WWII US Aladdin 1943 Stove (with wheel, not valve and lever)

Point taken. Perhaps I should have added one word: set.

Is it possible, that when the M-1942 was combined with the mountain cookset, it was that combination of stove and cookset may have been called the mountain stove set? After all, I assume the quartermaster corp must have had some designation for the combined set.

Is it possible that the M-1941 was originally called the cold-climate stove?

 

The stoves and canisters or stoves and cooksets were not a set in the eyes of the quartermaster corp. Each piece was cataloged seperately and had a separate stock number. The pieces would have gotten combined at some lower unit level. although whether that would have been division, brigade, regiment, battalion or company I don't know. As far as I know the 520 was never issued to infantry units, they were issued to armored and other vehicle crews. Once Ernie Pyle wrote his glowing report on the 520 that may have changed and the stove may have become more easily available to the PBI. Originally the infantry would have acquired the stove by one soldier talking to the tank crew while another "liberated" the stove. The M1942 apparently was on the TOE (list of allowed equipment) for the specifically designated mountain units. Post-war the M1950 seems to have had much wider distribution.

 

To further confuse the whole M1942 issue here are three patent filings

Bestor Robinson filed 24 July 1942 issued 25 July 1944

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/2354221.html

Aladdin filed 15 April 1943 issued 29 March 1949

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/2465572.pdf

Aladdin filed 5 June 1944 issued 9 August 1949

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/2478364.html


Looking at these a bit closer today makes me wonder which is the real M1942. The Robinson patent is the earliest and has all the essential pieces of the early M1942, but the Aladdin patents are certainly much closer to the stoves we see. Robinson was a mountaineer, worked with both the ski-troops and the Quartermaster Corp. Aladdin developed the burner units that became the standard for the military issue lantern produced by all the major US companies. So, did the Robinson design get passed over to Aladdin for refinement? The two stoves are way to similar for me to believe that they were completely parallel development, but stranger things have happened.

 

A little late to the thread, but a small general observation.

I assume that Aladdin were given the contract to mass produce the original patented design, aspects of which did not easily lend themselves to mass production, as is often the case. Aladdin subsequently patented their design changes, first for production then modifications from field experience.

You can take all the time and care you want in pre production. A cost.you cannot afford if making them in their thousands.

I've not studied the patents linked but that would seem a reasonable sequence of events.

 

FUELING - FILL 3/4 FULL OF GASOLINE (PREFRABLY WHITE)

TO START - TURN WHEEL COUNTER-CLOCKWISE UNTIL STOPPED - THIS CLEANS TIP - THEN CLOCKWISE TO CLOSE VALVE - PUMP35 STROKES - OPEN VALVE SLIGHTLY AND LIGHT. WHEN FLAME BURNS BLUE. OPEN ONE FULL TURN AND PUMP 25 STROKES

PROVIDE VENTILATION FOR SAFETY FROM FUMES.

TO PACK - CLOSE VALVE. LOOSEN AND RE-TIGHTEN PUMP CAP.

- FOR SPARE PARTS REMOVE PUMP HANDLE -

 

With valve and lever.