Food supply was a major problem when soldiers advanced into enemy territory. All men carried emergency food called iron rations. This was a can of bully beef, a few biscuits and a sealed tin of tea and sugar. These iron rations could only be opened with the permission of an officer.
Daily rations were meant to include fresh or frozen meat, but many meals would have consisted of tinned food, like this 'Maconochie' beef and vegetable stew. Named after the company that made it, it was a familiar aspect of the British soldier's diet.
By the First World War (1914-18), Army food was basic, but filling. Each soldier could expect around 4,000 calories a day, with tinned rations and hard biscuits staples once again. But their diet also included vegetables, bread and jam, and boiled plum puddings.
Canned food in particular was a cheap source of sustenance and it was relatively easy to mass-produce and deliver. The army field kitchens couldn't reach all the soldiers on the front line, so many got food rations to survive a couple of days—though some did live off those rations for longer periods.
Bully beef (tinned corned beef), rice, jam, cocoa, tea, some bread and above all hard tack fed the Australian soldiers at Gallipoli. Hard tack, also known as "ANZAC Wafer", or "ANZAC Tile", has a very long shelf life, unlike bread. Hard tack or biscuits continued to be eaten during the Second World War.
The most common food given to soldiers was bread, coffee, and salt pork. The typical ration for every Union soldier was about a pound of meat and a pound of bread or flour.
Soldiers' Rations in WW1
Meal options were limited, but many soldiers ate a better diet than at home, enjoying dishes such as beef tea, mutton broth, potato pie and 'duff pudding' (boiled plum pudding).
Wartime canning and victory gardens were symbols of patriotism and heavily promoted by the government. Home canning during World War II offered families on the home-front a way to supplement their food supplies when rationing was in effect. As an import, sugar, a home canning staple, was among the rationed items.
R & R refers to time that members of the armed forces spend relaxing, away from their usual duties. R & R is an abbreviation for `rest and recuperation.
While the initial specification was officially declared obsolete in 1945, and production of all Type C rations ended in 1958, existing stockpiles of both original and revised Type C rations continued to be issued to troops serving in Korea and even as late as the Vietnam War.
The 'trench ration' was designed to feed a certain number of soldiers. It was used when the food prepared in the field kitchens could be delivered. It included corned beef, sardines, salmon, coffee, salt, sugar and even cigarettes. The 'emergency ration' included highly caloric aliments, such as chocolate.
Food at the Front
In 1916, the staple food of the British soldier was pea-soup with horse-meat chunks. The hard-working kitchen teams were having to source local vegetables. When they couldn't, weeds, nettles, and leaves would be used to flavor soups and stews.
At night opportunist rats crept out. Discarded food cans would rattle as the rats crept inside to lick the remains. More horrifically the rodents were sometimes referred to as corpse rats. They bred rapidly in their millions and swarmed through No-Mans Land gnawing the corpses of fallen soldiers.
First World War period tin of British Army issue 'corned' or 'bully' beef. 'Bully' formed an all too regular part of the British serviceman's active service diet and it required little inducement for soldiers to trade or give their excess stores to local civilian populations.
In the US, Thomas Kensett and Ezra Daggett patented the use of tinplate in 1825 to sell canned oysters, fruits, meats and vegetables.
The first can arrives in America in 1825, as Thomas Kensett and Ezra Daggert sell their patented cans filled with oysters, fruits, meats and vegetables to New Yorkers. However, canned food doesn't achieve commercial success in the USA until Gail Bordon's 1856 invention, condensed milk.
Ready and Resilient (R2) provides the foundation for individuals to build and sustain personal readiness and resilience.
Post-Deployment Reunion & Reintegration | Military OneSource.
R&R, military slang for rest and recuperation (or rest and relaxation or rest and recreation or rest and rehabilitation), is an abbreviation used for the free time of a soldier or international UN staff serving in unaccompanied (no family) duty stations.
canning, method of preserving food from spoilage by storing it in containers that are hermetically sealed and then sterilized by heat. The process was invented after prolonged research by Nicolas Appert of France in 1809, in response to a call by his government for a means of preserving food for army and navy use.
Napoleon offered 12,000 francs to improve upon the prevailing food preservation methods of the time. Not surprisingly, the purpose was to better feed his army "when an invaded country was not able or inclined to sell or provide food". Fifteen years later, confectioner Nicolas François Appert claimed the prize.
The principal of canning is simply to kill micro-organisms present in food and to keep new micro-organisms at bay. Food is sealed in the can and then heated to a temperature that destroys harmful micro-organisms and any spores that could grow in the can.
Feeding both civilians and soldiers was a global issue during the First World War and food shortages were a major feature of the war experience. The food crisis experienced by the Central Powers in 1918 played a decisive role in their defeat, and hunger induced by economic warfare played a crucial part in it.
Some soldiers mixed beer or cider with white wine; thin red wine was sometimes mixed with army rum to add body; rough brandies and marcs could be chucked into wine to make it stronger; and "champagne" was sold with a range of adulterants.
Getting to sleep
When able to rest, soldiers in front line trenches would try and shelter from the elements in dugouts. These varied from deep underground shelters to small hollows in the side of trenches – as shown here.