple X type stamping for reinforcement, later changed to incorporate a rectangle in the centre, as with all subsequent cans made in Germany and the UK. If you have the Academy Fuel Drum set, you get one of these early cans included, complete with stampings.
Torchy
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Posted: Friday, November 18, 2005 - 11:15 AM UTC
Great question hellbent11,
superb replies ,leart alot.
Cheers boys
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