US Field Stove M1937 with cooks

Plastic kit for building U.S. American M-1937 field cooking stoves with cooks in World War II

• Scale 1:35
• 4 figures
• 3 M-1937 field cooking stoves
• Field cooking stoves can be built open or closed
• Field kitchen utensils such as knives, pots, canisters
• unbuilt/unpainted
• Paint and glue not included

The saying "No food, no fight!" is familiar to veterans of all armies, regardless of nationality, in their respective languages. Stationary field kitchens had the disadvantage that they couldn't immediately follow the troops when they moved and weren't ready for use as quickly. This led to a demand for mobile kitchens that could travel with the troops and provide soldiers with freshly prepared meals during marches and in the field.

The U.S. Army solved this problem somewhat differently than, for example, the Germans. They used the M1937 field kitchen stove, which could be used both stationary and transported by a standard truck. One stove could cook for 50 soldiers, two for 100, three for 225, and four for as many as 300. Each stove consisted of a metal frame with slots into which, depending on the configuration, a burner, a 10-gallon (38-liter) or a 15-gallon (57-liter) cooking pot could be inserted. A deep, rectangular frying pan could be inserted from the top. For cooking, the burner was inserted at the very bottom; for baking and roasting, it was placed in the middle or at the top. Cooking utensils such as ladles, knives, and other cutlery were packed in this rack for transport (presumably placed inside the empty frying pan). The burner was powered by gasoline, which the army had readily available. For mobile deployment, the field stove(s) and other necessary equipment were loaded onto trucks. The stoves could then be used without having to be unloaded. An interesting detail: this field stove was also manufactured under license and used by the German Federal Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) as the M-37 field stove from 1956 until around 1990.