I bought this Optimus 111 off t'internet, and it just arrived. It's an early version, but not the earliest. It has the early tin with the square-ish cornered handle and no fastening slot, but it has a burner with a hole in for the priming spirit. It was advertised as a 'petrol' stove which I didn't want, but I noticed from the pictures that the tin was embossed '111' and not '111B' and it looked like it had four burner tubes so I took a chance. It is a paraffin stove, but the seller can be forgiven for thinking it is a petrol stove because of the printing on the outside of the tin lid, and this is the interesting bit.... The printing is in French and says (or did say - some of the letters are missing) ATTENTION PETROL SEULEMENT ESSENCE - EXPLOSION In english this reads 'warning paraffin only .... petrol - explosion' Because of the printing, it seems that this stove belonged to a French group (Touring Club, Scouts, Cycling Club etc) and was loaned out to different people - or possibly it was issued by the French military. Did the French armed services use Optimus 111s? (there appears to be no other marking). Has anyone seen this printing on a tin before? If anyone can shed any light on this I would be very grateful.
Interesting stove. Fully embossed tin, no hole for securing clip, and squarish shape of handle indicate a manufacturing date of early 1950s. As you comment the burner looks slightly later. I have never seen any information or comment that the French Forces used Optimus stoves....Would that be possible or likely. I think not! Best Regards, Kerophile.
@kerophile Looking at Lennart F's comment on this recent post on a similar stove here, it may be that Optimus did supply 111 stoves to the French military. However if they did it was not many, or very few survived.
Hi @Twoberth . I have not see anything to change my mind since that post of about 4 years ago. I worked with French colleagues for many years and saw them in action. When it came to procurement of equipment or services they were very patriotic. I can’t see them buying military equipment from overseas… Here is a link to what the French Army was using in 1952: French Military Stove. Serie 7052, Circa 1952 * Best Regards, Kerophile.
Thank you for a quick and comprehensive reply. It all adds to the story (and mystique) of these early stoves.
