We can blame/credit the Brits for this one.
The large armored land battle ships (in England) were under the direction of
the Navy, not the Army. The disguise of these as water tanks is a completely
true rumor. And the name stayed!
How about that other wonderful nickname, the "GI"?
I've read and heard of two stories. Anyone perhaps closer to the era able to
comment?
The first (and more commonly believed) is that the GI stands for Government
Issue, and the phrase was used so often, it stuck on the soldiers.
The other is that during the build up phase to the war, our Army was one of
the first to specify galvanized iron for it's garbage cans (which it was
buying by the thousands as we mobilized). Hence, the GI garbage can.
Anyone care to shed some light?
Doc
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