Text: GG van Rooyeb. Article from the December 2013 issue of Leisure Wheels Magazine.
Have you ever heard of Vinzenz Grünvogel? Probably not, which is a shame, because he really deserves some recognition.
In 1937, Grünvogel was chief engineer at the Müller engineering firm in Schwelm, North Rhine-Westphalia, and was responsible for creating what we now know as the jerry can.
Of course, it wasn’t called a jerry can back then. It got that name because it was the fuel can carried by German troops during the Second World War, and the Allied troops referred to Germans as Jerries.
Where exactly the Jerry nickname came from, by the way, is not clear. It was apparently first used in the First World War, but only became common during World War Two.
The most likely explanation is that Jerry was simply a version of the word German, but it has also been suggested that the German helmet reminded British troops of a chamber pot (jerry), or a jeroboam (a wine bottle four times the normal size).
Anyway, while the Jerries had the jerry can, the Allied troops had to make do with what became known among the soldiers as the flimsy can. As its name suggests, it wasn’t the sturdiest of vessels. In fact, as a fuel container, it was absolutely pathetic. British Field Marshall Auchinleck-predecessor of the more famous Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery – stated that “The flimsy is an ill-constructed container for carrying fuel. It leaks 30% of its fuel between base and consumer, with huge consequences in lost lives, battles and shipping.”
Predictably, jerry cans became much-coveted items among Allied troops, with soldiers stealing them whenever they had the chance. Knowing how desperate Allied soldiers were to get their hands on jerry cans, the Germans even started booby-trapping them.
Eventually, the Allies reverse-engineered the jerry can, producing more than 21 million units by the end of the war.
Interestingly, though, they could have got their hands on the jerry can much sooner.
In 1939, just before chaos erupted over Europe, an American engineer Paul Pleiss, travelled from Germany to India in a vehicle he had constructed specifically for the trip.
As he was setting off, he realised he didn’t have anything in which to carry extra fuel. A German who was travelling with him provided three jerry cans.
Pleiss was so impressed with the jerry can that he sent one to the US military in Washington to examine, but it didn’t generate much interest. It was decided to stick with the 10-gallon cans the American army had been using for decades.
Eventually, though, the durability and practicality of the jerry can became obvious, and Allied troops were supplied with them.
After the war, US President Roosevelt commented: “Without these cans it would have been impossible for our armies to cut their way across France at lightning pace, which exceeded even the German Blitzkrieg of 1940.”
The jerry can was such a great invention that it has hardly been bettered in 75 years. It still looks the same and works in exactly the same way. Its single weld makes it incredibly tough. Its clever handles allow you to carry two in one hand, and easily pass a can to someone else. The indentations on the side strengthen the overall design, and allow for expansion and contraction of the contents as temperatures change. All of these features were found in the original jerry can, and are still in use today.
So next time you strap a jerry can to your roof rack, spare a thought for Vinzenz Grünvogel and his invention that changed the world.
http://www.leisurewheels.co.za/blogs/how-to-equip-your-4×4/
