Camp Croft, South Carolina US Army Infantry Replacement Training Center
Howard W. "Mutt" accord
submitted this information on a "Stalag Cooker" which he and other POWs
used in German Prisoner of War camps during World War II. The
reproduction of a cooker shown below has been donated to the
Spartanburg County Regional Museum of History. You can click here to view the complete unedited
text of his personal biography.
A
Stalag Cooker by Howard "Mutt" McCord
Here is what the Stalag Cooker look like that we used in the German
prison camps. The first one I saw was at Stalag IV-B, four British
Soldiers was cooking some fried potatoes that they had traded for from
a Frenchmen who had been out on a work detail on a farm. ( The frying
pan was made from the tins the Red Cross food came in.)
One might ask, “Where did the tools and material come from?” I didn't
ask the British Soldiers where they got the materials. I was very glad
that some one had the knowledge to think up this idea on how to get
more heat out of the small ration of brick coal that we were trading
cigarettes to the French for.
Here it is June 2002 and I have been planning to build one since 1945.
So at last I have built one for all to see. It consist of a base to
mount it on, A wheel to turn the fan. A shoestring for the drive belt.
A fan (see picture) you make. A connector from the fan to the fire pot.
A metal (Heavy gauge tin can) fire pot. An extra bottom with small
holes in it for the air to blow through towards the top of the fire
pot. Please see pictures. Remember that No power tools were used.
This is the operator's view. The crank (large wheel) on the right
was turned to provide the power to the turbine like fan.
A view showing the fan blades. A cook pot or pan would have
been placed over the fire pot on the right of this photo.
A small amount of fuel would go a long way and heat food and beverages
in a short amount of time.
