Tommy cooker

A Tommy cooker was a compact, portable stove, fuelled by something referred to as "solidified alcohol" which was issued to British troops ("Tommies") in World War I. It was notoriously ineffective; one soldier complained that it took two hours to boil half a pint of water. A variety of commercial or improvised alternatives were in use. A refined version remained in use during World War II, using gelled fuel in a tin can; a steel ring fitted to the can supported a mess tin.

Tommy cooker

A Tommy cooker was a compact, portable stove, fuelled by something referred to as "solidified alcohol" which was issued to British troops ("Tommies") in World War I. It was notoriously ineffective; one soldier complained that it took two hours to boil half a pint of water. A variety of commercial or improvised alternatives were in use. A refined version remained in use during World War II, using gelled fuel in a tin can; a steel ring fitted to the can supported a mess tin.