redbomb

Mr Paul, I would like to disagree with Mr Larry's answer, in that this is not a "flimsy" but rather a "Toucan". Please understand that I am in America and have limited access to English Gas and Oil references. However the flimsy was a 4 (Imperial) gallon, primarily single use tin that was a miserable sort of gasoline can. There is also a heavy gage version that often called a flimsy but may in-fact have another name or none at all (often stamped MT80). As for this can, I would consider more observation. The maker and year is usually embossed on the bottom, such as:FF&S Ltd 39. War Dept contract cans had a W^D and year (1944) embossed on the top. Your can has indications of being from The Great War. Toucans (two gallon (Imperial) cans) were made as early as 1906 for the civil market that I know of. During the war, civil cans were over painted red or khaki and stamped on the handle with W^D and a 2 diget year; 18. Many variations of the embossings and stampings have been noted in the collector community. In summery, check the bottom for a date, and if none give consideration of this being used in WW1 and perhaps carried over to WW2. The painted stencil on the side of the cans looks to be an oil type or weight designation. Would be glad to offer more thoughts if requested. Cheers, Rick bombmuseum@hotmail.com