What colour were British jerricans painted in the 1944/45 timeframe? I can find all about their method of manufacture, shape size and capacity, but not their colour. Chris
One thing I can remember without any difficulty is how bloody heavy they were and the fact that you always carried two at a time, one in each hand, to balance the weight Ron
Jerricans were of a grey green colour - and when full were VERY heavy- thus at the end of the day's fighting we really enjoyed filling up a Churchill Tank with around 40 - 50 of them as the Tank took 180 gallons into two fuel tanks and used FOUR GALLONS TO THE MILE…..see my article on the BBc series of " Green envelopes for Tank bde -Rimini" Cheers
good day chrisgrove.sm.yesterday.10:28 pm.re:jerricans,they were painted american camourflage green.regards bernard85
Hi, I believe the colour used was called "Olive Green". Yes Olives come in many different colours, but this is the military Regards, Mick D.
US manufactured jerrycans were in Olive Drab #3 or later OD #7. British jerrycans should have been produced in the standard equipment colour - SCC2, the famous 'dog shit brown'. Undoubtedly some were made in green which would either be Khaki Green 3 or SCC15. In-theater repaints would be in whatever was required/available.
How long did it take, Tom, provided you could park near the fuel and not have to carry the cans very far?
I still use five such cans for my tractors at work. These are sludge green and as the gents have said, very heavy when carrying them about. Wouldn't want to fill up a Churchill Tank Tom, my David Brown is bad enough.
Jeff one truck had to service 19 Tanks so many were dumped near your tank -BUT - they then had to be lifted up four or so feet onto the back of the Tank - then poured - closed and dumped - usually three men would take nearly an hour and a half - then two men on the gun - driver and co driver would be on the engine while I would be checking the radio - if no repairs were needed then it would be a good three hours- then something to eat and sleep for -about three/ four hours- a full jerrican would weigh around 45 lbs…… every day…we had muscles in those days Cheers
Thanks guys. I did reckon that SCC15 would be the thing for early 1945. I do know how heavy they were. As a mere infantryman I had to carry one (OK only one, but full of water not petrol) up a mountain once (as well as the usual infantry load). Chris
I know it's 1943 & a US pattern jerrycan but it's the only wartime colour photo I can find of a jerry can on IWM website. zoomable/full page version of photo here http://zoom.iwm.org.uk/view/32120&cat=photographs&oid=object-205188705 At Milo in the north of Sicily, County of London Yeomanry tank men are accorded a great reception by the civilians of the town. Here they are seen with Sicilian children riding on their tanks as they rumble down the main street. [SIZE=1.2em]Local children crowd aboard a Sherman Mk III tank of the County of London Yeomanry in the village of Milo near Catania in Sicily, August 1943.[/SIZE] THE BRITISH ARMY IN SICILY, AUGUST 1943. © IWM (TR 1244)IWM Non Commercial Licence
More interesting background on a design that has stood the test of time! http://www.missing-lynx.com/reference/german/feuergefahrlichdm_1.html http://www.carryology.com/utility/carry-history-the-wwii-jerrycan/ http://www.thinkdefence.co.uk/2012/08/the-amazing-jerry-can/ http://www.core77.com/posts/17788/the-wehrmachtkanister-aka-jerrycan-astonishingly-good-industrial-design-from-the-1930s-17788
Half an answer here. The implication is, I think, that POL jerricans were something other than SCC No.2. It's interesting that they are even trying to avoid referring to the 'water containers' as jerricans.
Interesting - Idlers post suggests that Jerrycans for water were manufactured differently from those intended for POL, with a special liner. A modelling manufacturer (Milicast) suggests that British and American cans were different sizes - both were 5 gallon but there is a difference between a US Gallon (3.7 Ltr) and an Imperial gallon (4. Ltr) Noel
Just had a flick thorough the Heimdal Jerrycan book and the US cans (Blitz cans or, to us, Americans) were often stamped with their capacity. The odd thing is that this could vary from 5 to 5.35 US gallons, but I imagine the design capacity was a round 5 US gallons. The book also covers the water versions of the German, US and British cans and confirms the British marking scheme. Whilst there's some discussion of paint colours, I don't think any of the collectors have gone quite as far as trying to identify specific shades yet. According to some online converters: German jerrycan: 20 litres British cloned jerrican: 20 litres = 4.4 imperial gallons US can: 5 US gallons = 4.2 imperial gallons = 18.9 litres
The copy Part 1 orders are most interesting. I can't imagine that British manufactured POL cans were not in the then current 'service colour'...i.e. possibly KG No.3 on the earliest examples, the majority in SCC No.2 and from mid-1944 British Olive Drab.
