Eugene

Easy, "Ice Cold In Alex" (and the Carlsberg ad).

Actually, he says "SH*T!" -sorry! -Roger.

Hi, this forum says a kangaroo with shield and "AC" is for Australian Commonwealth; http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?t=112425 Any good? -Roger.

Hi Phil, there's actually one for sale in the Jeeps section of the classified adverts on Milweb. It's restored, ready to go, with a diesel engine and five speed box. Yours for £5,900! -Roger.

Hi, try this website; http://www.visualcollector.com/OBLI/JeepSignals.htm Hope it helps, -Roger.

Hi Phil, apart from a few with smaller spouts, the lids are interchangeable on these cans so could have any brand on it. Shell, BP and ESSO are the most common, but many others exist. Some people just collect the lids -they take up a lot less space than cans. Unfortunately, this makes it harder and more expensive for can collectors to obtain the correct lids for the rarer cans! The Jeep sounds like an M715. Built by Kaiser-Jeep, it was the military variant of the Gladiator -this being the pick-up version of the Wagoneer, predecessor of the Cherokee. If it is, there's not many in the UK. Nice find! Regards, -Roger.

Yes, great picture, Tim. You have lots of them and they make very interesting articles -with your help! The Shires book is nice and well worth having -lots of lovely old pictures and adverts- but it covers all types of petroliania so is not at all comprehensive. I think Mike wanted to produce a book just on cans but the publishers didn't think it would have wide enough appeal to make it financially viable (probably right). I don't know of any other books, or dedicated websites come to that. Sorry for making you put your boots back on -must be my eyes. I find the best, non-damaging, way of stripping cans is a wire brush on a disc-cutter. I use the light ones, not the heavy duty "twist" type ones. Gets rid of every bit of paint and rust. Watch out around the handle -it'll kick back- and also beware of flying bits of wire. I use paint stripper to remove the last awkward bits under the handle. -Roger.

Hi Phil, it sounds very much like the type in the middle of this photo.; Does it have that blue and white bit that looks like a sombrero? Is it a boat? I recently purchased a similar 18 pint can. It's red with two "ESSO Motor Boat Service" decals on it, but the handle/spout and lid are on what would normally be the side and one end has a folding handle. This was taken prior to auction in 1970 when my father left the garage business. Unfortunately I've never been able to trace what happened to the Jeep (which sold for the princely sum of £68! -those were the days!) -as you can see, it was used on trade plates, so not a lot to go on. Of interest to Cornish historians will be the "bully" -a rounded piece of granite with a steel hook inserted. These were hung on the end of a timber -the other end of which was located in a hole in the wall- and used to exert pressure on pilchards in a barrel to extract the oil. The site of the garage was an old fish cellar and dad found several of these during alterations. But I digress...... Nice polish tin, by the way Phil. I think I've got one without the writing on -had assumed it was for oil, will have to give it a sniff! Regards, -Roger.

I think you put that picture in "Military Machines", didn't you, Tim?! A bit hard to read the legends on them, but there's at least a couple of "Crown" (a Shell brand) cans in there. As regards the two-tone colour schemes Mike Berry says in his "Petroleum Collectables" Shire book; "To denote a new grade of petrol, companies would sometimes paint their cans in two colours, vertically." He illustrates it with a letterhead depicting a red Shell can, a grey Crown can, and a red and grey Shell can. -Roger.

That's different again, Tim! Am I hallucinating, or can I see a "2" in the first picture of the handle's end? -Roger.

Is it like this one, Tim? The arrow's a little hard to see due to the shiny paint; It is stamped with the date (6-18) and maker (A.P.C. -Asiatic Petroleum Co.) on the end of the handle, as some cans are -often quite faintly. Also of note is the 1924 broad-arrowed can to the left of it and the Air Ministry one to it's right (one of at least four different types with variously shaped crowns). Thanks to my friend, Chris for the photo. and details. -Roger.

Great picture Tim! Nice to see where they came from! Sorry, hadn't seen your previous posting -is the broad arrow stamped in like the ones in the pictures I posted earlier in the thread? They are usually accompanied by dates. I think a can-collecting friend of mine has one with a "short-armed" arrow embossed into the handle from underneath. I don't recall if it's dated or not, but believe it to be of later manufacture. -Roger.

PM sent.

Tony, I have a letter from the Public Record Office, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU, from 1988 that dad received after he wrote to the Army Medal Office enquiring about what medals his father was entitled to for service with the RNAS during the Great War (none as it turned out). They said his letter was passed to them "as we hold the relevant material to your enquiry" and they "looked at the Medal Rolls on which your father's name would appear if he were entitled to an award", so this seems the place to contact. It's signed "C. Heather, Search Department". Good luck! -Roger.

Hi Richard, long time, no see. Hope you're well. I think I last saw you at Malvern, buying some smoke dischargers? Regards, -Roger Lambshead from Newquay.

Hi Tony and Tim. Interesting to hear of another Cornish Home Guardsman -my father was in the 11th (Newquay) Bn "the Choughs". He has always been miffed that he didn't receive the Defence Medal. He has the War Medal because he volunteered for the Royal Artillery when old enough. A medal book I have gives the criteria for earning the Defence Medal as being; "Issued for service between 3 September 1939 to 8 May 1945 in Great Britain and to forces overseas until 15 August 1945 (the end of hostilities in the Pacific) and for civil defence services in military areas subject to enemy air attack. The recipients had to have served for three years at home or for six months in territories subjected to air attacks. For bomb disposal squads, the time period was three months." So there you are. He always queried the Queen's entitlement, being of the same age. But she was in London -subject to air attack. Regards, -Roger.

Hi Andy, how are you? I've got an RAF stamped Phillips bicycle, if that's any good! There's Malcolm Batten with his RAF liveried Jeep. Also, there's Peter Bould's VERY nice RAF Bedford MW -but he lives in Shepton Mallet, Somerset. -Roger.

There used to be a Champ in desert paint with MELF markings -though the camel was on a square not a shield- down this way in the 80s. I don't know where the owner, who I saw this weekend, got his inspiration from. I haven't seen it, as far as I know, since he sold it. It's reg. was WHM 782G. Does anybody know it's whereabouts now? -Roger.

Yes, it was a GMC (regrettably, I believe it was a fairly rare air-portable one) modified to look like a Mercedes Benz LG63, according to the auction catalogue. I have the original grille in my garage! The rest of the truck is in one of the Disney theme parks in the States. I think it was Rex Cadman that bought/ sold it. There was another similar vehicle listed as used in the TV series "Private Schultz". I don't know where that one went. Anyone? -Roger.

The bridge plate's in a correct position! Early IIA air-portable Land-Rovers often had it on the bumper -check the "Cook book" for plenty of in service pictures. I presume late IIAs and Series 3s didn't have them there as it would obscure the headlight. Personally, I think this thread's a bit mean. Yes, I've changed the colour of my air-portable, but it's only a coat of paint. If I hadn't bought it it would probably have been off-roaded to death. I sometimes have know-it-alls finding fault with my vehicles at shows. Of course, they've got much better -at home in their garage! Let's stick together, -Roger.

Were they really for wine? I know they are stamped "VIN" which is French for wine, but I also have one (British/ German style manufacture) stamped "DIN" -which is not. Like so; Any ideas? -Roger.

According to my "Source Book of Military Wheeled Vehicles" (Olyslager/ Ward Lock) it's a Saviem/ Renault TP3 -the last entry in the book. -Roger.

Claude Butler?!

Hi Tim, when dad was in India, during the last days of the Raj, he would see temples glinting in the sun that the locals had innovatively fashioned out of "flimsies". Also, I remember seeing a large piece of furniture on the Antiques Roadshow where the sides had been made out of 2-gallon cans still bearing the Shell logo. It may have been one of the special shows from Australia. -Roger.

According to a Dodge website, this was a modification for a larger diameter fuel filler from October 1943 onwards. But no, I haven't seen/ noticed one like that before either. -Roger.