Side Mount gas cans, a USMC policy?

[Mark Tombleson]

I have several photos of USMC jeeps during island invasions that show the side mount gas or water can.

The photos show the cam lock water or gas can facing forward on the side of the jeep with the can sitting directly on the step and a strap securing the can mid-height. No carriers were seen mounted on the step.

All the USMC photos I have for the PTO show only cam lock water and gas cans, however there is one photo on Saipan June 1944 that has both the center mounted gas cam lock can, a larger cam lock water can, and one can with a cam lock on the right side of the can looking at it from the front. I thought all USMC gas cans had the cam lock in the center of the can?

[lucakiki]

Mark,I think that the kind of Jerrycan you are referring to is the one I was enquiring about in one of my posts in the gen.knowledge forum. It is clearly visible on the picture of the burned out jeep in JEEPS over the Pacific page 95. It is made in two halves as European war time ones(German,Italian or British) but the X shaped indent as in the three piece
U.S. cans we are familiar with.So may be in this new forum we have better luck and get some light on this.

[SteveG]

I also have several pictures of USMC IH M-2-4's on Iwo and they seem to have two piece German style cans on them. I'm doing a Rocket truck that had four of these on it in the pics and hoped to find some of those with good dates on them. The only ones I've come across so far are 50's dated.

I've also seen several photos in the ETO of Allied fuel dumps with those two pieces cans as far as the eye can see. Why don't any turn up with WWII dates on them? SteveG

[doug p.]

Those german-style cans seen in ETO photos do have dates on them-they are either British-made,or captured German cans. All wartime German and British gas and water cans were marked and dated. (I have never seen a '45 dated German can-do any exist?)
I have one of those mysterious German-style cans, with the "X" embossing on the sides-there are no markings anywhere on the can. My Dad bought this one many years ago as surplus at a hardware store, and he has maintained that it is a WW2 German can, which seems very unlikely.

[Mark Tombleson]

For some reason I find it unlikely there would be a German or British cam lock gas can straped to a USMC jeep during the invasion of Saipan in mid 1944. The photo has enough detail to show a data label of some sort to the left of the spout.

[lucakiki]

As I said in a post in gen.knowledge these cans were not dated,usually painted in a tan yellow colour,and some times but not always there was J and a number on one side.I have been told that this type of can was manufactured by the british for the U.S.:I do not have the faintest idea if this is true or fantasy.However I have an adapter that locks on this type of spout and accepts the usual cam levered nozzle for regular screw type U.S. cans. I do not know when this was made,but it obviously accounts for use of the "EUROPEAN" spout by troops that were already fitted with a U.S.type nozzle. This type of can can also be seen on the front cover of Farley book.

[lucakiki]

According to my friend Silvano,this kind of can was manufactured by the british, for the americans,never had a date on,and the letter J (jerrican?) was followed by a letter A,B,C,D, denoting different containt,plus 4 or 5 giving the capacity in british or american gallons.Some time there was nothing at all. He told me this story,but does not remember who he got it from.So I am passing it on,with a caution note attached:I trust him,but it could be B.S. for what I know.

[doug p.]

It would be rather suprising if they were British, with no markings. All my British-Made web gear is well marked,"British Made". The can I have, as I said, my Dad bought as surplus soon after the end of WW2. I have looked at it carefully, and can find no markings, but it does have a number of layers of paint. If you would like some photos of it, I could take some and email them to you.

[lucakiki]

Well the ones I have seen have no date and no marking apart the J plus letter A or B or C. and 4 or 5. Some are exactly the same but without any
marking at all.In common they also have that yellow tan colour.All British cans I have or have seen have the W /l\ D war department simbol.
They were not made through W.D. ,they were made in the European way,
but with the X pattern on the side,and they were nor german nor italian,also because it seems unlikely that they would get to the PTO.And there was a can shortage some time.So since the manufacturing method is not American,and they are not German/italian,nor post war as stated in Army Motors#102 page35 ,the" british made for the U.S." story could be true.And that adapter for the U.S. nozzle would fit in the theory.

[lucakiki]

Doug, wehrmacht marked 45 dated jerrycans do exist even if scarce.I asked the can guru here and he is positive on it.

[Mike Wright]

Doug P., I reciently saw a WWII style jerry can without any markings for sale at a fle market here in Germany without any markings at all on it. I pased on it s it was in rough condition. As I said it had absolutely no markings on it at all. I did wonder about it and almost purchased it, however it was rough. I did purchase a really nice 39 dated Whermacht gas can for $10.00

[doug p.]

I've got a '39 wehrmacht gas can also-it has an "X" on front and back,instead of the later pattern of embossing.
I have 4 German cans, from '39 to '44. The '44 is ordnance tan,while the '42 and '43 are feldgrau. The '39 ,underneath all the layers of paint,is a hunter green color.

[lucakiki]

Doug,or any other,how would we call in english the pattern of german and
british cans? I mean a short way to define it we can all refer to when describing this pattern versus the X ?

[doug p.]

Center square pattern? Standard German pattern? I'm not sure how to describe it.

[Mike Wright]

Doug,
Your German cans sound exactly like mine. I have 5 WWII German cans. My 39 is X patern and the original paint color is a hunter green color. My 42 is a field grau, same as my 2 43 cans. My 44 is a tan color. Looks like we may be narrowing down info on these things
Lucakiki,
I agree with Doug, "Center square pattern" for the later standard cans and "X" for the earlier ones.
I plan on restoring all mine, trading one of the 43 cans and sometimes using the 39 on my GPW!