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 The
heat of battle. |
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Coleman®' s biggest customer
became the U.S. military. During WWII, its Wichita plants cranked
out projectiles for the Navy and parts for B-17 and B-29 bombers.
But their most valuable contribution to the war effort was the development
of the GI Pocket Stove. The specifications seemed impossible. |
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The stove had to be lightweight,
no larger than a quart thermos, burn any kind of fuel, and operate
in weather from -60º to 125º F. Fewer than 60 days after work commenced,
Coleman® demonstrated a working prototype. And in November 1942, 5,000
of Coleman®' s little stoves went into battle when U.S. forces invaded
North Africa. Credit for ramping up production so they shipped out
with the troops goes to another Coleman® son, Clarence. |
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The stoves burned for two
hours on a cup of fuel from a jeep or plane. They were carried across
every battlefield in Europe and the Pacific. They showed up in tents,
foxholes and bombers. An article in the Los Angeles Times stated,
"Many a huddle of soldiers got the warmth to survive and fight another
day from a Coleman® Stove." In all, over a million were produced.
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