Tommy cooker explained

The Tommy cooker was a compact, portable stove, issued to the troops of the British Army ("Tommies") during World War I and World War II.

During World War II, "Tommy cooker" was also a derogatory nickname for the M4 Sherman tank.

The British Army continued using compact solid fuel stoves until recently when they were replaced by stoves powered by alcohol gel.

Fuel

Tommy cookers were fuelled by a substance referred to as "solidified alcohol"^[1]

World War I

During World War I, some soldiers regarded the Tommy cooker as ineffective. One soldier complained that it took two hours to boil half a pint of water.^[2] A variety of commercial or improvised alternatives were in use.^[3]

WWI variants

Kampite Trench Fuel Blocks^[4]

BRYANT & MAY'S SAFETY TRENCH COOKER, SIX "KAMPITE" TRENCH FUEL BLOCKS

Cardboard box with a folding metal stand.

Anglo's Trench Fires

Folding tin stove fuelled by solid fuel tablets and retailed under the name "Anglo's Trench Fires". Contained in a card box with the slogan "A boon for dugouts, tents and trenches"

Tommy's Cooker

One WWI soldier advised that an extra tin of fuel should be provisioned: "My Pack contained the following items. ...A tin containing extra solidified methylated spirits (i.e. Refill for a "Tommy's Cooker.")"^[5]

Tinned Heat - solidified methylated spirits

"Tinned Heat' was a little round tin pocket stove, or 'Campaigner's Cooker'. Only 3½ inches in diameter and 1½ inches high, it contained solidified methylated spirits. It was deemed to be perfectly safe, quite practical and absolutely efficient; an ideal arrangement for a soldier's use in the trenches. If anything could be pronounced ideal in those circumstances. 'Tinned Heat' cost 10½d each."^[6]

Canned Heat - Sterno solidified alcohol

Invented around 1900, Sterno is made from ethanol, methanol, water and an amphoteric oxide gelling agent, plus a dye that gives it a characteristic pink color. Designed to be odorless, a 7oz can will burn for up to two hours. The methanol is added to denature the product, which essentially is intended to make it too toxic for consumption, thus the British term 'Methylated Spirits'.

WW1 Manufacturers

The British cookers were made by Tommy's Cooker Co., Limited, The Little Kitchener Co. and the "Pals" Cooker by Matthias Jackson & Sons.^[7] ^[8] ^[9]

"ThePALS" Cooker (Solidified Spirit Pocket Stove). The name "ThePALS" is our registered trade mark. "ThePALS" Kettle or Pan rests is our registered design. - Solidified Spirit Pocket Stove for the "Pals" at the Front! - Far away the BEST STOVE Made. - Hot water and food quickly and easily prepared by using "THE PALS" COOKER! Superior quality. Clean and powerful. A new design. Compact and handy. A welcome gift. - "The composition of this solid spirit is a new and exclusive preparation."—COMPLETE STOVE RETAILS at 1/- EACH. REFILLS RETAIL AT 1/- and 2/- PER TIN. - Sole Manufacturers: MATTHIAS JACKSON & SONS, Shepley Street Works, London Road, Manchester. (1916 Ad)
Tommy's Cooker. (British Made, Patent Applied For) - A Marvel of Simplicity & Utility—Is the most welcome gift to soldiers in the trenches... Give him one before he leaves for the front. ...For preparing food out of doors it is perfection. - Used by the British, Belgian and French Army in the Field, and the Red Cross Society. - Price, 1/- Refills, 2/- ADVANTAGES.—1. Wind does not blow it out. 2. Composition unaffected by weather or climate. 3. Stand carries heavy pots or pans. - Tommy's Cooker Co. Ld. - Works 31 Carburton St., London, W. (1916 Ad)
Little Kitchener Trench Cooker—Blackie Brand Always Best—Jelled fuel "Blackie Brand" Patent Tommy Cooker that has seen use from the Sudan of the 1880s. - Sole Proprietor Robert Blackie of London (who also produced Military Foot Powder in Tins) (The Cooker consist of a cooking ring that sits on the fuel container and is extremely lightweight)

World War II

Refined versions of the Tommy cooker remained in use during World War II, and were still generally known as Tommy cookers. They used gelled fuel in a tin can; a steel ring fitted to the can supported a mess tin.^[10]

WWII Variants

Tommy cookers came in a number of different forms. The two most popular designs used were:

Blackie

Self contained 'gel fuel' version in a small tin and attachable pot stand. There were also similar commercial stoves sold as the "Tommy's Cooker" and the "Blackie".

Hexi Cooker

Small field tri-fold stove fuelled by solid fuel discs (similar to heximine fuel). A cylindrical tin container, an inscription reads; "SOLID FUEL COOKER (Stand, Disc & Tablets), INSTRUCTIONS INSIDE". The tin is black and measures 4.5inches high and 2.5inches in diameter. The entire item weighs 309g. The instructions inside are like a newspaper cutting and say the following;

DIRECTIONS FOR USE

1. Remove stand from this container and open out legs equally.

2. Place (hinge downwards) on level non-inflammable surface.

3. Remove metal disc from this container and fix on stand immediately above hinge so that the three slots cut in the edge of disc lock firmly on legs of stand.

4. Place one fuel tablet on metal disc and ignite with match, lighter etc.

5. To extinguish, tip tablet off stand and cover with lid.

6. If greater heat required, break tablet into two or more pieces and stand these upright on the disc. If less heat required, break off small piece and use instead of whole tablet.

NOTES

(a) It is essential to shield cooker from all draughts, using box, tin etc. or heating may be carried out in a shallow trench.

(b) If used in a covered accommodation, allow adequate ventilation to assist combustion and to remove fumes.

Replacement

Until recently, the British Army still used compact portable hexamine fuel tablet stoves, replacing them with BCB Fire Dragon alcohol gel fuel stoves.

Nickname for Sherman tank

The term is also alleged to have been applied by German tank crews as a derogatory nickname for the Sherman tank whose earlier models acquired a reputation for bursting into flames when hit, due to improper ammunition storage, though no evidence appears to exist beyond anecdote^[11]

References

Alexander. Jerome. "Solidified" Alcohol. Chemical Catalog Company, 1926 - Colloids. 1926. 4 of Colloid Chemistry, Theoretical and Applied. [Papers] by Selected International Contributors, Colloid Chemistry, Theoretical and Applied. [Papers] by Selected International Contributors. 617–631.
Web site: Encyclopedia - Tommy Cooker. Firstworldwar.com .
Weeks, Alan (2009), Tea, Rum and Fags: Sustaining Tommy 1914-18 The History Press (Chapter 6)
Web site: Trench Cooker, Bryant & May's. IWM London. Imperial War Museums (IWM) British national museum. 7 November 2014.
Web site: Prest. J. S.. Hints for the trenches 2 May 1918. NewspaperSG is an online resource of current and historic Singapore and Malaya newspapers. The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1884-1942). 7 November 2014.
Book: Wheeler. Hazel. The Milliner's Apprentice: Girlhood in Edwardian Yorkshire, Chapter 23 – War News. 2013. Amberley Publishing Limited. 978-1445625904. 7 November 2014.
Book: The Pharmaceutical Journal and Pharmacist. 1916. 236, 339. The Little Kitchener Co., 11-13, Gilbert Street. London W.C. announced that Mr. Robert Blackie, Shen Works, Tower Bridge Road, London, S.E., has taken over the manufacture of the "Little Kitchener" cooker. We have since received one of the stoves, which, as will be seen from Mr. Blackie's advertisement, consists of a tin of solidified methylated spirit, with a trivet for supporting a small boiling-pot. At the present time these cooking-outfits are selling vigorously for sending out to soldiers on active service.(p.236) & Tommy's Cooker Co., Limited, 31, Carburton Street, Great Portland Street, W. —The Soldier's Pocket Stove, manufactured by this company has attained a wonderful popularity, three millions actually having been supplied already to the Allies' armies and the various Red Cross and ambulance associations.(p.339).
Book: Chemist and Druggist: The Newsweekly for Pharmacy. 1916. Benn Brothers.. 255. The "Pals" Cooker is made by Matthias Jackson & Sons, Shepley Street, London Road, Manchester. It is a portable stove which uses solidified spirit as fuel, and is of the variety so much in vogue among soldiers at the Front..
Book: Chemist and Druggist: The Newsweekly for Pharmacy. 1916. Benn Brothers.. 14, 22.
http://reprorations.com/Britain%20WW2/WW2-Britain.htm Repro Rations - British World War II Rations
Web site: From the Field Gun to the Tank . www.bbc.co.uk.