The brown butcher paper accessory pack contained sugar tablets, halazone water purification tablets ( for a brief period in 1945 ), a flat wooden spoon, a piece of candy-coated chewing gum, 3 " short " sample 3-packs or one " long " sample 9-pack of commercial-grade cigarettes and a book of 20 cardboard moisture-resistant matches, a paper-wrapped P-38 can opener printed with instructions for its proper use, and several sheets of toilet paper.

The P-38 can openers were generally worn on the GI's " dog tag " chain to facilitate opening the next meal's cans.

* One sundries can containing the accessory packet: ( Gum, toilet paper, a P-38 can opener, granulated salt, and a flat wooden spoon ) and the cigarette packet: ( one 9-pack of cigarettes and a book of matches ).

File: P-38 Can Opener. jpg | Folding P-38 can opener for military ration kit

Around the time of World War II, several can openers were developed for military use, such as the American P-38 and P-51.

The P-38 and P-51 are small can openers with a cutter hinged to the main body.

The P-38 and P-51 are cheaper to manufacture and are smaller and lighter to carry than most other can openers.

Official military designations for the P-38 include " US Army pocket can opener " and " Opener, can, hand, folding, type I ".

The original US-contract P-38 can openers were manufactured by J. W. Speaker Corp. ( stamped " US Speaker ") and by Washburn Corp. ( marked " US Androck "), they were later made by Mallin Hardware ( now defunct ) of Shelby, Ohio and were variously stamped " US Mallin Shelby O.

The instructions printed on the miniature, greaseproof paper bag in which they were packed read: " Their design is similar, but not identical, to the P-38 and P-51 can openers.

In Slovenia a somewhat rounded version of a P-38 is known as " sardine can opener ", because in the 1990s such openers were usually packed with cans that did not feature the pull-top pre-scored lid.

Vietnam war-era P-38 can opener.

The P-38, developed in 1942, was a small can opener issued in the canned field rations of the United States Armed Forces from World War II to the 1980s.

The P-38 is known as a " John Wayne " by the United States Marine Corps, either because of its toughness and dependability, or because of an unsubstantiated story that the actor had been shown in an as-yet-unidentified training film opening a can of K-Rations.

However, the P-51 can opener, while larger and easier to use than the P-38 can opener, also has a fighter plane namesake in the North American P-51 Mustang, which is faster and smaller than the P-38 fighter.

The original U. S .- contract P-38 can openers were manufactured by J. W.

As with some other military terms, e. g., " jeep ", the origin of the term is not known with certainty ; the P-38 opener coincidentally shares a designation with the Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter plane, which could allude to its fast performance.

The P-38 is cheaper to manufacture than a standard can opener, and is smaller and lighter to carry.

An opener similar to P-38, but with a non-folding blade, was popular in Poland for years ; it can still be found in shops along the butterfly-type.

Late production meals added a paper-wrapped paddle-like disposable wooden spoon and used the standard P-38 can opener instead of the " twist key ".

( 1944, B & W, 4: 00 ) The P-38 Squadron that shot down Admiral Yamamoto in an incredible long distance interception in the Pacific, is depicted.

At the beginning of World War II, Lockheed – under the guidance of Clarence ( Kelly ) Johnson, who is considered one of the best known American aircraft designers – answered a specification for an interceptor by submitting the P-38 Lightning fighter plane, a somewhat unorthodox twin-engine, twin-boom design.

The P-38 was responsible for shooting down more Japanese aircraft than any other U. S. Army Air Forces type during the war ; and is particularly famous for being the airplane that shot down Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's airplane.

Most notable was a Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter which flew low over Brooklands apparently in trouble and crashed at Cobham on 16 March 1944 ; the pilot survived but little else is known of this incident.

The player pilots a plane dubbed the " Super Ace " ( but its appearance is clearly that of a Lockheed P-38 Lightning ).

The P-38 and P-51 openers share a designation with the P-38 and P-51 fighter planes, however this is coincidental.

The most likely origin of the name is much more pedestrian ; the P-38 is long.

One rumored explanation for the origin of the name is that the P-38 is approximately long.

The P-38 is easily used.

Then, for a right-handed user, the P-38 is held in the right hand by the flat long section, with the cutting point pointing downward and away from the user, while also hooking the edge of the can through the circular notch located on the flat long section next to the cutting edge.

The lid of the now opened can is lifted, most often with the P-38 cutting edge, and the P-38 is wiped clean, and the cutting point is rotated back to its stowed, folded position ; then, the P-38 is returned to its stored location, whether that is dangling on a dog tag chain around one's neck, or in one's pocket if the P-38 is attached to a key ring.

For instance, the fairly thick wing on the P-38 Lightning has a Critical Mach number of about. 69.

He is such a fanatic farmer wannabe in the pilot episode, that during a flashback while on a bombing mission in a P-38, he annoys his squadron commander with comments about how tomatoes are turned into catsup.

Mariner 1 ( P-37 ) and Mariner 2 ( P-38 ) were two deep-space probes making up NASA's Mariner-R project.

* November 1 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 537, a Douglas C-54B-10-DO, en route from Boston, Massachusetts to Washington, D. C. collides with a P-38 fighter on its final approach to National Airport.

P-38 Lightnings making a low-level pass over the runway at Shemya AAF, 1 August 1945 during the Armed Forces Day celebration

* P-38 $ 1, 250

Arnold's plan to Marshall called for the basing by April 1, 1943, of 21 heavy bomb groups ( B-17 and B-24 ), 8 medium bomb groups ( B-26 and B-25 ), 9 light bomb groups ( A-20 ), 17 fighter groups ( P-38, P-39, P-40, and P-47 ), 6 observation groups, and 8 transport groups -- a total of 69 combat groups plus their service units.

For instance, the P-38 Lightning with its thick high-lift wing had a particular problem in high-speed dives that led to a nose-down condition.

First, second-generation Allied fighters such as the Hellcat and the P-38, and later the Corsair, the P-47 and the P-51, began arriving in numbers.

* 1939 – First flight of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning.

* 1944 – World War II: Napalm incendiary bombs are dropped for the first time by American P-38 pilots on a fuel depot at Coutances, near Saint-Lô, France.

On July 17, 1944, napalm incendiary bombs were dropped for the first time by 14 American P-38 Lightning aircraft of the 402d Fighter Squadron / 370th Fighter Group on a fuel depot at Coutances, near St. Lô, France.

The film includes purported P-38 gun camera footage of the Admiral's Betty bomber going down in flames.

* Dick Bong: Pacific Ace ( 1944, B & W, 4: 00 ) This short documentary film pays tribute to Richard " Dick " Bong, the leading American P-38 ace of World War II.

* Angel in Overalls ( 1945, B & W, 15: 00 ) This film was developed to show US Lockheed P-38 production line workers in a wide variety of roles.

Ruth Dailey, Women Airforce Service Pilots | WASP climbs into a P-38.

* Bodie, Warren M. The Lockheed P-38 Lightning: The Definitive Story of Lockheed's P-38 Fighter.

P-38 Lightning at War.

" Lockheed P-38 Lightning.

* Ethell, Jeffrey L. P-38 Lightning in World War II Color.

" P-38 Lightning.

* Maloney, Edward T. Lockheed P-38 " Lightning ", Aero Series Vol.

Lockheed P-38 Lightning.

" I P-38 Italiani.