Chow: Food for the Servicemen

Most G.I. Joes would tell you they missed home cooking. However, this soldier seems to be making the best of his situation as he smiles for the camera.

Army

For the G.I., mealtime was not always what it had been “back home” in the States. Troops consumed two different kinds of rations—C-Rations and K-Rations. The men quickly tired of both of these. C-Rations (“C-rats”) were for combat troops. Although K-Rations were originally for airborne troops and messengers, being less bulky these were eventually found to be easier for the regular infantry to carry. Since the food had little variance and little taste, chow time usually dished up plenty of derisive comments along with the troop’s “slop.” Rations frequently became the butt of countless jokes by all soldiers who missed home cooking.

Contents for rations would vary. C-rats would have a main course, canned fruit, chocolate bars, processed cheese and cracker-like biscuits, and instant coffee (“Joe”). The main course could be franks and beans, eggs and potatoes, meat and noodles, meat and spaghetti in tomato sauce, or the widely hated ham and lima beans. Also provided was chewing gum, cigarettes and a matchbook, and toilet paper.

K-Rations came in color-coded boxes; as shown here, blue indicated dinner. This particular ration includes Camel cigarettes and Wrigley’s chewing gum, which would be considered by the average American soldier as the two most valuable assets of the kit.

K-Rations were manufactured by companies such as Cracker Jack and Heinz. They were similar to C-Rats, but more evolved with durability, as well as the troops’ health, in mind. Troops were given three boxes of K-Rations per day, one for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. When the troops opened them up, they would find canned meat and eggs, cheese spread and biscuits, and bullion powder. Besides the usual gum, cigarettes, and toilet paper, they were also provided with salt tablets, wooden utensils, candy, and a sugary drink.

Although this ad displays a soldier holding a D-Ration bar (above) as if he has just bitten into it, D-bars were extremely hard. G.I.s had to use a knife to shave off pieces of the chocolate in order to eat it.

Sugar was important for everyone, providing a necessary boost of energy. Sweets given to troops in their rations included powdered orange or lemon drinks, caramels, and fruit bars. Chocolate was rationed, much of it being shipped to the military. During the D-Day invasion, D-ration chocolate bars were distributed to the soldiers. Made by Hershey, the bars were specifically concocted to be high-energy and able to withstand high temperatures (one ingredient that helped with this was paraffin wax). The four-ounce bars were not intended to be overly delicious. They were reserved for emergency situations, and thus to taste “a little better than a boiled potato.” D-ration bars were so dense, hard, and bitter that they were sometimes simply tossed out by the troops.

Civilians were told that “where the cigarette counts most” was with their soldier boys overseas. The U.S. military was the first priority; civilians who smoked came last.

As mentioned, cigarettes were part of a G.I.’s rations. The average soldier during World War II usually carried Lucky Strikes, though other brands (Camel or Chesterfield) were also smoked with gusto. Troops were told to “smoke ‘em if you got ‘em”, so nearly everyone picked up the habit and had a cigarette dangling from his mouth. Soldiers smoked to steady nerves, relieve stress, and fight boredom. According to one source, the U.S. Army handed out nearly 350 billion cigarettes.

Marines

The Marines needed rations which would not spoil in extreme temperatures. They ate C-Rats and K-Rations when they were away from field kitchens. Captured Japanese rations were also a large part of their survival. Marines would trade chocolate bars or cigarettes with the locals for eggs, which were sought after.

Marines in the field would sit down to such a dinner as this on an average day: canned pork loaf, crackers, lemonade, and dried peaches.  

Army Air Force

Depending on where their base was located, pilots could be supplied with food from either the surrounding countryside or with rations from the Army Air Force (A.A.F.) Pilots stationed in England often boarded in the homes of nearby families, who would provide home-cooked meals for the Americans.

Air Crew Lunches came in special packages that would be easy for airmen to open while in the air.

Bombing missions could be as lengthy as eight hours, so crewmen would pack pre-packaged snacks. Rations for air crews were expected to meet two main qualifications: to be “easy” on the stomach and be high in energy. The A.A.F. supplied crews with special rations called “Air Crew Lunches.” These were small packages designed for easy opening, particularly when handled with the heavy flight gloves airmen wore. The lunches contained sweets such as chocolate drops, gum drops, licorice, fudge bars, and gum.

In the Pacific theater, it was particularly difficult to present airmen with a good meal. One pilot said that coffee was “the best part of breakfast.” But sometimes there were biscuits (“brick-hard, smeared with canned peanut butter", as one fighter pilot, Edwards Park, noted). Yes, coffee was better; what was more, it was a mainstay.

Navy

Assurances of good food played a large part in attracting sailor recruits. Because seamen doing rigorous labor often burned over 4,000 calories per day, food was important. The health of the crew was imperative as well. In the Navy, food was prepared by cooks aboard ship. Cooks had to be creative since they were provided a standard cookbook with recipes intended to serve groups of one hundred men. Colorful food was served to make meals more interesting and palatable.

A chow line forms for the hungry sailors aboard ship.

Officer’s wardroom, USS Yorktown

Sailors ate in the mess hall and were served their meals at 7:00 A.M., noon, and 5:00 P.M. Navy food was  mostly dehydrated or canned. Any beef was quickly consumed within the first few days aboard ship. Most ships banned alcoholic beverages, but one thing that sailors drank by the quart was coffee. Breakfast was usually powdered eggs, doused liberally with ketchup and powdered milk. (One sailor remembered the eggs as “not fit for humans to eat.”) For most meals, potatoes and fried spam were mainstays. Occasionally pumpkin or sweet potatoes appeared on plates.

For all branches of the military, the biggest morale boosters proved to be cigarettes, chewing gum, and ice cream (usually made from powdered form). Speaking of ice cream, it was especially important to a sailor’s morale, taking the place of the banned alcohol. Early in the war, when the U.S.S. Lexington was going under after being torpedoed, the ship’s crew made sure to swiftly eat the ice cream remaining in the ship’s freezer. Only then did they abandon ship.

Photograph Credits- SOLDIER EATING K-RATIONS: vintag.es; K-RATIONS: ima-usa; CHOCOLATE POSTER: dyingforchocolate.blogspot; D-RATION BAR: wandermighty; CHESTERFIELD: Pinterest; MARINE’S MEAL: U.S. Marine Corps; AIR CREW LUNCH: historicflyingcothing; NAVY CHOW: ussbelknap; OFFICER’S WARDROOM: thepirateslair.