Bottle openers on jeeps.

Create a thread to track the progress of you MB/GPW restoration progress. Previously a General Discussion board.
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Mike Wright
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Re: Bottle openers on jeeps.

Post by Mike Wright » Tue Feb 06, 2018 3:19 pm

Sounds like a plan Joel :D
GUNNUT, I'll live with it since I can change it back in about 2 minutes if I am so inclined :wink:
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Re: Bottle openers on jeeps.

Post by HankII » Sun Feb 11, 2018 8:40 am

Hank,
That's very interesting, could you tell us where you got this info. ? it could sure solve Mark's OP.
Back about 2005, the G was blessed with a reference librarian who logged in as 1945FordGPW. Despite his eccentricities, his profession and passion resulted in countless in-depth posts detailing such topics as the first & second Iwo Jima flag raising, the Normandy invasion, Battle of the Bulge intricacies and more. Only problem, he had trouble coping with contrasting opinions, and therefore, many of his posts ran afoul of the moderators and these well-researched forums were [deleted].

While this was some time ago, I think '45 referenced a 1969 article in The Atlantic that chronicled the Bulge's 25th anniversary and veterans' accounts of the turmoil. I do remember Gen Middleton's order did not reach all troops - while some vets remembered the order, it was not recalled or relevant to most.

In retrospect, unlike Saipan or El Alemein, adding/removing openers @ Bastogne doesn't appear all that historically significant since the few bottles on hand likely froze and burst anyway due to cold.

Either way - I haven't been able to locate these sources. Chuck chimed in with a similar reflection and referenced Fanta openers. Maybe Chuck's recollection is better than mine.
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Re: Bottle openers on jeeps.

Post by Joe Gopan » Sun Feb 11, 2018 9:23 am

Many Jeeps had short lifespans in combat was there enough time to salvage the opener?
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Re: Bottle openers on jeeps.

Post by Chuck Lutz » Sun Feb 11, 2018 9:49 am

Looking for a jeep with an opener on it in WWII at Anzio, or the Po river or Omaha Beach or Bastogne or even on the beach in the South of France was just too much for enterprising GIs...I mean, trying to flag down a messenger jeep or one dodging artillery or even scrounging off one that hit a mine could yield you a 7.92mm response...or worse, an 88mm one.

Those guys figured out that grabbing the El Cheapo version supplied by Coke in the cases delivered to them would make opening the next one a bit easier and eliminate the use of a bayonet to knock the tops off the bottle.

Why...even that "war hero" Luke Jackson figured out that if you wanted to open your bottled drink, you needed to carry your OWN opener:
Cool Hand Luke Bottle Opener.jpg
Cool Hand Luke Bottle Opener.jpg (35.22 KiB) Viewed 3234 times
Besides....where in the hell would GIs mount the screw-on types? The stock of their Garand?

Maybe, like Luke did?
Drink Coca-Cola.jpg
Drink Coca-Cola.jpg (110.25 KiB) Viewed 3234 times
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Re: Bottle openers on jeeps.

Post by HankII » Sun Feb 11, 2018 11:11 am

Chuck Lutz » Sun Feb 11, 2018 11:49 am
Looking for a jeep with an opener on it in WWII at Anzio, or the Po river or Omaha Beach or Bastogne or even on the beach in the South of France was just too much for enterprising GIs...I mean, trying to flag down a messenger jeep or one dodging artillery or even scrounging off one that hit a mine could yield you a 7.92mm response...or worse, an 88mm one.
So you're confirming it was common for Jeeps @ Anzio, Po, Omaha & Bastogne to be fitted with screw-on openers?
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Re: Bottle openers on jeeps.

Post by Chuck Lutz » Tue Feb 13, 2018 9:42 am

Uh...not exactly...I'm confirming that GIs would find the openers contained in those cases of Coke and keep them as they were portable. Finding a jeep with a civilian opener screwed to it in any combat area makes no sense at all. So...my position has not changed....while it COULD have happened, it would be MUCH more likely that the simple wire-type openers would have been provided as they could be kept by the troops and used over and over.

Otherwise a wall-mounted opener would have had to have been provided with screws/nuts and some way to DRILL A HOLE in a vehicle which wasn't very likely up in the front lines where they handed out bottles from a case to GIs.

Then again...the wire type openers were just that, bent and tacked together...the mountable ones were CAST and I believe there were many other more important war-time items that would necessitate casting than Coke bottle openers!

...and, if hundreds of thousands of cases of Coke were provided with the mountable openers....then there would have been a LOT of photos of them on jeeps or shops or depot walls during the war...which of course there isn't.
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Mike Wright
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Re: Bottle openers on jeeps.

Post by Mike Wright » Tue Feb 13, 2018 6:34 pm

Chuck Lutz wrote:
Tue Feb 13, 2018 9:42 am

Otherwise a wall-mounted opener would have had to have been provided with screws/nuts and some way to DRILL A HOLE in a vehicle which wasn't very likely up in the front lines where they handed out bottles from a case to GIs.
Chuck,
Read my post :D
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SEEKING MOTOR # GPW 2636
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GPW 2636, DOD 28 FEB 42, Reg# 2055811 (est)
GPW 104331 DOD 31 MAR 43, Reg# 20369321 (est)
MB-101008 DOD 27 NOV 41, Reg# W-2032462 (Original)
MB 438075, DOD 1 MAY 45, Reg# 20704591 (Original)
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Re: Bottle openers on jeeps.

Post by Chuck Lutz » Wed Feb 14, 2018 9:23 am

Mike's solution would work....but you'd have to have one of those mounting-type openers....not something readily available in St. Lo or Bastogne or at Anzio....but scrounging a bolt/screw long enough to secure it to the hip pad frame might pose a problem in the field.
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Re: Bottle openers on jeeps.

Post by HankII » Wed Feb 14, 2018 4:34 pm

Chuck wrote:
...So...my position has not changed....
Oh - OK. ... I was Curious what was next ... "Make America Great Again" signs surrounding your Walnut Plantation?
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Re: Bottle openers on jeeps.

Post by GI. » Thu Feb 15, 2018 5:14 am

A great thread, lot's of good comment's, and some great photo's. I never thought something like a bottle opener on WW-2 jeep's would go on this long.
I still like the comment made early on: [Is it possible that some jeep's had bottle opener's on them in WW-2 ? YES,... was it common to have bottle openers on WW-2 jeep's ? NO.]
This way every one is right. :wink:
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Re: Bottle openers on jeeps.

Post by Chuck Lutz » Thu Feb 15, 2018 4:12 pm

Its also possible the world will end tomorrow, but don't bet on it.
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Re: Bottle openers on jeeps.

Post by GUNNUT in Iowa » Fri Feb 16, 2018 2:58 am

Chuck Lutz wrote:
Thu Feb 15, 2018 4:12 pm
Its also possible the world will end tomorrow, but don't bet on it.
That would be a very poor bet.

If you won, how would you collect? :lol:
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Re: Bottle openers on jeeps.

Post by GI. » Fri Feb 16, 2018 5:32 am

Chuck Lutz wrote:
Thu Feb 15, 2018 4:12 pm
Its also possible the world will end tomorrow, but don't bet on it.
And even if you won, you lose.
Chuck, can you say [yes it's possible.] :wink:
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Re: Bottle openers on jeeps.

Post by Fabrizio » Fri Feb 16, 2018 6:13 am

What about a Coke icebox bolted on the fender; painted OD and with a nice "COMBT COCA COLA BOTTLD DATED 6-6-44" yellow stencil.

I'm sure they did it on field
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Re: Bottle openers on jeeps.

Post by Joe Gopan » Fri Feb 16, 2018 6:20 am

My uncles Troop Carrier unit in the Pacific had plenty of Coconut juice to drink, and used to drop their empty Coke bottles from their C-47's on the Japanese. They made a whistling noise.
Can any of you make a Coke bottle whistle?
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