Tommy cooker

A Tommy cooker was a compact, portable, solidified alcohol fuelled stove issued to British troops (Tommies) in World War I [ [http://www.firstworldwar.com/atoz/tommycooker.htm First War encyclopaedia] ] . It was notoriously ineffective and a variety of improvised alternatives were in use, but a refined version remained in use during World War II. The term also came to be applied by the late Panther and Tiger German tank crews as a derogatory nickname for the Sherman tank, which, due to a combination of obsolete armour and the highly flammable fuel -- only on early models, acquired an early reputation for "brewing up" when hit [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/trail/wars_conflict/weapons/field_gun_to_tank_10.shtml BBC History] ] .

The British army still uses compact portable solid fuel (hexamine) stoves.

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