Quote:
Originally posted by Mike Kelly
This is probably a case of misappropiation of a colloquial British term .
Did the WW2 Aussie diggers actually refer to the ubiquitious 2 gallon cans as flimsies ? Maybe this is an example of the sort of thing us silly vehicle restorers have made up in our heads , we think/imagine that they called the cans flimsies . The 2 gallon cans don't appear to be flimsy to me , they are rather sturdy and solid in appearance . What is flimsy about them ? The old 4 gallon square kero cans I remember as a kid , yes, thin and flimsy they were .
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Mike,
I have never seen a real flimsy and being of such thin metal and non re-usable or returnable, doubtless exceedingly few ever survived especially as the jerrican was adopted universally by the time of the Italian campaign.
The official history of the RASC records the use of the flimsy as a stop-gap measure; it was well known that at the time of the BEF only 2 gall containers were available and then in wholly insufficient numbers to support the BEF and local foraging was accepted as an enforced but unsatisfactory measure.
It was known that the 2 gallon standard army and domestic fuel can was inadequate and production/material intensive, so the flimsy of 4 galls and made of baking foil almost was the best solution having the benefit of minimum material, no return logistic demands and capable of being made by an Egyptian blacksmith. For transport they were contained in rough wood crates and even so, many didn't survive their initial rides in the desert but millions were rapidly produced and served their intended purpose being further used, after instant modification with a pocket knife, for many other things together with the handy supply of firewood from the carrying crate.
R.