As any Soldier will tell you, food is critical to morale.  Good food may not solve all of a Soldier’s problems, but bad food only adds to them.  The importance of wholesome, appetizing food to the morale and fighting ability of an Army is hard to underestimate.  This reality once led Napoleon to remark:  “C’est la soupe qui fait le soldat” (The soup makes the soldier).

In time, the ration changed due to problems with transporting the rations to the soldiers.

When in camp, the soldiers were housed in tents, except those in cold areas during winter; however, the basic plan was for six soldiers to share either a tent or a “hut” and, as at sea, the six created a “mess” or an eating unit which received the rations fit or available for six men and then cooked the food themselves.

Where soldiers had families on campaign with them, or had women, who were considered companions for the men ,were also included in the rations and usually they served as cooks for their mess. A Commissary General of Purchases was appointed by the Continental Congress in 1775 ,to arrange for the purchase of rations and their transport.

Salted and dried foods were necessary because there were no other practical means of food preservation. Often soldiers boiled their dried beans or peas with the meat to make a makeshift stew and many soldiers resorted to soaking their hardtack in warm water or stew to soften it.

While it was the intent of the Continental Congress to provide ample rations for soldiers, good intentions were not enough to keep the army fed.

Soldiers were lucky to receive even half their rations, and this did not provide them with a balanced diet- vegetables were often in short supply. Vinegar was later added to the rations to prevent scurvy, but again, it often was not available.

Transportation of supplies was the most serious problem, not only for the Continental Army, but more significantly for the British Army. Soldiers often relied on local purchases, food donations, and food sent by their families. Although , they also hunted game and gathered wild  herbs along the way.

General George Washington authorized local farmers to sell their products at camp markets, but most soldiers had little money to buy food. Justifying their actions by necessity of war, soldiers learned to “liberate” provisions

Civil War

www.civilwar.org

The Civil War had a tremendous short sight, when it began. Once in the ranks, military life turned out to be far different than what the majority of Civil War soldiers had expected.  The passage of several generations had muted the country’s memory of the deprivations of the American Revolution.

 Only a tiny fraction of a soldier’s time was spent in frontline combat. Instead, the vast majority of  existence revolved around the routines of camp life, which presented its own set of struggles and hardships.  While they acknowledged that losses would occur, no one envisioned their potential demise in anything but heroic circumstances.

Twice as many Civil War soldiers succumbed to death from disease than they did from  bullets, shells and bayonets. By varying estimates, between 400,000 and 500,000 soldiers lost their lives on the less gallant stages of disease/hunger.

During the fair-weather campaign season, soldiers could expect to be engaged in battle 1 day out of 30. Their remaining days were filled with almost interminable drilling, punctuated with spells of entertainment in the form of music, cards and other forms of gambling.

The arrival of newspapers or mail from home — whether letters or a care package — in camp was always cause for celebration.

World War I

www.armyheritage.org

By 1917 when the AEF arrived in Europe, the guidelines had changed little, with an increase in quantity and the addition of potatoes.  In addition to basic foodstuffs, Doughboys also received luxuries such as milk, butter, candy, and cigarettes; luxuries their fellow allied Soldiers lacked.  The Army often experienced shortages of fresh fruit, but in general, as one historian noted, “the dough-boys of the American Expeditionary Force were the best-fed army in World War I.”

During the First World War, canned meats were replaced with lightweight preserved meats (salted or dried) to save weight and allow more rations to be carried by soldiers carrying their supplies on foot. The reserve ration was  issued during the latter part of war to feed troops who were away from a garrison or field kitchen. It originally consisted of 12 oz of fresh bacon or one pound of canned meat known as the Meat Ration—usually, corned beef. (Bully Beef)

Getting food to the troops could be difficult, especially when the enemy tried to zero in and attack supply lines so , Quartermaster Corps, was asked  to make a number innovations to address the particular situation in France in 1918.

One of the more significant innovations was the creation of Field Bakeries that could provide fresh hot food to the Soldiers.  Field Bakeries meant the end of reliance on that old staple of armies in the field:  hard tack.  American Soldiers relished the fresh bread that came from these bakeries.

A fresh meal was always a welcomed luxury in the trenches, and whenever possible, Soldier received hot food delivered in food carts.  Bad weather, poor organization, and  enemy action (which often targets supply lines) were some of the difficulties they faced.

Any exposed food in the trenches could be ruined during a gas attack. Another hardship were  trenches  full of rats and other vermin.  Well aware of the problems of resupply, the Army developed the first emergency ration in 1901.  The idea behind the emergency ration was that Soldiers could carry food for use in the event that they were cut off from supply lines.

As always, the cost of feeding the Army was an issue.  Feeding a Soldier cost 26 cents a day during World War I, for a total of $727,092,430.44 (more than $11 billion in 2012 dollars) for the period of 1917-1918.

Defending this high cost, Senator James Wadsworth of New York said “what we should remember at this time is that the American Army is being fed as well, if not better, than any other army on the face of the earth…”

All in all, Soldiers serving during the First World War had access to much better food than their predecessors, or even their contemporaries serving in allied armies.  With access to the extra luxuries such as dairy products, candy, and freshly baked bread, and thanks to these efforts  the Doughboys fought as well as they ate.

“Iron ration” (1907–1922)

The first U.S attempt to make an individual ration for issue to soldiers in the field was the “iron ration”, introduced in 1907. It contained three 3-ounce cakes (made from a concoction of beef bouillon powder and parched and cooked wheat), three 1-oz bars of sweetened chocolate and packets of salt and pepper.

The ration was issued in a sealed tin packet that weighed one pound, to be carried in infantry mans‘ top tunic pockets,  for emergency use when the troops were unable to be supplied with food. It was later discontinued by the adoption of the “Reserve Ration”.

Spam the Miracle Ham

Spam — the square can of pork, salt, water, sugar, potato starch and sodium nitrite that first rolled off the assembly lines  during the Great Depression — invented “as a way to peddle the then-unprofitable pork shoulder,”

Spam ads  were originally aimed at housewives who wanted cheap, quick meals requiring almost no prep, Though some were hesitant to eat meat that didn’t need to be refrigerated.

But it didn’t take long for the U.S. military to find a use for the food innovation. Spam went global during World War II, when America shipped out over 100 million cans to the Pacific.

As TIME later noted, “Among fed-up fighting men from Attu to Anzio, Spam became one of the most celebrated four-letter words in World War II, gave birth to a flavorsome literature of tales, odes, jokes, limericks.” It remains popular in areas where soldiers were stationed, especially in Hawaii, Guam and the Philippines.

Hawaii still consumes more Spam than any state totaling about 7 million cans a year.

Spam also became part of aid packages to devastated Europe and Russia.

As the former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev wrote in his memoir Khrushchev Remembers: “There were many jokes going around in the army, some of them off-color, about American Spam; it tasted good, nonetheless. Without Spam, we wouldn’t have been able to feed our army. We had lost our most fertile lands.”

“Reserve ration” (1917–1937)

The Reserve Ration was issued during the later part of World War I to feed troops who were away from a garrison or field kitchen. It originally consisted of 12 oz of bacon or 14 oz of meat , two 8 oz cans of hard bread , a packet of  pre-ground coffee, a packet granulated sugar, and a packet of  of salt. There was also a separate “tobacco ration”  and 10 cigarette rolling papers, later replaced by brand-name machine-rolled cigarettes.

After the war, there were attempts to improve the ration based on input from the field. In 1922, the ration was reorganized to consist  of meat (usually beef jerky), canned corned beef , chocolate,  hard bread , coffee and sugar. In 1925, the meat ration was replaced with canned pork and beans. In 1936, there was an attempt at variety by having an “A”-menu of corned beef and a “B”-menu of pork and beans., but was cancelled upon introduction of the new Field Ration, Type C, in 1938.

While it was the intention of the War Department that both C rations and K rations be used as a short term ration until field kitchens could be set up, in many they formed the primary long-term food for GI’s in combat or remote conditions all over the globe.

Food historian  Marx de Salcedo notes . “In the universe of processed food,, World War II was the Big Bang.”At the beginning of World War II, a number of new field rations were introduced, including the Mountain ration and the Jungle ration.

Canning, or bottling, was invented at the turn of the 19th century, when the French army offered a reward for someone who could invent a way to keep foods longer.

Natick Soldier Systems Center, a U.S. Army research complex in Natick, Mass. is the federal laboratory investigates how to make soldiers’ rations taste good and last longer. Its initiatives have led to the processed cheese that’s now found in goldfish crackers and Cheetos. The center is also created longer-lasting loaves of bread and the energy bar, which was originally created to give worn-out soldiers a boost

The first Type C ration consisted of a one-pound ‘meat’ unit (M-unit) after being field tested during the 1940 Louisiana maneuvers.

Many Army officers present at the maneuvers later rose to very senior roles in World War II, including Omar Bradley, Mark Clark, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Walter Krueger, Samuel E. Anderson, Lesley J. McNair, Joseph Stilwell, and George Patton.

Included in the C-Ration  were only three variations of the main course: meat and beans, meat and potato hash, or meat and vegetable stew. Also issued was one bread-and-dessert can, or B-unit. Each daily ration . The cans were replaced with the more common cylindrical design in June 1939 due to mass production problems with the former shape of can.

In the late 1940s, the rations had gold lacquer finish to improve corrosion resistance. There was noticeable variation in color in World War II  cans, because of the large number of suppliers involved.

Late in the war this was changed to drab green paint, which remained standard through the remainder of the C-ration’s service life, as well as that of its (very similar) successor, the Meal Combat Individual (MCI).

During the war, soldiers frequently requested that the cylindrical cans be replaced with flat, rectangular ones (similar to a sardine can),because of their compactness and packability; but this was deemed impractical because of the shortage of commercial machinery available to produce them. 

Initially, C-Ration cans were marked only with paper labels, which soon fell off and made a guessing game out of evening meals; US Soldiers and Marines receiving an unpopular menu item several nights in a row often found themselves powerless to bargain for a more palatable one.

Also C-Ration was, in general, not well liked by U.S. Army or Marine forces in World War II, who found the cans heavy and cumbersome, and the menu monotonous after a short period of exposure.

There were also inevitable problems with product consistency given the large number of suppliers involved and the pressures of wartime production. Originally intended only for infrequent use, the exigencies of combat sometimes forced  the C ration to be  the only source of sustenance for several weeks in succession.

In 1943, a ration board reviewing medical examinations of soldiers after long-term use of Type C rations recommended that they be restricted to a maximum of five continuous days in the absence of supplementation with other rations.

According to the 6th Airborne :

The 24 Hour Ration was issued out under special conditions, such as D-Day.   The ration fit inside the standard mess kit and contained enough food for one day. 

In the crucial days and weeks following the landing, the Allies could ill afford delays in supplying their advancing forces. Intelligence reports indicated that French seaports were heavily defended by German forces .

The Allied forces built two floating harbors to called Mulberry Harbors to provide port facilities during the invasion of Normandy  They were built  in just a few days ,while in wartime , each the size of Dover. It was civil engineering project of immense size and complexity though  Dover itself took 7 years to build.

Mulberry A for the USA beaches of Omaha and Utah and Mulberry B for the British and Canadian beaches of Gold, Juno and Sword. Once the Normandy beaches were captured, massive reinforcements of troops, vehicles, equipment, food and fuel were needed.

According to one Allied General had D-Day failed, with a costly loss of men and equipment, it would have taken years not months to gather the strength for another attempt at invasion.

The Russians would probably have continued their advance towards Western Europe, but at a slower pace due to more German reserves being available to be deployed against them because he did not think strategic bombing would have brought a solution, and the U.S would have switched its main effort to the Pacific.

Military Rations: Field Ration D

The US Army Field Ration D (D ration or “D Bar”), developed by the Quartermaster Corps, was intended exclusively for survival. It contained three 4-ounce bars of thick, high-calorie chocolate.

Col. Paul Logan developed the bar in 1937 with the intent that it not taste too good, for fear the men would consume it rather than carry it until an emergency arose. He gave these requirements to Hershey: “…a bar weighing about four ounces, able to withstand high temperatures, high in food energy value, and tasting just a little better than a boiled potato.”

The M-unit contained a canned entrée originally made of stew meat  seasoned with salt, various spices, and chopped onions. They initially came in three varieties: Meat Stew with Beans, Meat with Vegetable Hash, and Meat Stew with Vegetables (carrots and potatoes). The commonplace nature of the menu was intentional, and designed to duplicate the menu items (hash, stews, etc.) soldiers were normally served in Army mess halls.

Another new menu item, “Meat & Spaghetti in Tomato Sauce” was added in 1943. Other mixtures were added but by all accounts, after the meat hash and mutton stew, the Ham and Lima Beans entree was the most unpopular; despite continued negative field reports, it unaccountably remained a standard entree item not only during World War II, but also during the Korean War and Vietnam War.

The components of what would become the Mountain ration were developed in 1941-42 by U.S. Army officers in experimental mountain warfare companies, largely consisting of former ski instructors, forest rangers, and other experienced alpine travelers.

Based on their recommendations, the Mountain ration was finalized and packaged for use by mountain and alpine troops .

In order to make the rations suitable for high-altitude climates, the Mountain ration was designed to be compact ,easier to prepare at high-altitude , have enough roughage  capable of slow digestion and enough bulk to satisfy four men in one day at high altitude. It also need to weigh less than 40 ounces , and contain a total of 4,800 calories per man per day. 

The Mountain ration was  issued to soldiers of several elite U.S. and British Commonwealth forces  in training for alpine or winter combat, but were especially made for  the 10th Mountain Division, and the First Special Service Force.

The Mountain ration  was criticized for its involved preparation times; and that it required heating, which was difficult for ordinary infantry soldiers without individual or squad–level cooking stoves.

In common with the alpine troops of other countries, the 10th’s officers recognized the distinct benefits of heated, easily digested foods at high altitudes. However, the noise and bulk of heating equipment and additional cooking utensils was disliked by some 10th Mountain troopers, who viewed the mountain ration as better suited to bivouac areas or mountain strongholds not subject to sudden enemy assault.

By early 1943, The Army to abolished all non-standard lightweight individual rations except for the K and D rations. But by the war’s end, after the shortcomings of the C and the K ration ,undernourishment and vitamin deficiency had become apparent.

 Ration, Individual, Combat, Type C 2, (Revised) (1948–1958)

After the failure of the E-Ration, ration planners decided to save costs by returning to the basic C-ration designation, intermittently revised with new menus and item specifications.

Department of the Army, formed an individual ration which consisted of packaged pre-cooked foods which could be eaten hot or cold. It replaced the World War II C -2. It could be carried and prepared by the individual soldier. Due to the required individual portability of this ration, maximum nourishment had to be provided in the smallest physical unit. The components of this ration were prepared in five different menus.

However, cost-cutting measures by Quartermaster Command officials decide not to develop or introduce new alternative lightweight individual rations. During the latter part of World War II and the Korean War again saw the predominance of heavy canned C rations issued to troops, regardless of operating environment or mission. The Type C ration was intended for short-term use for periods not to exceed three days.  The QMC  also successfully campaigned for the elimination of alternatives, including the K-ration, Mountain ration, and  Jungle ration.

Use of heavy canned wet ration resulted in a severe weight penalty for troops marching on foot and forced to carry a multi-day supply of rations. The overuse of the canned wet ration reached an extreme during the Vietnam War, where American troops resorted to placing stacked ration cans in socks to save bulk and reduce noise on patrol.  Their enemy increased their mobility by carrying lightweight rations of dry rice which gave them an edge.

The Quartermaster Branch’s insistence on canned wet rations for all postwar field issue, and the failure to develop a suitable lightweight dehydrated or other dry ration for jungle and other extreme environments led directly to the hurried development of the LRP rationor Long Range Patrol ration in 1966.

Paratroops, Infantry Soldiers, and Armored Vehicle Crewmen, particularly AMTRAC (Amphibious Tractor) personnel, believed that Halved Apricots were bad luck to eat during combat operations.

The Peanut Butter issued in the B-1 unit was unappetizing and often discarded, but was consumed by those with dysentery, as it was certain to stop it .Soldiers in Special Operations units alsoused to hoard B-1 peanut butter in empty ration cans to make improvised smoke candles while on long patrols.

Being extremely oily, the peanut butter burned with ease, and could be used to boil water for coffee, although it left a greasy black stain on the bottom of the canteen cup.

Starting in 1958, C-Rations were slowly replaced by the nearly identical canned Meal, Combat, Individual ration.

Other menu items were more popular, such as the pound cake, canned pears, and the spaghetti & meatballs.

In 1973, Army Colonel Henry Moak was issued a MCI which included a can of pound cake, manufactured in 1969.

He kept the unopened can and vowed to eat the pound cake when he retired from the Army. On July 24, 2009, with news media and dignitaries in attendance, Moak opened the forty-year-old can and ate the contents. He noted that the pound cake still looked and smelled the same.

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 Use of canned wet rations continued through the Vietnam War, with the improved MCI field ration. These rations were issued for most of the next two plus decades, until they were replaced in 1981. Gone were the cumbersome metal cans which enclosed the rations that preceded it .

For the last three decades, and for at least as many generations of warfighters, the individual combat ration known as the “Meal, Ready-to-Eat” or MRE has been a staple of modern warfare and training. They are described as “shelf stable” There are many types of MREs including Kosher or Halal  and even vegetarian.

In modern times, the MREs are  not just used by military personnel. They are given out by US Aid in emrergancy responces, in high disaster areas, where food can be scarce or contaminated  or civilians or refugee camps.   ,

Marine teaches MRE class to Macedonian students