Geoff - Interesting and entertaining story, thanks for the links. So .. the Jerrycan, as we know it, wasn't really a U.S. idea at all?? .. but a German one? .. 🙄
What is amazing to read, is that the military took so long to understand the importance of having small fuel containers readily available in bulk .. and the enormous wastage prior to jerrycans becoming available in large numbers.
I've read before, about how fuel shortages crimped the activity of both the Axis and Allies movements, at numerous times .. and that later, Allied "priority" war strategies, were specifically aimed at cutting off Axis fuel supplies .. but few people really understand that WW2 was as much about gaining control of oil, as it was about gaining control of additional areas of land and subjugating nations.
Here's a pic, following, that shows just how important the humble jerrycan was, in the latter stages of WW2.
As the Allied forces invaded Europe on a large scale, in mid 1944, fuel supply continuity was crucial .. and jerrycans helped make that so.
At the peak of European fuelling operations in 1944, a million gallons a day was being delivered to the Allies on European soil .. and much of that fuel, was decanted from tanker trucks into jerrycans, for easy portability ..
http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/6465/jerrycansem7.jpg
The quest for fuel in WW2 ..
http://www.mikeantonucci.com/bloodforoil.htm