Author Topic: a basic history of military rations....up to WW II  (Read 2167 times)

elandil

a basic history of military rations....up to WW II
« on: May 30, 2016, 07:56:19 PM »
See, here's the thing. There's not much on this subject that we can really look at now with how things are.

the military has always had issues with feeding troops, all the way back to the first hunter/gatherer tribes who sought out the best hunting grounds. Most times there was either a supply train of goods coming in, or (most likely) local foraging and raiding. Recipes for pemmican, hardtack, dried meats, etc. were popular with both soldiers in the military in the 1800's and with settlers moving out west. the Civil War is where we really start seeing ration's as being part of the troops everyday kit, normally consisting of salted pork, dried beans, hardtack or crackers, and coffee.

By the time we get to the war of 1898, Teddy's charge up San Juan hill, and the other skirmishes, the Chuck Wagon had started being accepted as a mobile kitchen for the troops as it was being adapted from the western cattle drives. Again, salted or dried meat, dried beans, root veg, and dried breadstuffs, or camp breads, were the norm. Stews, chilis, the menu's kept the same.


Suprisingly, what had the most impact on military rations, was another military invention....the machine gun. The machine gun begat trench warfare, trench warfare begat troops being stationary instead of mobile, and that begat the need for rations that the individual soldier could cook and maintain in a static environment. That, along with the Tin Cans that was being used to store food, helped bring about a revolution in the soldiers meals.



Here's from the historical archives....

Quote
Special rations for specific purposes may be said to have originated in definitions of rations issued by the Army in 1901. Rations were then divided into five categories:

For troops in garrison (garrison ration).

For troops in the field in active campaign (field ration).

For troops when traveling otherwise than marching, or when for short periods they are separated from cooking facilities (travel ration).

For troops traveling in vessels of the United States Army transport service.

For use of troops on emergent occasions in active campaign (emergency ration). 13

The standard items listed for troops in garrison included fresh beef; flour; beans and potatoes; prunes; coffee and sugar; vinegar, salt, and pepper; and soap and candles. Fresh mutton, bacon, canned meats, and dried, pickled, and canned fish were to be used when it was impracticable to secure the standard items. Peas, rice, hominy, onions, canned tomatoes, and fresh and "desiccated" vegetables were added to the vegetable components. Apples and peaches were alternated with prunes; tea was a substitute for coffee; and cucumber pickles joined with the "seasoning components." Substitutions were particularly foreseen in the Alaskan service and for situations in which transportation was a factor. 14

The field ration included the basic components of the garrison ration-meat, bread, vegetables, fruit, coffee and sugar, seasoning, and soap and candle. Substitutes included fresh mutton, canned meat and bacon; soft and hard bread; hops and dried or compressed yeast; rice, onions, desiccated potatoes and onions, and canned tomatoes; tea; and cucumber pickles.

Soft or hard bread, canned corned beef, baked beans, tomatoes; roasted and ground coffee, and sugar were provided for troops traveling otherwise than by marching. Food for troops on transports was to be prepared from garrison subsistence stores varied, when required, by the substitution of other authorized articles of equal money value.

The emergency ration was for issue on active campaigns only when regular rations were unobtainable. It was a packaged ration carried in haversack or saddlebag. Its form and substance were determined by the War Department.

The components of garrison and field rations were revised again in 1908 when corned beef was authorized for the garrison ration when fresh meat was not available. Chicken or turkey was approved for issue on national holidays. Fresh vegetables were to be issued when obtainable in the vicinity or when they could be transported in a wholesome condition from a distance. Evaporated and unsweetened milk were other important additions. 15

Thus, throughout the early wars of the nation, from the Revolution to World War I, the chief food for the soldier for all purposes-in camp, field, and combat-was the Congress-enacted garrison ration, which consisted basically of meat, bread, and some vegetables. In its gradual development, it came to include some of the newer components provided by progress in food technology. Although the garrison ration was the backbone of the feeding program, the necessity of special foods for extraordinary conditions of warfare or military campaigns was not overlooked. The advent of World War I, with its tremendous accent on mass movement and mass supply to far-off centers, brought to life those concepts of specialized rations with which this history will deal. Some of the wartime rations had prototypes or genesis in the earlier programs. Nevertheless, it was the great development in the production, distribution, and storage of food that came after the turn of the century that laid the basis for special-purpose rations. The problem of feeding the soldier, engaged in military activities at home and at many and varied points throughout the world, was to become a problem of specialization. Its solution was to require the combined efforts of science, the food industry, and the food supply services of the military establishment.

Reserve Ration

Three special-purpose rations came into general use in World War I-the reserve ration, the trench ration, and the emergency ration.16 The first of these was an individual packaged ration which the soldier carried on his person for utilization when regular food was unavailable. The reserve ration, which sought to provide a complete food allowance for one man for one day, included a one-pound can of meat (usually corned beef), two 8-ounce tins of hard bread, 2.4 ounces of sugar, 1.12 ounces of roasted and ground coffee, and 0.16 ounce of salt. It weighed about 2 ¾ pounds and contained about 3300 calories. The food was considered ample and satisfying but the packaging, in cylindrical cans of one-pound capacity, was far from practical or economical.17

Trench Ration

As its name implies, the trench ration was designed to provide subsistence under conditions of trench warfare. The unit consisted of sufficient canned meats and canned hard bread to provide 25 men with food for one day. The canned meats were roast beef, corned beef, salmon, and sardines. Other components included salt, sugar, soluble coffee, solidified alcohol, and cigarettes. The unit was packed in large, galvanized containers designed to protect contents from poison gas.15 Although the trench ration was to be prepared as a hot meal, it could be utilized without preparation or cooking. The ration had the advantage of convenience, afforded excellent protection against poison gas, and provided a wider diet than the reserve ration. Its disadvantages were an excessive use of iron and tinplate, which made it heavy and difficult to handle; the unsuitability of the units for a single meal; the invitation to spoilage and contamination offered by opened containers; and its nutritional inadequacy.

Emergency Ration

The emergency ration, popularly known as the "Armour" or "iron" ration, was a packaged unit of concentrated food carried by the soldier to sustain life during emergencies when no other source of subsistence was available. It consisted of three 3-ounce cakes of a mixture of beef powder and cooked wheat and three one-ounce chocolate bars. These hardy items were contained in an oval-shaped, lacquered can which fitted the soldier's pocket. At the time of the Armistice, about two million rations had been shipped to France.19 Manufacture was discontinued after the war, and in 1922 the item was officially eliminated from the list of Army rations. Some of the emergency rations procured in World War I were subsequently used by aircraft pilots on Mexican border patrols, a usage which suggests that the item has some claim to parentage of modern Air Force flight rations.

While the trench ration died a natural death and the emergency ration became obsolete, some attention was given by the Quartermaster Corps to further development of the reserve ration. In 1920, it was suggested that the ration could be improved by making its container easier to carry, by dividing the unit into separate meals, by adding chocolate, and by replacing roasted and ground coffee with the soluble variety. There were, however, no suggestions for radical departures from the basic pattern of canned meat, tinned bread, and beverage. Probably because of the lack of interest then evident, it was generally considered that the ration was "good enough" in its wartime version.

Attempts by the Quartermaster Corps Subsistence School 20 to improve the ration did produce an Army specification for the item in 1922. 21 Under its terms, the components of the ration were to include:

Corned beef or Chocolate____ 3 oz.

dried sliced beef_____1 lb. Soluble coffee

Hard bread_________ 14 oz. Tablet sugar

The meat was packed in two small, sardine-type cans, each about 1 by 4 by 4 inches in size. There were two tins for the bread, chocolate, and coffee, each tin about 1 by 2 by 8 inches in size. The components were packed in a unit carton overwrapped with oiled paper. It was a considerable achievement that 10,000 of these rations (costing about $1.33 each) were procured in 1923.

The reserve ration was revised again in 1925 when the quantity of bread and corned beef was reduced and the dried beef was replaced by pork and beans. Oblong cans were still specified, although it was known that quantity production of that item was impossible. In 1930, the Army War College called the revised ration superior, termed its keeping qualities excellent, and pointed to the high degree of its utility.22 Further development nearly came to a standstill in the depression of the 1930's although some experimental reserve rations were packed in round cans by the Subsistence School in 1932. Four years later, the newly created Quartermaster Subsistence Research and Development Laboratory23 produced an experimental pack of a reserve ration containing an A unit with corned beef and a B unit with pork and beans. There was no change in the remaining components-the planners stood pat on hard bread, soluble coffee, chocolate, sugar, and cylindrical can.24

This meager bit of postwar experimentation, aimed at improving the one special ration then possessed by the Army, soon faded before the import of new tactical doctrines, relying on masses of airplanes and fast-moving tanks, that altered the entire concept of warfare and of special rations. Trench rations gave way to foods that could be utilized on the move. The development of such rations was beginning to take form in 1936 just as the specter of war began to loom over Europe.

NEXT, we look at developments as World War II became more than "That war in Europe"



All quotes courtesy US Army Quartermaster Foundation
Fort Lee, Virginia http://www.qmfound.com/
http://www.georgiacarry.org Member and Recruiter

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