CCKW DUNNAGE-THE 55 GAL DRUM
Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2006 2:06 pm
Many HMV owners are attempting to relive the Red Ball Express experience and find a creative use for those discarded 55 gallon drums by simply stenciling the complicated 4" words "GASOLINE" or "MOTOR OIL (they don't even pass the 20' test) SAE 30" on them.
The Army has always had a uniform specification for marking everything
that it procures in order that no GI will be confused as to where to look.
The specifications for WWII are not all that much different from present day markings, except for minor details such as Bar Coding and changes to the way Federal Stock numbers are marked.
One can try flipping through the pages of MIL STD 129 and come up with the markings.
Remember that these markings are a Federal Color Spec designated shade of yellow and that Motor Oils are marked "OE" and SAE is not printed after the OE, but the weight is. There will be contract numbers and manufacterers names printed on the Drum, plus the capacity and weight of the drum.The drum will be painted that nice pleasant shade of OD we see on ammo cans. There are specs on the paints and primers used on disposable Army property also.
This is intended to give you OE Drum fanatics a start in the right direction. The rest is in the manual used for marking petroleum products, copies of the spec. manual have been seen for sale on eBay in the past year. It won't be hard to come up with the specs, and you will be rewarded for your efforts by having correct information.
There are plenty of WWII era photos of Oil drums to be seen in the history books, oil drums can be seen in many wartime uses from propping up wrecked warbirds, to being used as a makeshift jig for bombs on the M-1 Bomblift when raising the bombs to the wing of a P-47. Markings can still be seen in those wartime photos.
PS:
Dunnage is an old Army term for something useless used to give something that loaded look.
Remember the Bung Hole is on the top.
The Army has always had a uniform specification for marking everything
that it procures in order that no GI will be confused as to where to look.
The specifications for WWII are not all that much different from present day markings, except for minor details such as Bar Coding and changes to the way Federal Stock numbers are marked.
One can try flipping through the pages of MIL STD 129 and come up with the markings.
Remember that these markings are a Federal Color Spec designated shade of yellow and that Motor Oils are marked "OE" and SAE is not printed after the OE, but the weight is. There will be contract numbers and manufacterers names printed on the Drum, plus the capacity and weight of the drum.The drum will be painted that nice pleasant shade of OD we see on ammo cans. There are specs on the paints and primers used on disposable Army property also.
This is intended to give you OE Drum fanatics a start in the right direction. The rest is in the manual used for marking petroleum products, copies of the spec. manual have been seen for sale on eBay in the past year. It won't be hard to come up with the specs, and you will be rewarded for your efforts by having correct information.
There are plenty of WWII era photos of Oil drums to be seen in the history books, oil drums can be seen in many wartime uses from propping up wrecked warbirds, to being used as a makeshift jig for bombs on the M-1 Bomblift when raising the bombs to the wing of a P-47. Markings can still be seen in those wartime photos.
PS:
Dunnage is an old Army term for something useless used to give something that loaded look.
Remember the Bung Hole is on the top.