The 24 Hour Ration Pack - British WW2
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- Опубликовано: 3 июн 2021
- The 24 Hour Ration Pack was issued to British troops in WW2.
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I’m hooked. Thank the Lord that you don’t have one of those upper crust English accents. Those folks can just piss off. 😂
@@edhodapp6465 Cheers for the compliment, and thanks for the pledge on our members club 😋
We all know if British people don’t have tea daily they transform into French. Hence the tea.
Hillarious!
They revert to germans
It's a shame they deny themselves such a beneficial transformation
@@VVeremoose yea the French can cook better but a Brit can survive on virtually inedible food stuffs, a kettle of tea and a picture of the queen. I will say though Nothing beats some French style cultured butter on a scone to go with said tea.
@Roman von ungern-sternberg a croissant and a pitcher of dirty water beats a scone and tea.
Allthemoreso if the superior bread is paired with a café au lait
I had trouble believing there were 4,000 calories in that, until the chocolate blocks were brought out.
i stg 70% the calories are in the chocolate
British General: "We give our troops 4000 calories a day in their ration packs"
Soviet General "Rubbish, they could never carry that many potatoes!"
Better to say next way: "They have guns, why do you need to feed them?!"
Break up some biscuits into the meat to thicken it up ( Tip from my dad )... He used to bring home the oatmeal blocks and boiled sweets whenever he'd been on exercise. (1950's 60's)... hot milk over the blocks with some sugar was a great breakfast, liked it better than porridge......
On my recent series where I’m looking at each content of the box specifically, I do just that with the biscuits. Keep an eye out! 😊
@@LivingHistoryUK Wilco..... 👍
It says that in the back of the menu
@@thebelfastvikingmartinbrow3603 Sorry, I wasn't given one. I want to speak to the manager..😁..
"... into the meat to thicken it up." - There is just something wrong with that statement.
Great video. My late Father fought in Burma & the Far East in WW2. Was raised as a British Army Kid in the 1950/70s . Dad went through the ranks and finally retired as a Major RAOC to Chilwell Nottingham where he was Barrack Officer. Spent 3 years in Malta when 3 para were out there and went to a Royal Naval School. Never forget getting taken round Ark Royal when she was in Valletta Harbour. Happy days
I remember the 24 hour Ration Pack fondly (on excercise) from my time in the army in the mid 60s. Slightly different to the one you are illustrating. Loved the dried egg power etc. We also had tinned food and a hexamin stove.
A hexamine stove & fuel was issued alongside the WW2 24hr ration. It was the first hexamine cooker issued to troops in the British army.
I do disaster prepping and in 2020 I expanded to attempt to store enough shelf stable food for my family, for a year. I based off a certain number of calories, per person, per day - with room for wastage.
It's a lot of food.
Bulk sugar really helps. It's nutritionally empty, of course, but it really helps you store raw energy long term. I can see why they used so much sugar/sweets in these kits.
You show great respect for those soldiers who sacrificed so much for the world. Go UK!
Well said. Best Armed Forces in the world since 1939.
Those biscuits remind me of the ones issued in ration packs in the 1980s. Biscuits AB, which officially meant alternative bread. Unofficially it was arse blocker because they were known for giving you constipation.
Constipation bread is still a staple in many modern MREs, so I doubt it was unintentional.
Giving soldiers a food that will bung them up for three days is fine. Till day three when the whole unit is crouched behind rocks going 'Hnnnngg!. Reminds me: the result of being bunged up for three days was known as a 'Compo anaconda'. Compo being what field rations were known as in the 1980s. Apart from this it needs little explanation...
I loved the 80s oatmeal blocks and in the 10 man pack tinned sausages i always refered to biscuits ab as ard bastards
@@gerrywoody4301 Oh yeah the oatmeal blocks made a great porridge and could be eaten dry. The tinned sausages were nice too. The biscuits AB I think are the direct descendants of hard tack biscuits. They were hard but at least they didn't break your teeth like hard tack did. I found most people's favourite was the chicken curry.
@Nooziterp1
Biggest "crimes against snap" for us in the 90s-00s was those bloody awful Typhoo "one cup" teabags! I'd use both of mine in one brew just to try and taste something!
Being a Yorkshire lad, I like my brew strong enough so that you can stand the spoon up in it lol
Must admit, though, the alcohol-free antibac wipes doubled up as decent bog roll when suffering from "Tora Bora Belly!"
All right, let's get this out onto a tray. Nice.
No hiss unfortunately...
MRE's have certainly come a long way since WW2. Interestingly enough, lots of chocolate is also a stable of the Sirius Patrol men, who patrol North Eastern Greenland on dog sleighs. In Greenland, a standard survival "meal" also consists of "skibskiks", some very hard and compact oat bisquits. There are some similarities. Greetings from Denmark 🇩🇰
Especially considering MREs only hit the scene in the 80s.
to make the meat portion thicker break the biscuits up into it, it also reduces the saltiness of it
I hate “loomps “ in my food as well. The Russian equivalent was as follows: 2 packs of cigarettes, 2 freeze dried potatoes or beets 750ml. Vodka. Germans: 12 tablets of speed, 2 grams of coke.
So happy to see an in depth video on this ration!! Always wanted to try it!
Thanks Jacob, glad you enjoyed the video.
Informative and delicious presentation! Thank you!
Thank you for the history lesson.it really in a small way helps me to imagine what it was like for the heroes who saved the world.
Couldn't be a British ration without tea and porridge
Facts
Brilliant video thank you
Recently purchased one of these, looking forward to it coming. Keep up the good work.
You must have more money than sense! 30 quid for that?! You can get the same effect from a few oxo cubes and lidl's rich tea biscuits
@@fostexfan160 you must be a poor sod
@@hardcorehistorybuff5230 I'm actually quite comfortable. The poor sods are people like yourself who play at being soldiers
@@fostexfan160 im sorry youre poor, and playing soldier? funny since I was actually in the Army
@@hardcorehistorybuff5230 Lots of people play at being soldiers in the army, you poor sod
Really enjoyed the video. Thank you 😊
Most welcome ☺️
This was amazingly interesting - thank you!
Really interesting review, and a fantastic reproduction.
Great vid, it's nice to learn something :)
Thanks for the kind words, glad you enjoyed it.
thanks very informative ,thanks for sharing
Brilliant informative and fun video! Good work sir,
Thanks Max, glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks for the information
Great video..Thanks!
this is probably the best video on these I have ever seen. you presented it so well, and in a formal but easy way to understand. thanks for the info I learnt a lot about this. pleas could you do a video om compo rations,... do you specialize in the history of rations. i have subbed
Thank you for the kind words, really appreciate it. Glad you found it educational and enjoyed it. I shall get something together on Compo rations in the near future.
@@LivingHistoryUK ok mate thank you very much, keep up the great work mate
The salt was important for replacing electrolytes as they understand it at the time anyway. To avoid cramping etc. Sweating through slot of daily activity, salt was important.
The Bog Roll, ie izal~ you screw it up and then use it, fond memories of using it. The oatmeal you mix with water and make oak cakes out of it which you can eat cold later if you dont troff them 1st light.
Brilliant, thank you!
This helps a lot because I'm working on my own work Raton useing combination of the British 24hr and the us k and D ration as well as adding some 10-1 raton as well
This was really interesting! First time I've seen inside one of these!!
Very interesting,indeed!
Absolutely fascinating
Excellent review have a sub
Great video👍🏻.
I well recall the freeze dried meat blocks of the 60's, broken up in water with curry powder heated over a solid fuel stove. The 24 hour ration pack weighed 2 lbs and we were used with 10 days rations which we had to carry, so a lot of biscuits were thrown out. But still great days!
When you make the meat block you crumble the biscuit into it which makes it easier to eat, less salty and anyway, eating dry biscuits can be pretty challenging. As soon as you get the Rat Pack you break it up and disperse it about your person as your mess tins will already be occupied with spare socks, gloves etc.
Thank you for the informative video. I am interested in the topic of rations and life of soldiers of the Second World War, it was very useful to learn about the British army.
In my opinion, the main problem of this ration is a small amount of food. Yes, calories seem to be enough, but nevertheless I think that the volume of food in the stomach itself will be too small and the soldier, even after receiving calories, will still remain hungry.
Greetings from Belarus :)
Vlad is looking to get your army guys to "liberate" Ukraine. I think the whole world knows what Russian MRE's are composed of and their expiry dates. Regards
This video has just answered my previous question!
Glad you are enjoying our content Mike :D
After watching this video I plan on ordering one of these very soon!
Very informative and well presented 🙂
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it :)
@@LivingHistoryUK yeh I've subbed your channel, I heard of you via Eire military collectables livestream 😀
@@steelhelmetstan7305 Indeed I have, Good mate with John S, he is a top bloke. And thanks for the sub! Consider joining our Patreon too www.patreon.com/livinghistoryuk
@@LivingHistoryUK 👍👍👍
Very informative and educational. I first saw a mock up of the ration in a pictoral history of the British "Tommie" in the lead up to the Normandy landings. It is absolutely fantastic to see the ration being prepared and eaten (or drunk). Well done Mate!!!!
Not much different into the 1970s except the main meals were all in tins. There were four different packs lettered A to D. You got a pack of assorted sweets, I think Mars bars were in the D pack which were the favourite. The oatmeal blocks were in all the packs and they were OK you also got a small tin of processed cheese which went very well with the biscuits.
I think nowadays there are about a dozen different packs with all sorts of foods in them you can buy them on eBay for around £14.
Some had rolos instead of mars bars, for some reason ours had araibic writing, the rumor was they were left over from the Suez crisis.
I was serving just as the old packs were changed to the modern bags. Of the old ones, I liked the S & K pudding and the fruit salad tins, rollos were good, but... the hot chocolate was the best. Fortunately they kept the hot chocolate with the new packs too.
Ours normally had the cheese removed, my favorite was the bacon burgers and beans, that and the boiled sweets.
Zizal TP? I remember that stuff from school in the 1970s and early 80s! It didnt so much as clean thing up as just move stuff about! Mind you it DID get used as tracing paper, and from what I heard on a recent repeat of QI, it also got used as airmail writing paper by foreign exchange students, especially in boarding schools.
"It's not got much Spam in it."
Sugar will only get you so far. This was a difficult time for nutritional science. The imperative was to eschew tinned food and provide light, dry rations that would keep a soldier going. Hence, all those boiled sweets. The chocolates and dried meat do provide some fats but not much. The complex carbohydrates of the porridge and biscuit are good, but the simple carbs would be better replaced by sizable tubes of peanut butter and ghee (clarified butter).
Even in the 1980s our ration pack was 4000calories. Our arctic rations in Norway were 5,500calories 🇬🇧.
Nostalgia !
Rations much more improved today
Best not to be bogged down in past
Look forward!
weirdo
I love how English this guy sounds, god bless England and let her remain English.
Nowadays Britain can't even defend their own borders with thousands of illegal Immigrants coming into Britain every month they get hotels and meals and WiFi and spending money for free
Damn, are you brits not even hiding the racism anymore?
@@zhitchcresttail3387 It’s racism to want England to remain English?
This is the most compact daily ration I have ever seen 🔁
I always find it amazing when people eat genuine WW2 rations...That shows how well-prepared these rations were...
To think that you're actually eating something that was prepared and packed 80 years ago just blows my mind...
That said some people might have stronger digestive systems than others...
This might be a reproduction. It looks slightly too clean.
@@zacharyrollick6169 It says in the description that it's a modern reproduction, and the channel sells them on their website.
@@DavidCowie2022 Thanks, I forgot to update my comment.
Amazing ration compared to the K Ration which had three different meal packs for a day but with less calories. For two days they would need 6 KRations which would be difficult to carry.
Served in the navy. But as we carried SBS and the such it was really great .. we had to help with there loading and unloading often in the very early hours. They would bring extra rat packs for those of us that would go hiking when we were at anchor . My favorite was the Arctic packs. Not only did they have the extra Calories but I personally thought that the menus were better. Also I found that I could more easily break down the pack for stowage within my kit. And still be able to access it during the day without a major repack. Oh happy days.
Just one question I now reside in the USA. But would very much like to try the WW2 rat pack. Is there any where that I could get a couple. Thank very much.
Did they have different rations for troops in the fsr east or was it all the same due to costs?
I took a drink every time you said"ration pack"
Feeling drunk yet?
@@LivingHistoryUK nah I haven't seen the duck yet😵💫🥴
In WW2 some soldiers recruited were from headhunting tribes. Worse, some were from cannibalistic tribes. They were effective as they didn't carry as much rations . Though they never did leave without spices.
The box is one meal for me. No enough calories
Man v Food, 1944 style.
LoL I sworn you said "troops jumping into Ireland during operation Market Garden" but after listening a couple of times Arnhem pops out
Awesomeness
Interesting presentation. Could you elaborate on why the two different sizes were produced if the contents were the same? Also, who has made these reproduction items?
Thanks. The reproductions were made in-house here at Living History UK, we occasionally sell the packs on our website. The differing sizes were so that they could fit in the two mess tins (1 x large & 1 x Small).
Keep it up 💯
Being an ex US Army Infantryman from Vietnam I found this interesting. We had to carry 3 C-Ration Meal Boxes for every day. This seems so much more advanced than ours including more toilet paper.
We still had that tracing paper toilet paper in our school in the 70s and using it was a skill in itself, we may have had more TP in our ration packs but there was a price to pay!!!!
Very interesting! Really love the enameled coffee mug…
Outstanding, 😎👍👍
Hi I’m a huge fan and I follow your tiktok
I would have to imagine the menu suggests biscuits with the oatmeal because it's assumed the soldier will crush one or more biscuits down and mix them in for thickening. Also, the tea having loads of sugar in it makes sense, as then you can save the sugar cubes for the oatmeal, or just for a light pick-me-up when on watch.
I've read that a favorite British snack was the "cheese" scraped from the bottom of their Nutsack and eaten on biscuits.
That is so much sugar. Modern rations are so much more bulky but I think more balanced and filling, more proteins and vitamins and solid meals. I can't think marching for longer than a few days on nothing but these rations will feel good.
Having lived off these repro 24hr packs for 48hrs I can vouch you feel pretty grim afterwards and there's no need for toilet paper!
I just thought you'd like to know I gave you a thumbs up because it's nice to see a britishers take on these things though Steve 89 or 1989 he's been doing this for quite some time then he stop doing it who knows why nice to see a British person take on it although in those British rations I was surprised they also didn't come with cigarettes... There's was the smoking generation.
Hey living history could you please do a ww2 usmc tropical ration what they had in the hot climate please many thanks
Forgive me for asking you to clarify this I have seen golden syrup but as I don't touch the stuff since I don't know what it used 4 is that like corn syrup and I also don't know what treacle is I have seen it in certain stores around here it's just not something I've ever used or would you so I was just wondering what exactly is it if you don't mind me asking... I've always wondered about it.
Golden syrup (Treacle) is similar to US corn syrup. Black Treacle is sort of like molasses. They both have their unique flavor so they're not exactly like their US counterparts, but can be used in similar roles.
I happen to have a bottle of golden syrup in my cupboard.
"Ingredients: partially inverted sugar syrup."
Does that help?
@@DavidCowie2022 I keep my bottle upside down to facilitate pouring. Does that mean my syrup is partially erect?
HOLY COW....quite literally....That gravy looks like the most luxurious soup I have ever seen!
I'm taking that these are reproductions of the original WW2 ration kits? There's a company here in the US that makes period correct reproductions of the American WW2 K-Ration that have all edible components and even includes cigarettes. Where did you purchase yours from?
Yes they are repro, check the pinned comment for more info.
The soldiers that were used to these probably included a grinder to save energy, and probably added a few more ingredients for the meat stew and porridge.
if i buy on your website a pack will it convert my visa usd -> £ ??
It will do at checkout when you pay, yes.
I'd like to know more about the foldable cooker, if anyone can tell me. What was the fuel?
Oh the part where you said "no it is not dog food" made me laugh. I have ordered my dad one for when he goes camping, man is he in for a feast. 😅
I wish they still made these, be grate to throw in a pack for camping.
They do! Check out Living History UK Website:- livinghistoryuk.co.uk/shop
Easy to make one
We were still being issued this for my school CCF in the 50s. We all felt is was far superior to school meals.
Were there any variations to the menu? I'm guessing those on sustained operations would get tired fast of eating the same thing over and over.
No variations, just this one menu as such. There were theatre specific rations such as the Pacific ration however, but again no variation in terms of menu. Worth remembering the blokes were only eating these for a maximum of 48hrs, they would then revert to the Compo, which had numerous different menus.
@@LivingHistoryUK ah, ok. That makes a lot of sense, thanks for the reply!
This is super cool ive never seen British ration paclks before. Really cool
I wonder how many wild foraged for things like nettles to add to their rations?
"The Germans had crystal meth - all we had was tea with about a half a dozen sugars in it"
It isn't our boy SteveMRE but it's close enough.
Marching burns a lot of energy , so , if you wish to lose weight , Walk , A Lot !
That's what your tin of biscuits you know the sea biscuits that are there I think that's what they call them hardtack is what they call them in the States you had a different term 4 it, it was used for soaking into that gravy that you made make it more palatable and to give you more solidness in your food well as more calories by in taking more bread bread like substance if you will made it more tolerable to eat. I actually know somebody from that period of time who actually told me they cubes and mixed it with the oatmeal I thought it weird but everybody has their own taste, he said it makes a much richer soup... Like I said to each their own.
What ration pack had Bully Beef in a 12 oz can from Argentina or Uruguay ?
I think you are alluding to the 'Iron Ration' of WW1.
I could imagine still feeling hungry even though it's surprisingly with a good amount of calories. It would make sense with the cigarette rations they got, as well as smoking was and still is known to suppress feelings of hunger.
If i would vaccum pack this and store in a dark, dry and cool area how long would i be able to have it stowed away before it goes bad?
Considering the contents, possibly indefinitely. That's already true for the oatmeal. I have some oatmeal that "expired" ten years ago and it's fine.
I wonder why they didn't just put in 4 tea bags instead of the blocks. Tea looked very cloudy like there was a bit of milk in it
It's pre-mixed, and each block has tea; sugar & powdered milk in it. 65% approx. sugar. It was created to be an energy drink, with one cup at daybreak and the other at the end of the days exertion.
I'd add 2 of the beef extract cubes to the oatmeal
This is a great presentation, and shows just how well this kit is put together. Less than no idea why YT just recommended it to me, but I’m not complaining.
Lol ,same! It just came up and I'm glad it did.
Thank you for your kind words :)
Now all you need is the dehydrated water.
The sweets were to give you added energy, according to a Holocaust survivor mother managed to find from a burnt-out sweet factory much like the candies you she would keep those candies to make into a drink with she would use to see those even less fortunate then herself to give them if nothing else, sweets like that would keep you going and they keep is sugar levels up so that you could keep remember you're burning a lot of calories and you don't have time to sit down and eat something like an actual meal.
As innocent as a chocolate bar is... Fury has clearly messed that up for me.
We used to call the chocolate “bung hole”
Still rather this than school lunches
Toilet paper….as we used to say, two sheets to smear, two sheets to polish….🤣
Considering the gear they were wearing running around marching fighting you burn a lot of calories mind you some also supplemented with what they could find sometimes it just wasn't enough.