Louis asked in USMA 11949: >Who knows what the exact capacity of a "jerrycan" is ? They were made >popular by the Us army during WW II. In Europe we use to say that >they are of 20 liter capacity. > >Could that be the origin of the way of expressing the fuel efficiency >of a car in countries like Syria or Uruguay, where km/20 l is used ? > >Louis The jerrycan was made for the German army, and the capacity was 20 litres. We call it a jerrycan because "Jerry" was British Army slang for German. Many Gerrycans were later produced for allied forces. Joseph B. Reid 17 Glebe Road West Toronto M5P 1C8 Tel. 416 486-6071
