CELEBRATING BRITISH FOOD FORTNIGHT WITH SOME ARMY FOOD FACTS
By Johnny Baird
To
celebrate British Food Fortnight 2024 (20th September - 6th October), here are a
few Army food related facts and items from our collection for you to salivate
over! The phrase "an army marches on its stomach", attributed to
Napoleon, highlights in simple terms the importance of food and provisions to
the overall morale and efficiency of any fighting force.Army rations have developed over the years. In the 18th and 19th century soldiers got two meals a day, usually salt pork or boiled beef with bread. The advent of the vacuum tin can in 1811 had a major impact on how food could be delivered to troops and how it could be stored. Despite this, the poor logistics and transport of food for troops during the Crimean War became a national scandal. They were regularly on half rations of salt meat and biscuits with a limited amount of vegetables, usually two potatoes and an onion per man, rationed monthly. Scurvy was rife with more soldiers hospitalised by that than wounds from battle. Nearly 9 tonnes of lime juice had been provided in stores but had been ignored and sat untouched for months.
After the Crimean War dietary reforms were undertaken with a focus on providing soldiers a high energy diet. Unfortunately it was lacking in variety and often almost indigestible. The Boer War saw Hardtack biscuits used as a staple, only edible after being soaked in tea or water to save broken teeth! Tinned food was used to feed troops en masse but also as emergency rations, where one end of a tin would contain a 'meat dinner' with the other end consisting of cocoa. The First World War saw an improvement in basic but filling food with each soldier expected to receive around 4000 calories per day, supplemented by food parcels from home. The more static nature of the war saw the chance of warm cooked food from canteens and kitchens behind the lines and sometimes from local people.The Second World War saw the continued reliance on preserved foods for troops at the front, usually consisting of tinned goods with dehydrated meats and oatmeal designed to be mixed with water. Chocolate, sweets and powdered milk for tea were also included in these 24 Hour Ration Packs and
were used until field kitchens could be set up or standard composite (compo) rations could be sent out. The 'compo' ration came in a wooden crate and contained tinned and packaged food. A typical crate might include tins of bully beef, spam, steak and kidney pudding, beans, cheese, jam, biscuits, soup, sausages, and margarine. Cookable items could be heated up on a variety of portable stoves. Post war, tinned rations started to be supplemented by freeze-dried and vacuum packed food with a 24 hour ration pack designed to sustain a soldier in the field with enough calories for one day. Ration packs used in Iraq and Afghanistan had their chocolate bars replaced by sachets of peanut butter due to the chocolate melting in the desert heat. It was not a popular change! By the mid 1990's tinned foods were gradually replaced by foil packed boil-in-the-bag meals.
Army food through the years has also had to reflect the diversity of the personnel involved, taking into consideration the cultural needs of the many faith groups that have served and continue to serve in the British armed forces. Today's British Army rations continue this tradition and have a wide range of menus with halal and kosher options now available for soldiers.
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