The Benghazi burner or Benghazi cooker is the nickname of a gasoline or brazier stove, used by British soldiers and their Commonwealth and Imperial allies during the Second North African World War Campaign.
Video Benghazi burner
Kampanye Western Desert
The Benghazi burner itself consists of one empty steel fuel can - usually 4 gallons (18 liters), known as "thin" - or biscuit tin. The sides of the upper half will have several holes punctured in them, and the bottom will be filled with sand. Gasoline (gasoline) will be stirred into the sand and then will be turned on. A second tin of the same size can be placed on top and used as a cooking vessel. It is used because standard pressure cookers issued to crew of armored vehicles, known as "Cookers, Portable No. 2", are susceptible to blockages caused by sand. Benghazi burners have the advantage that it's silent, fast and empty cans, sand and fuel available in the desert. The disadvantage is that it is unpredictable and fuel often burns too early; it's tempting to add gasoline to hot sand with explosive results. The additional usage is as a beacon to illuminate the desert airstrip.
The importance of Benghazi burners in the desert campaign was, at least in part, due to the fact that water supplied to the front lines was often transported in fuel cans; the resulting foul taste can be overcome by making tea with it. Though drinking tea was a long-standing habit in the British Army (one account describes tea being freely distributed in the morning of the Battle of Waterloo), the act of "brewing" (ie, making tea) soon became "almost like a ritual" in a desert campaign. In addition to providing the majority of male hydration, making and drinking tea also helps bonding and morale. One soldier noted that the spirit is directly proportional to the "supply of beer" and that "tea has become a cure for us". One battalion can use nearly a hundred gallons (about 450 liters) of fuel per day to make tea. Aware of this, the British Government bought all black tea available in the European market in 1942. Burners are also used for cooking rations; Corned beef - known as "bully beef" - can be fried and hard biscuits can be crushed and made into a kind of mush known as "burgoo" or "biscuit la-la".
Maps Benghazi burner
Next development
The burner was then used during the Italian Campaign and in the North-West European Campaign. Right at the edge of the feud, the latest Centurion tanks are equipped with boiling boats or "BV" supplying hot water heated by the tank's electrical system. It is now installed for almost all types of British military vehicles. Nevertheless, the Benghazi burners had a brief revival by British troops in the 1990-91 Gulf War, made of ammunition boxes.
See also
Kelly Kettle - a type of patent stove, known as the 'Thermette' in New Zealand, also sometimes called the "Benghazi boiler" in World War II.References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments