War Department Jerrycan from 1945?

[Bavarian]

Hi
here is my new british jerrycan from 1945
I think ist british because it was WD and NG stamped
I found it in the cellar
is it good or not a relict
I want your opinion to this Jerrycan
best regards from Bavaria,
Bavarian

[earlymb]

A nice original British can made by Nuffield Group in 1945. I think NG is one of the less common makers.

[BrodieBartfast]

Looks fine to me. You're right about it being British. The manufacturer is stamped in the middle square. Here's mine, 1944 dated and stamped 'BMB' for Briggs Motor Bodies, a commonly encountered manufacturer also known for producing steel helmet shells.



Regards, B.B.

[Watchdog]

Yep, British for sure. This exact design, copied from the Wehrmacht item during the war, is still in use today.
The former British Zone in northern Germany and to a lesser extent the parts of Belgium and The Netherlands between there and the channel are literally awash with these dated from WW2 right up to the '90s when the military authorites began to treat them as accountable rather than disposable (the figures ran into millions of £ potentially) which stopped people carrying 2 x 20lts of duty free petrol when going on leave and dumping the empty cans enroute. A nice bonus for any local who picked up a very useable fuel can for his truck etc but a bit of an environmental nightmare for all the authorities involved. The road leading into Zeebrugge for instance was known as "Jerrycan Alley" and the British Army regularly carried out recovery sweeps to pick the discarded cans up.

My amusing anecdote aside; you have a good collectible WW2 item

Regards

Mark