U.S. WWII Normandy Gas Can Restoration - w/ pics

[horrocks]

Van, could I ask which font you use on MS Word for the stencils.

I have tried several, none of them have looked right.

Off the top of my head....I can't remember. But, I normally use Arial, Arial Bold or Times New in my restoration stencils. Pretty sure I used Arial Bold on this one.

No, have tried Arial/Arial Bold. I need the numeric '7', and they have a curved tail. I guess I will have to manually change it.

[REG]

Van, could I ask which font you use on MS Word for the stencils.

I have tried several, none of them have looked right.

Toby, There are lots of free stencils you can download from the interweb

[horrocks]

Van, could I ask which font you use on MS Word for the stencils.

I have tried several, none of them have looked right.

Toby, There are lots of free stencils you can download from the interweb

I know, just not found the right one. The nearest is one called "Browning", but even that isn't marvellous.

[Quest Master]

I just looked again, one of the fonts I've also used was: Bookshelf Symbol 1

[Silly's MB]

I have uncovered something that shows green triangle is the marking for Quartermaster Supplies including Class III POL.
Red would be engineers.
Yellow Ordnance
Maroon Medical Corps
Green and Black is Quartermaster sales.

No light blue triangles just light blue lines for air corps.
More documented evidence will follow.

[Quest Master]

I have uncovered something that shows green triangle is the marking for Quartermaster Supplies including Class III POL.
Red would be engineers.
Yellow Ordnance
Maroon Medical Corps
Green and Black is Quartermaster sales.

No light blue triangles just light blue lines for air corps.
More documented evidence will follow.

To be clear....we are talking about corner markings of crates and shipping containers. The reference that you state above is correct for color/use of green, red, yellow, maroon and green/black....but I have personally seen blue corner markings as well. The example I have seen of blue corner markings was used on a wooden crate of WWII dated U.S. M1 Shoe Impregnite.

As for the "Normandy" gas can, the triangle marking on the side of the can are not corner marking. It may or may not have the same meaning of the corner markings used on shipping containers. We shall see.

[Silly's MB]

Sorry Questmaster I should of added this link for continuity;
viewtopic.php?f=37&t=241899

[Silly's MB]

To be clear....we are talking about corner markings of crates and shipping containers. The reference that you state above is correct for color/use of green, red, yellow, maroon and green/black....but I have personally seen blue corner markings as well. The example I have seen of blue corner markings was used on a wooden crate of WWII dated U.S. M1 Shoe Impregnite.

Dark Blue triangles would be for the Chemical Warfare Service and they should have the Chemical Warfare Service symbol on as well.

[gerrykan]

Regarding the jerrycan images that I posted on page 3.

I did not give an opinion on the color of the triangle, because I was undecided whether it was green or blue.

Various locals that I asked (without giving any background info), either said green, or blue.

Dark Blue triangles would be for the Chemical Warfare Service

As it has "for chemical use only" stenciled on the front, maybe they are blue.
We can only see one side of the can in the now famous photograph, so it unknown to us if there is any stenciling on the other faces of the can.
My can also reads "do not reuse for gasoline", but I am guessing any available empty can was filled with gasoline for the invasion.

[Silly's MB]

Roy,
I wont say what colours are actually on the can as it is difficult with screen colours and 70 years of fading to tell. It is also a good possibility that it may have 2 or more markings on it from different shipments as they were not always painted over as they should be.

The blue triangles I was referring to were on Questmasters box that he had seen of UPS M1 Impregnite which theoretically should be dark blue I think.

A letter of complaint from the "Chemical Warfare Service" about incorrect markings.

[Quest Master]

Ok, after careful reading of the complete WWII doctrine I have come up with the DEFINATIVE explanation of the TIME photo and the Normandy gas can restoration.

THE TRIANGLE ON THE SIDE IS GREEN!

I have reviewed the entire manual and have retyped it here for all to read. The below ONLY applies to the gas cans in this thread:
Quote:
STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES, NO. 3 MOVEMENTS, VOLUME III, DOCUMENTATION AND MARKINGS OF SHIPMENTS TO OVERSEAS DESTINATIONS FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM, dated 13 April 1944, Headquarters European Theater of Operations United States Army.

Paragraph 6. MARKING SUPPLIES FOR OVERSEAS SHIPMENT
a. GENERAL: The following markings will be stenciled on each container (see exceptions in 6c, d, e, f and g). Complete markings will be stenciled on two surfaces, one end and one side of each container, in accordance with examples illustrated in Appendices 1 to 18 inclusive. Markings other than color markings will be at least three-quarters (3/4”) of an inch in height.
d. POL Products: Gasoline and petroleum products will have markings as set forth in par.6a placed on not less than ten percent (10%) of all cans and drums uniformly distributed throughout the shipment.

Paragraph 9. COLOR MARKINGS
a. General: Each package or article will be marked with distinguishing color markings and symbols as indicated below:
(6) QUARTERMASTER CORPS – (Class III except when shipped loose in 5-gal. cans or in drums (See Appendix 6)
QUARTERMASTER CORPS – (Clothing and Equipage) (See Appendix 7)
c. Petroleum Products will have containers stenciled and tagged in accordance with War Department Circular No.198, 1 September 1943.

Appendix 6: BULK SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT, QUARTERMASTER CORPS CLASS III

Appendix 7: BLUK SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT, QUARTERMASTER CORPS – CLOTHING AND EQUIPMENT

End quote.

What this basically means for gas cans that we have seen in this thread: A gas can that has a green corner marking (on the bottom corner) is one that has been shipped in bulk, meaning banded empty to several other gas cans for shipment - Paragraph 9 Subsection 6 Quartermaster Corps Class III item and marked in accordance with Appendix 6. A gas can that has been shipped individually (full or empty) is considered a Paragraph 9 Subsection 6 Quartermaster Corps C&E item and will be marked with a green triangle in accordance with Appendix 7.

It took a bit of reading and comparing of detail within the shipping document reference, but now I feel 100% comfortable with the complete assessment that the color is GREEN. The placement and shape of the green markings depends on how the can was shipped, either in bulk or as a single can.

[Rayrural]

I like the OD paint you used would you tell me where you got it?

[Quest Master]

http://www.tm9ordnance.com/

[Rschiller3]

I know this is an old thread, but great markings.

I'm actually interested in the other set of markings. Below is the front bumber of my MB, which I've marked in similar fashion.

I was wondering if I could get the dimensions you used for the similar markings on your gas can?

Thanks!

Rick

[Quest Master]

There was no set "font" or "size", especially on POM marking for various equipment. Standard stencils were 1", 2", 3" etc. Often, markings were done by hand and style varied from unit to unit.