Flimsy

{{Short description|Fuel and water container}} {{use dmy dates |date=February 2025}} [[File:The British Army in North Africa 1942 E18640.jpg|thumb|Crusader tank being refueled from a 4-gallon petrol tin]] thumb|Spitfire being refueled from 4 gallon petrol tins at Luqa, Malta The '''flimsy''', officially known as the '''Petrol, Oil and Water can''', was a World War II fuel container used by the British Army. They held {{Convert|4|impgal}} of fuel, which allowed them to be moved by a single person.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F5E7AwAAQBAJ|title=World War II Trucks and Tanks|last=Norris|first=John|date=2012-09-01|publisher=History Press|isbn=9780752490731|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.exploringoverland.com/overland-tech-travel/2012/8/17/irreducible-imperfection-the-flimsy.html|title=Irreducible imperfection: The flimsy|last=Hanson|first=Jonathan|date=2012-07-17|publisher=Exploring Overland|access-date=2016-08-19}}</ref>

The flimsy was well known for leaking; when used in the North African Campaign, some flimsies leaked 20%, and in some cases over 50% of the fuel they carried over a journey.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7qvAUit5GmIC|title=Personal Perspectives: World War II|last=Dowling|first=Timothy C.|date=2005-01-01|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9781851095759|pages=70|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2_K3DAAAQBAJ|title=Tank Tactics: From Normandy to Lorraine|last=Jarymowycz|first=Roman|date=2008-12-17|publisher=Stackpole Books|isbn=9781461751786|pages=102|language=en}}</ref> One quartermaster reported that his {{Convert|70,000|impgal}} of fuel had been reduced to just {{convert|30,000|impgal}} over the journey; and was informed that even this was a "good effort".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A-ovGFIQg-sC&q=Flimsy%2520ww2%2520petrol%2520container&pg=PA299|title=Blood, Tears and Folly: An Objective Look at World War II|last=Deighton|first=Len|date=2007-11-01|publisher=Random House|isbn=9780099520498|pages=299|language=en}}</ref>

The problem with the containers was the crimped or soldered seams, which easily split during transportation, especially over the rocky desert terrain in North Africa.<ref name=":0" /> Containers were stacked on top of each other during shipping, and the upper layers crushed those below, resulting in fuel flowing freely in the bilges, with the resulting poisoning and fire risks.<ref name=":1" />

The favoured use by soldiers for the flimsy was as a small stove which could be used to heat meals and tea for the crews.<ref name=":2" /> A soldier would cut the flimsy in half, fill the bottom half with petrol-soaked sand and balance the other half on top, filled with water. This was known as a ''Benghazi Burner'' or ''Benghazi Boiler'', after the embattled town of Benghazi.<ref name=":1" /> An alternative use for discarded fuel cans was to fill them with sand and use them to reinforce the walls of dugouts.<ref>{{cite book |last=Grice |first=Frederick |date=2015 |title=War's Nomads: A Mobile Radar Unit in Pursuit of Rommel during the Western Desert Campaign, 1942-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9m5hCgAAQBAJ&dq=alamein+digging+in+in+sand&pg=PA109 |location=Oxford |publisher=Casemate Publishers |page=109 |isbn=978-1612002880}}</ref>

Both 4 gallon flimsies and the original 2 gallon cans were replaced by the jerrycan, copied from the much better German design of fuel container. This happened gradually from late 1940, first from captured stock of German jerrycans, then with British-made copies.

==References== {{Reflist}} {{Wiktionary}}

Category:Fuel containers Category:Liquid containers Category:Military equipment introduced from 1940 to 1944 Category:World War II military equipment of the United Kingdom