When it comes to war, the importance of grain and grass is self-evident, and the people's food is especially true in war. If there is not enough food and grass, it will directly affect the course of the war. During the war-torn Second World War, most people think of the harsh war environment of the warriors and feel that hunger is a common thing for them. But was this really the case during the real World War II? Today we take you to see what the army food is like during the real war.
1. Food for the German army
The German food was relatively abundant. Basically, it can meet the supply of three meals a day. In terms of the proportion of food in the three meals, the proportion of lunch is the highest, while the proportion of breakfast and dinner is the smallest.
This is also based on the German dietary habit of lunch-based. Even in wartime, German army food was distributed according to daily eating habits. Food distribution in the army is also hierarchical, such as the first-class food distribution in Germany, which is the highest grade and preferential distribution.
Mainly including: rye bread, sausages, butter or vegetable cream or edible fats sometimes smoked fish instead of honey or jam, vegetables, animal fats, potatoes, some spices and coffee beans (sometimes replaced by black tea), and even chocolate or candy and cigarette paper for rolling cigarettes.
From this point of view, the Food of the German Army is also very rich in nutritional ratios and balanced in terms of types.
In short, the main composition of the Food of the German Army was whole wheat bread, canned milk and red sausage, and the red wine looted from all over Europe played the same role as Russian tea and became an indispensable "life concoction" for German soldiers, and it was precisely because of these Germans who fought from Norway to Moscow.
2. Food for the Soviet army
The most indispensable thing in the Soviet army was black bread, which was simple but could maximize the energy needed by soldiers. It is even recorded that black bread saved at least 400,000 lives in the Soviet Union and maintained nearly 10 million combat effectiveness
Tea and sugar have been listed as important military supplies since 1886, and the prevalence of troops that distribute tea is much lower than that of troops that only distribute wine. Since Russia did not produce tea, it was not until the Russo-Japanese War in 1904 that tea began to be distributed to the whole army.
But Soviet prisoners of war ate poorly in Germany. Dietary conditions are extremely poor, and the supply of food that is difficult to eat is difficult to swallow, not to mention, and the quantity is particularly small and in short supply. Therefore, most prisoners of war often do not have enough to eat, so they are replaced by diseases caused by hunger, and when they are hungry, they go to find tree roots, grass, insects, and leftovers in the canteen.
3. Food for the Japanese Army
Although the diet of the Japanese army is not the most sumptuous, it is also very much in line with the daily eating habits of japanese people who like to eat seafood.
Japan's naval breakfast includes dried fish, nori, miso soup, pickled pickles, white rice, most Japanese non-commissioned officers are still accustomed to eating Japanese breakfast, if you want to eat Western food can also be reported a day in advance will also be prepared for it. Usually, the Lunch of the Japanese Army is a Western-style full meal served in the order of soup, fish, and meat, but the dining etiquette requires that no matter what season is hot or cold, as long as you eat, you must wear a jacket and use British table manners to eat.
If it is the commander of the combined fleet, it is also necessary to eat in a private room, not to eat with other soldiers, and also need to be accompanied by guards, but sometimes in the commander's hall, but at the same time require the reception of key fleet members and so on in the order of rank from top to bottom.
Moreover, five minutes before the meal of senior officers were needed, and a military band was also needed to play for them first, even in the middle of the war, and the Japanese band could also practice at this opportunity.
The main ingredients for dinner are Japanese dishes such as sashimi, pickled vegetables, grilled fish, steamed eggs, and miso soup, and some local specialties are added depending on the arrival of warships. Overall, the Diet of the Japanese Navy is relatively sumptuous.
4. Food for U.S. troops
If you look at Germany and Japan alone, do you already feel very rich? No, if there is to be the most abundant, it is definitely the United States.
Why? Coffee, as a necessary drink in the daily eating habits of Westerners, is easy to drink in daily life, but if you want to drink good coffee on the battlefield, you not only need firewood but also need a lot of fresh water, but you can't light the fire on the front line on the actual battlefield.
So the U.S. Department of Munitions has worked hard to achieve this demand and thought of two feasible ways, the first is to make soluble coffee, which is very similar to instant coffee, the principle is to grind the coffee beans into a powder and then rinse them with water to drink. The second is to roast the coffee beans in the place of origin, and then grind them in small batches and drink them out of the box.
Chocolate, Coca-Cola gum and field lunch boxes were once a few of the items that American soldiers carried with them during World War II. Although they entered the war relatively late, 4 million soldiers who left the country drank 1 billion bottles of Coke in a year. American soldiers, who always chewed chocolate and gum in their mouths, wanted to share it with the children around them when they were happy. Compared to those Western Europeans who suffered from war, it is really enviable.
It should be known that this kind of field lunch box in the United States mainly includes buttered bread slices, salad ingredients and lunch meat, and even two "camel" brand cigarettes and 3 matches. What a sumptuous!
Even in 1937, the American food company made canned luncheon meat, which really met the protein needs of soldiers. It can be seen that the abundant food rationing of the US military is due to the strong economic and technological strength of the US military, not only in the distribution of food, but also in different climates to produce a number of sets of military uniforms.
5. Summary
In general, after comparing the food of the armies of the major participating countries, on the whole, the diet of the armies of various countries still reflects the eating habits of various countries, and they can also eat enough, not as we think, the diet is relatively poor or the last meal is not eaten.
The reason why the dietary arrangements of the major participating countries are so rich and important is that during the war, what is most needed is the combat effectiveness of soldiers, especially in such a large-scale protracted war, which cannot be adhered to without a good army food supply.
From this point of view, the military life of soldiers during World War II is still OK. And in addition to the food of the soldiers, even the food of the prisoners of war is also very good, like the prisoners of war captured by the United States can basically meet the needs of survival in the US military.
bibliography:
History of the Second World War
Memoirs of World War II