British Army Stoves

[Surveyor]

2 minutes ago, Mark Ellis said:

As an enthusiast, your document is probably far better, @Surveyor.

I just wondered why the gaps in the numbers

I am trying to add in the manuals as i go, its a work in progress

 

[Rangie]

4 Mk1 was a solid fuel range, collapsible so that it was portable.

4 Mk2 was trailer mounted, initially petrol powered but modified to LPG powered.

No2. Mk1 was as per Crossland Ltd/Villiers Mar-Vil style/British Safety Stoves Mk1 with a detatchable tank/vapouriser and a cast iron burner.

No.2 Mk2 had a roarer burner and front flame control

No.2 Mk2 Modified had a silent burner and side flame control

No.2 Mk2 up-issued had the original Mk2 retrofitted with a silent burner but had the original control spindle blanked off and the cutout can still be seen on the front panel.

[Mark Ellis]

So this Number 4 "cookset" is different to Number 4 stove Mk 1?

[Rangie]

Oh yes absolutely.

That is the burner unit used in the No.4 Mk2 LPG version, still used in the last versions of the Sanky Trailer Field Kitchens, colloquially known as an H-Burner for obvious reasons, ha ha. Originally the same H-Shaped burner and vapouriser assembly was petrol-fuelled and had its own little petrol-fuelled preheating burner.

The petrol units were later converted to LPG when the switch was made, they can be identified by a blanking plug where the preheater burner was, along with a bracket for the burner. Later ones as per your photo were LPG designed/had a specific manifold from the outset.

The petrol fuelled version utilised a 2-Gallon pressurised tank which was essentially a No.1 Hydra Burner without its burner but fitted with a 4-valve distribution manifold for the 4 feed-hoses to the H-Burner units.

Those H-Burners can also be used independently as you see in the photos, just fed from a 1-Bar regulator/hose for quick boiling/feeding duties. There is also an angle-iron frame thats supplied when they are used individually for supporting large pots (to save them bouncing around on the burner themselves!), I have a support frame myself and use it with a burner when i'm doing pickling or boiling duties amongst other things in the shed, very handy!

I'll try to find photos but I'm bunged up with a hellish head cold and struggling just now.. 

Alec.

Edited September 15, 2023 by Rangie

[Mark Ellis]

Is this a British Number 4 Mk 1 burner? It might be American

[Rangie]

No its not, that has a kind of Prentiss-Wabers/American look about it but I'm not sure what make/model it is.

Alec.

[Surveyor]

On 9/17/2023 at 12:52 PM, Mark Ellis said:

Is this a British Number 4 Mk 1 burner? It might be American

The classic stoves forum may help

Classic Camp Stoves

[Mark Ellis]

3 minutes ago, Surveyor said:

The classic stoves forum may help

Classic Camp Stoves

I have rummaged around on CCS, where I found the above - which is from Australia or New Zealand and is possibly American in manufacture.

Is the No 4 the same make as the 2 and 3?

[Surveyor]

18 minutes ago, Mark Ellis said:

I have rummaged around on CCS, where I found the above - which is from Australia or New Zealand and is possibly American in manufacture.

Is the No 4 the same make as the 2 and 3?

Not the British ones

[Rangie]

The 2 and 3s were made by a couple of different manufacturers to the same basic spec.

The 4 Mk1 Portables were sometimes known as Triplex (one of the suppliers, or the one that submitted the first basic design).

The 4 Mk2 would have been an assemblage of components. One company to make the trailer (Arrow, Sankey, possibly Brockhouse, GKN, Universal Engineering, etc etc), one to supply the burners/petrol equipment/Latterly the LPG Equipment. The CES will help to identify what was what, and then further dissect via suppliers list/NSN number as far as you can go. But they would have been supplied by a manufacturer/supplier under a specific contract code (The trailers were their own B Vehicle).

Alec

 

[Mark Ellis]

32 minutes ago, Rangie said:

The 2 and 3s were made by a couple of different manufacturers to the same basic spec.

The 4 Mk1 Portables were sometimes known as Triplex (one of the suppliers, or the one that submitted the first basic design).

The 4 Mk2 would have been an assemblage of components. One company to make the trailer (Arrow, Sankey, possibly Brockhouse, GKN, Universal Engineering, etc etc), one to supply the burners/petrol equipment/Latterly the LPG Equipment. The CES will help to identify what was what, and then further dissect via suppliers list/NSN number as far as you can go. But they would have been supplied by a manufacturer/supplier under a specific contract code (The trailers were their own B Vehicle).

Alec

 

Was the No. 4 Mk 1 a trailer as well then? I thought it was a stand alone stove for some reason.

So, like the Alvis Salamander only being the chassis of the Foam crash tender, and the Dingo actually being an Alvis scout car that lost out to a BSA scout car during trials - with the BSA becoming the Daimler Dingo
This being the Alvis Dingo

[Surveyor]

Taken from my  manual

 

 

[Mark Ellis]

8 minutes ago, Surveyor said:

Taken from my  manual

 

Isn't that the No. 4 Mark 2?

[Rangie]

20 hours ago, Mark Ellis said:

Was the No. 4 Mk 1 a trailer as well then? I thought it was a stand alone stove for some reason.

They were collapsible solid-fuelled stoves, the largest component part designed to be carried comfortably by two persons.

Alec.

[Surveyor]

3 hours ago, Rangie said:

They were collapsible solid-fuelled stoves, the largest component part designed to be carried comfortably by two persons.

Alec.

I would like to see them please

[Rangie]

[Mark Ellis]

12 minutes ago, Rangie said:

WOW. How does that work, wood burner?

[Surveyor]

11 hours ago, Mark Ellis said:

WOW. How does that work, wood burner?

same question and what period?

[Mark Ellis]

On 9/21/2023 at 7:20 AM, Surveyor said:

same question and what period?

I think the photo of Number 4 mislead me a bit. Hadn't realised that the chimney is all part of one main chimney

 

 

[Mark Ellis]

DATES INTO SERVICE ?

Does anyone know the dates into service for the Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 trailer?

Just reading the Vocabulary of Army Ordnance Stores 1939 section J2,

which lists the No 1 Hydra, the No 2, and the No 3 with oven.

And it also mentions the Cookers, Trailer, Hydra type

And if they had the No 2 in 1939, then why buy the dodgy Hurlock in 43?

[Surveyor]

1 hour ago, Mark Ellis said:

I think the photo of Number 4 mislead me a bit. Hadn't realised that the chimney is all part of one main chimney

 

 

Are you refering to the Drum with steam, thats a Soyer

Look on Facebook for the 29 Field kitchen as well they have a lot of genuine kit that still works

[Mark Ellis]

26 minutes ago, Surveyor said:

Are you refering to the Drum with steam, thats a Soyer

Look on Facebook for the 29 Field kitchen as well they have a lot of genuine kit that still works

No, this big rectangular thing is the Number 4, isn't it?

[Surveyor]

11 minutes ago, Mark Ellis said:

No, this big rectangular thing is the Number 4, isn't it?

It may be but i am more familiar with the trailer version

[Surveyor]

Not sure if this helps

https://www.facebook.com/groups/29thfk/permalink/3747736318846239/

[Mark Ellis]

57 minutes ago, Surveyor said:

Not sure if this helps

https://www.facebook.com/groups/29thfk/permalink/3747736318846239/

I've applied for that, following your earlier suggestion. Already joined an ACC group.
Had a look on MERLIN. This is just an example, but has some dates to give a rough guide to service periods.
So is 69 BN 70 a No. 4 Mark 1 trailer?