US Army fuel tablets in WW2

[donaldjcheek]

Sorry, but I don't know where else to post this.

When the C-ration, and later the K-ration, were introduced, soldiers immediately complained that the food tasted foul unless heated. Lacking an equivalent of the German "Esbit Kocher" or the British "Tommy cooker," the US GI seemed destined to consume his rations cold.

Luckily, US industry was prepared to step in an lend a hand - for a suitable profit, of course. The US Army Quartermaster Corps quickly let out contracts for individual cans of gelled alcohol, known in the US by the commercial name "Sterno." These "Fuel Tablets, Ration Heating" were small cans with pry-off friction lids, and came in two sizes: a 1.5 oz can intended for heating individual rations, and a 6 oz can for heating the five-in-one group ration or six individual rations.

Sterno has several problems: the wood alcohol used in its manufacture is toxic; the gel must be kept from air or the alcohol will evaporate; the gel turns liquid at high temperatures and leaks out of the can; and the gel is not waterproof, and in fact, has a high affinity for atmospheric moisture. Subsequently the US Army turned to Norman Stark, a consultant who had already solved several technical problems for the military services.

In March 1943 he was asked to develop a new fuel tablet which would overcome these problems. The Army, however, added the following stipulations:

-the new tablet had to be light, weighing no more than 6 oz, and capable of heating 1 complete daily ration (i.e. 3 individual meals)

-the new tablet could not use scarce or restricted material

-tablet had to be suited for quick and easy mass production

-the tablet had to be stable at temperatures ranging from 120º F to -20º F

-the tablet had to be easily lit and water resistant

-and the tablet had to be inexpensive, costing 2 cents or less per tablet

Believe it or not, Stark developed a solid fuel tablet that met all these requirements. He came up with a 4-oz fuel bar which used sawdust and paraffin - both cheap and readily available - as the fuel component, encased in a scored cardboard box that was then coated in wax to make the bar waterproof. He also developed a high-speed extrusion process to manufacture the bars, and literally millions of them were produced over the next two years.

Still called "Fuel Tablet, Ration Heating", the bar came in two sizes, Size A (1.25 oz) for heating individual rations, and a larger block weighing 3 oz for heating group rations. The Size A was usually issued as one bar about 3.75 inches long by 1.5 inches wide by about 0.5 inch deep (9.5 x 3.8 x 1.3 cm). The wax-impregnated box was printed with instructions and dashed lines so it could be cut into three 1.25 oz individual tablets, one for each meal. 4 such bars were wrapped together and (occasionally) provided in a case of C-rations.

The US Army Quartermaster Corps made no distinction between the two types of fuel "tablets", referring to both as "heat units".

In 1976, Stark wrote an article for the Milwaukee Sentinel describing how to make the tablets at home:

"Handy Fuel Tablets Are a Snap to Make
by Norman Stark

Norman Stark is an inventor and consultant to many of the nation's largest corporations, including General Motors, Tecumseh Products, St. Regis Paper Co. and General Foods. All formulas presented in this column, which appears weekly in At Home, have been tested for safety and accuracy by Stark in the Stark Research Corp. laboratories in Tucson, Ariz.

'Perhaps those in the military during WW2 remember those fuel tablets. They were used to heat K rations in the field.

In 1943 I was asked to develop a process for mass production of fuel tablets for military needs. I developed a high speed extrusion process to make these little bars and produced literally millions of them.

They are so handy that I use them to this day for starting fires and also as the sole heat source for cooking small quantities of food on outdoor trips.

Here's the formula and procedure for making fuel tablets:

You'll need three pounds of paraffin wax, four pounds of fine sawdust, and some containers. The paper tubes inside rolls of bathroom tissue are excellent, but you'll need to tape one end closed to contain the product.

Melt the paraffin in the top of a double boiler (NEVER over direct heat) and stir in the sawdust. The sawdust will tend to separated from the wax and settle to the bottom. So it's imperative that stirring continue until the wax is just above the solidification point.

Then pour the mixture into the tubes and allow to harden. As a final step, immerse the wax and tube into molten paraffin for a few seconds until the tube is impregnated. In this way, the tube becomes a wick for easing lighting.

The tube and wax-sawdust combination can be cut into convenient segments with a saw'."

[Name_not_found]

Thanks for the info

Almost the same as a camping burner that common here, but its usually cardboard in a tuna can covered in wax.

I still like trioxane the best

[housil]

Thanks for all the very detailed information! I also have some trioxane, but never used it yet.

I remember the US soldier at REFORGER 1982 heating up their cans by burning Diesel fuel in an emptied can, using it as a stove. They opened the cans, but left the lid attached to the can so you can used it as a handle without burning the fingers

[dirtbag]

The fuel tabs i remember were wrapped in an olive drab foil, 3 per, If my memory serves.
These were in C-rats/early MCI's.
Not so good heating rations, but great for killing gophers... light one, drop it down the hole, no more gopher!
Nasty fumes, kill you too if you weren't careful.

[rationtin440]

This discussion reminds me of something I posted quite awhile back. In the novel series "Deathlands" by James Axler, the descendants of nuclear war survivors are traveling around North America, surviving on stuff they find in government bunkers. One thing they come across fairly regularly are "self heating" rations. They are similar to what we have today in cocept, but they differ in that the cans are double-walled and the heating is activated by pulling a ring if I'm not mistaken. Kinda cool except I'd rather carry pouches than cans myself. And yes, I recall my uncles saying that the fumes from the early fuel were very nasty.

[rationtin440]

My apologies for not adding this in my previous posting, but I recall my cousin saying that when he was in Vietnam he was with some Australian units, and they had a novel way of heating their rations and MCIs; apparently the engine covers on their vehicles had grates with ventilation holes that were just the right size for an MCI can, and they found that the heat from the engine would warm them quite nicely and quickly. Not sure how accurate this is, anyone know? My cousin's memory is failing.

[Name_not_found]

rationtin440 cooking on the engine or exhaust was very common, i still do it sometimes but with foil wrapped food and usually on a 4wheeler

Where you put it depends on the vehicle, but it works very well

[Name_not_found]

The fuel tabs i remember were wrapped in an olive drab foil, 3 per, If my memory serves.
These were in C-rats/early MCI's.
Not so good heating rations, but great for killing gophers... light one, drop it down the hole, no more gopher!
Nasty fumes, kill you too if you weren't careful.

quite nasty, stuff one in a smoke canister and its worse than cs