Editing Jerrycan (section)

== History ==

The name of the jerrycan refers to its German origins, ''[[Jerry (WWII)|Jerry]]'' being slang for Germans.<ref name="reference">{{Cite web|url=https://dictionary.reference.com/browse/jerrycan|title=Definition and etymology of "jerrycan"|website=dictionary.reference.com|access-date=2012-04-15}}</ref><ref name="etymonline">{{Cite web|title=Origin and meaning of jerry|website=Online Etymology Dictionary|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/Jerry|access-date=2019-04-17}}</ref> The design was [[reverse engineered]] and subsequently copied, with minor modifications, by the Allies during the Second World War.

=== German invention ===
[[File:Wehrmacht-einheitskanister.jpg|thumb|German containers for 20 litres of fuel. left: former container, right: ''Wehrmacht-Einheitskanister'' of 1941, manufacturer: ''Nirona'']]

The ''Wehrmacht-Einheitskanister'' ("[[Wehrmacht|Armed Forces]] Unit Canister"), as it was known in Germany, was first developed in 1937 by the Müller engineering firm in [[Schwelm]] to a design by their chief engineer Vinzenz Grünvogel.<ref>{{Cite web |title="Wehrmacht kanister" designer visited U.S. in 1938 |website=BEACH |location=US |url=https://beachpackagingdesign.com/boxvox/inventor-of-the-wehrmacht-kanister-visited-u-s-in-1938 |date=2015-12-04 |access-date=2024-07-18}}</ref> A similar design was used in 1936 during the [[Spanish Civil War]],<ref name="free">{{Cite web|url=http://sdkfz7.free.fr/epreserie_36_serie_37_comparatif.htm|title=Pre-series 1936 / series 1937 Schwelmer Eisenwerk Müller u. Co.|date=2015-04-03|access-date=2015-08-01}}</ref> where they had a company logo for Ambi-Budd Presswerk GmbH. Among others, the [[Wehrmacht]] had specified that a soldier should be able to carry either two full containers or four empty ones, which is the reason the triple handles were fitted. To achieve the required filling and draining speed, it was fitted with a large spout and flip top closure. A hole in the closure retainer made it possible to fit a securing pin or wire with a lead seal. The rectangular shape made it stackable. The recessed welded seam stiffened the container and protected the seam from impact damage. The indentations ensured a full can would not be severely damaged when falling from a vehicle, while a dip coat of paint on the inside protected it from corrosion.

By 1939 the German military had thousands of such cans stockpiled in anticipation of war. Motorised troops were issued the cans with lengths of rubber hose in order to siphon fuel from any available source, a way to aid their rapid [[invasion of Poland]] at the start of the Second World War.<ref name="daniel">{{Cite journal|journal=[[Invention & Technology Magazine]]|publisher=AmericanHeritage.com|last=Daniel|first=Richard M.|title=The Little Can That Could|url=http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/it/1987/2/1987_2_62.shtml|year=1987|issue=2|volume=3|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070524182038if_/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/it/1987/2/1987_2_62.shtml|archive-date=2007-05-24}}</ref>

=== American adaptation ===
[[File:"... women employed at Savannah Quartermaster Depot, Savannah, Georgia.", ca. 1943 - NARA - 522887.jpg|thumb|right|upright|US-style jerrycans at Savannah Quartermaster Depot, Savannah, Georgia, 1943]]

In 1939, American engineer Paul Pleiss had built a vehicle to journey to India with his German colleague. After building the car, they realised they did not have any storage for emergency water. The German engineer had access to the stockpile of jerrycans at [[Berlin Tempelhof Airport]] and managed to take three of them. The German engineer also gave Pleiss complete specifications for the manufacture of the can.<ref name="daniel" /> Pleiss continued on to [[Calcutta]], put his car in storage, and flew back to [[Philadelphia]], where he told American military officials about the can. He could raise no interest.<ref name="daniel" /> Without a sample, he realised he could not get anywhere. He eventually shipped the car to [[New York City|New York]] by a roundabout method, and sent a can to [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]]. The War Department decided instead to use [[World War I]] {{Convert|10|usgal|adj=on|spell=in}} cans with two screw closures, which required both a [[spanner]] and funnel for pouring.<ref name="daniel" />

The one jerrycan in American possession was sent to [[Fort Holabird|Camp Holabird]], [[Maryland]], where it was redesigned. The new design retained the handles, size and shape, but is most easily distinguishable from the German original by the simplified 'X' - stiffening indentations in the sides of the can. The US can could be stacked interchangeably with German or British cans. The German recessed welded seam was replaced with rolled seams which were prone to leakage. For fuel cans, the lining was removed and a spanner and funnel were required.<ref name="daniel" /> A similar water can was also adopted, with a flip-top lid and enamel lining.

The US-designed jerrycan was widely used by US Army and Marine Corps units. In all overseas theaters, fuel and other petroleum products represented about 50% of all supply needs, measured by weight.<ref name="green">{{Cite web|url=http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/007/7-3-1/CMH_Pub_7-3-1.pdf|title=Logistical Support of the Armies|access-date=2010-08-03|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304073005/http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/007/7-3-1/CMH_Pub_7-3-1.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the European Theatre of Operations alone, over 19&nbsp;million were required to support US forces by May 1945.<ref name="green" />

The jerrycan played an important role in ensuring fuel supply to Allied operations. A single  standard US 2.5 ton truck could carry {{convert|875|USgal|L}} of fuel loaded in jerrycans.<ref name="green" /> US logisticians requested over 1.3&nbsp;million per month to replace losses; these cans were provided by US and British manufacturers, but supply could not keep up with demand.<ref name="green" /> Loss of jerrycans in units was severe, with 3.5&nbsp;million reported 'lost' in October 1944, for example.<ref name="green" /> At one point in August 1944, lack of cans (caused by losses) limited the supply of fuel that could be brought forward to combat units, even though the fuel was available in rear areas.<ref name="green" />

The US design was slightly lighter than the German can ({{Convert|10|lb}} vs. {{Convert|11.5|lb|abbr=on}} for the German version).<ref name="green" />{{failed verification|date=December 2023}}  These fuel containers were subsequently used in all [[Theater (warfare)|theatres of war]] around the world.<ref name="daniel" /> Such was the appreciation of the cans in the war effort that [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|President Franklin Roosevelt]] noted, "Without these cans it would have been impossible for our armies to cut their way across [[France]] at a lightning pace which exceeded the German [[Blitzkrieg]] of 1940."<ref name="amazing">{{Cite web|url=http://www.thinkdefence.co.uk/2012/08/the-amazing-jerry-can/|title=The Amazing Jerry Can|publisher=Think Defence|date=2012-08-01|access-date=2013-08-27|archive-date=6 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306121546/http://www.thinkdefence.co.uk/2012/08/the-amazing-jerry-can/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== British necessity ===
{{ multiple image|total_width=400
| image1   = The Battle of Passchendaele, July-november 1917 Q5718.jpg
| caption1 = British pressed steel, {{Convert|2|impgal|l|0|adj=on}} petrol cans: Strong, but heavy and expensive (1917)
| image2   = The British Army in North Africa 1942 E18640.jpg
| caption2 = British tin plate, {{Convert|4|impgal|l|adj=on}} petrol tin ("[[Flimsy]]"). Inexpensive, but weak, with a tendency to leak ({{c.|1942}})
}}

At the beginning of the [[Second World War]] the [[British Army]] was equipped with two simple fuel containers: the {{Convert|2|impgal|adj=on}} container made of pressed steel, and the {{Convert|4|impgal|adj=on}} container made from [[tin plate]]. The 2-gallon containers were relatively strong, but were expensive to produce. Manufactured primarily in Egypt, the 4-gallon containers were plentiful and inexpensive, but they had a tendency to leak after minor damage. Early 4-gallon containers were packed in pairs in wooden cases. When stacked, the timber framing protected the tins and prevented the upper layers of tins from crushing the lower. As the war progressed, the wooden case was replaced with either thin plywood or cardboard cases, neither of which provided much protection.<ref name="LRDG50">{{Cite book|title=Long Range Desert Group|last=Kennedy Shaw|first=W.B.|year=1945|publisher=Collins|location=London|pages=50–51}}</ref> 4-gallon containers carrying fuel were hazardous to the cargo ships carrying them. The leaking fuel would accumulate in cargo holds. At least one such ship exploded.<ref name="green" />

Though adequate for transport along European roads, the four-gallon containers proved extremely unsatisfactory during the [[North African Campaign]]. The crimped or soldered seams easily split during transport, especially off-road over the rock-strewn deserts of North Africa.<ref name="norris">{{Cite book|last=Norris|first=John|title=World War II Trucks and Tanks|year=2012|publisher=History Press|isbn=9780752490731}}</ref> In addition, the containers were easily punctured by even minor trauma. Because of these problems the troops referred to the 4-gallon containers as ''[[Flimsy|flimsies]]''.  Transport of fuel over rough terrain often resulted in as much as 25% of the fuel being lost through seam failures or punctures.<ref name="LRDG50" />  Fuel leaks gave vehicles a propensity to catch fire.  The containers were routinely discarded after a single use, and severely hampered the operation of the [[British Eighth Army]].<ref name="LRDG50" /> A more successful and popular use for the 4-gallon container was to convert it into a cooking stove, referred to as the '[[Benghazi burner]]'.

{{ multiple image|total_width=400|align=left
| image1   = DUKW-and-crane-slapton-sands-1944.jpg
| caption1 = British fuel jerrycans used in April 1944 during training in England in preparation of the Allied landings in Normandy
| image2   = The_British_Army_in_the_United_Kingdom_1939-45_H30616.jpg
| caption2 = British soldier refueling a lorry with petrol from a jerrycan
| image3   = Britische copy wehrmacht-einheitskanister 1943 jerrycan.jpg
| caption3 = British copy of the German design
}}

When the British Army first saw the German fuel cans during the [[Norwegian Campaign]] in 1940, they immediately saw the advantages of the superior design.  The three handles allowed easy handling by one or two people, or movement [[bucket brigade]]-style.  The handle design also allows for two empty cans to be carried in each hand, utilizing the outer handle.

The sides of the can were marked with cross-like indentations that strengthened the can while allowing the contents to expand, as did an air pocket under the handles when the can was filled correctly. This air pocket allowed the container to float if dropped in water.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jerrycan.com/the-little-can-that-could/|title=The Little Can That Could|last=Daniel|first=Richard|date=22 January 2013|access-date=29 January 2022}}</ref>  Rather than a [[screw cap]], the containers used a cam lever release mechanism with a short spout secured with a [[flip-top|snap closure]] and an air-pipe to the air pocket which enabled smooth pouring (which was omitted in some copies). The interior was also lined with an impervious plastic, first developed for steel beer barrels, that would allow the can to be used for either water or petrol. The can was welded and had a [[gasket]] for a leak-proof mouth.

The British used cans captured from the "[[Jerry (WWII)|Jerries]]" (slang for Germans), hence "jerrycans", in preference to their own containers as much as possible. Later in 1940, Pleiss was in London and British officers asked him about the design and manufacture of the jerrycan. Pleiss ordered the second of his three jerrycans flown to London.<ref name="daniel" /> After the [[Operation Crusader|second capture]] of [[Benghazi]] at the end of 1941, large numbers of [[Axis Powers|Axis]] jerrycans were captured, sufficient to equip some units such as the [[Long Range Desert Group]].<ref name="LRDG50" />

British companies such as [[Briggs Manufacturing Company|Briggs Motor Bodies]], [[Vauxhall Motors]] and the [[Pressed Steel Company]] manufactured copies of the German design.

=== Soviet usage ===

The strength of the ''Wehrmachtskanister'' was also recognised in the [[Soviet Union]]. Its design was later copied and the [[Soviet Army]] accepted it as the standard container for liquids. This container is still being produced and used in modern Russia. In civilian use this container is used primarily for automotive fuel and lubricants.<ref name="molot">{{Cite web|url=http://www.molot.biz/product/kan.php|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120907170706/http://www.molot.biz/product/kan.php|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-09-07|title=Steel containers for automotive fuel and lubricants|language=ru|website=Molot.biz|access-date=2012-04-15}}</ref>