Mk 2 Carrier water can

[Ron Pier]

I think what Dusonn has is not a "Flimsy" I have one and they are much heavier with a screw cap. Mine is dated 1940 and it has been suggested that they are a food container? (Soup-Stew etc)

My 1942 "Flimsy" is just that! Very flimsy by comparison with a pull off cap (like a ring pull) Ron

[Robert Bergeron]

Nice Ron . I see MT 80 . Motor Transport 80 Weight motor oil i suggest . It is punched on the side away from the opening to let air in when emptying . A flimsy is a one time use container . As for carrying soup / food in a 4 gallon tin can and with such a small opening ..... don’t know. But that model of can is reusable compared to a flimsy. MODERATOR : Please change the title of my thread to :Allied POL & Water containers . Thanks .

[Ron Pier]

Hi Robert. I've never heard of Flimsy's being used for oil. 80 was the octane rating (pool petrol). You can actually see 80 on a couple of the cans in this stack. Ron

[Grant Bowker]

I agree with the 80 being more likely octane than oil viscosity.

Consider that many cars now use 0 weight oil for fuel economy and ease of cold starting. In the WW2 period 30 weight was fairly common. I've never owned a vehicle tha called for anything heavier than 20W50 (motorcycle and 1976 VW and the VW only called for 20W50 for sustained very hot weather driving, mabe a holdover from the aircooled Beetle?) Oils in the 75 and above viscosity range are more often gear oil for transmission or axle use.
In that period, 50 octane gas was still in use, 70 considered regular, 80 a great improvement 100 for high powered aircraft engines and I don't think 130 and 145 aero fuels came along until post war. To further confuse things, fuels were often dual rated (eg. 80/87 or 100/130 for lean and rich mixtures - more commonly seen when dealing with aircraft where the pilot can directly control the mixture).

[Mike Cecil]

I agree with Grant & Ron: I've interviewed a number of Aust WW2 vets (many years ago now!) who served in North Africa, and the norm described was flimsys for fuel, more robust, reusable 1 gallon cans for oil.

A transport Sgt told me he always had a long sharp-pointed piece of steel in his truck, as did others. To refuel, hold the flimsy against the petrol tank spout, jab the steel through the flimsy top, all the way through the bottom in line with the spout. No pouring needed: air in the top hole, fuel out the bottom. Once emptied enough, chuck flimsy away.

The funnel in Ron's image is interesting: these had a gauze filter, and were still being made for the Aust Army in the 1980s, to drawings dated in the 1930s.

Mike

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by Ron Pier

Hi Robert. I've never heard of Flimsy's being used for oil. 80 was the octane rating (pool petrol). You can actually see 80 on a couple of the cans in this stack. Ron

I've seen lots of Women MT Drivers in Wartime pics before, even a smattering of Pilots.
I think this is the first pic I've ever seen of female Motorcyclists.

[Ron Pier]

Blimey Tony! I can show you loads of them. How about this group? The girl fourth from the left is actually Honor Blackman. Ron

[Ron Pier]

Oops! Forgot to download. Ron

[Niels V]

Here is 4 gallon I was lucky to get recently, the cap is a newly cast.