"German Rations at the Front" Topic

Not sure if this had been posted before. I thought that some may find it interesting though. Robert

German Rations at the Front:A snapshot of what the German Soldier consumed during the Battle of the Bulge By Jeff Johannes; edited & additional information provided by Doug Nash

"Introduction
The purpose of this article is to examine what type of sustenance German soldiers ate while on the front lines in WWII. Instead of giving a broad picture of what combat rations soldiers were supposed to be issued, this article will describe, in the words of Soldaten, what they actually ate to sustain themselves. To assist in further in narrowing down this topic, this article will focus on one unit during one campaign: the 352nd Volksgrenadier Division during the German's Ardennes Offensive, known in the United States as the Battle of the Bulge."
link

Interesting little read. An army marches on its stomach.

Reminds me of what my German landlord told me about several foraging expeditions he did in Italy during the war. One of the more memorable was about how they had found a pig at a farm. As they were leaving with the pig, the farmer came out of his house yelling and screaming at them. One of the soldiers with him threw a grenade into the yard to frighten the farmer back into the house. Once back at the unit, the pig was quickly butchered and cooked. Excess meat that was not immediately consumed was then stored in the soldiers gas mask cannisters (they had thrown away the gas masks long ago). Next day the Military Police showed up looking for the pig. Pig? No pig here, (even as all of their cannisters were stuffed full of pork).

My uncle, 14 yrs old at the time, recalls that rations were issued with little bottles of brandy. The veterans took the brandy from the teenage soldiers.

There are a lot of interesting articles on that site…

Thanks or the link!

Thanks. I found them interesting too. Robert

After a surgery, I recovered in a shared a hospital room in Munich with an old guy who had served with the DAK. He was captured by the US, sent to a POW camp in Texas, and loved it. Their life was far better than in the Wehrmacht and better than civilian life while growing up in the post WWI years.

The German POWs were even adopted by a American families who brought them to church every Sunday, fed them extra (usually fruits from trees growing on the families' properties), and the POWs did extra housework to help out the family, like building and fixing things.

They were not under guard much, either. Where would they go? What chaos would they cause? Hurt the country where many of their relatives had emigrated? There were occasional problems with groups surrendering to the Americans because they knew that life as a POW would be better than anything Germany could offer at the time. By the end of the war, the average German soldiers were competing to surrender to the Americans (best), French/British (middle), and avoid the Soviets (assured misery and death).

SS was different, though.

Although the Americans got wise to the overwhelming numbers of German would-be PoWs, and had an agreement with the Soviets to turn over PoWs based on where they had fought. So sorry, Hans, back to the Eastern Front!

You guys might be interested in this site,
The Joy of Field Rations
"The Joy of Field Rations is a blog about the history and preparation of military field rations in the 20th century. Here you can find historical recipes and instructions on how to authentically reproduce them in a kitchen or campsite."
link
Some very interesting information and recipes there. Robert

WWII German Ration Recipes- from Original Wartime Wehrmacht Cookbooks
3pgd.com/recipes.htm

War photographer Eliot Elisofan found a food box in a German tank, in Tunisia in 1943.

He noted the contents:
3 tins of sardines (2 Portuguese, 1 Norwegian)
a tin of German limburger
a tin of pressed meat
butter
black bread
fresh eggs
a tin of British tea
sugar
powdered milk.

He said they made for a tasty meal for him & some US soldiers with him.

"When German manufactured items were in short supply, substitute items from occupied or neutral countries could be issued, such as Italian canned meat (nicknamed Alte Mann or old man) or Portuguese sardines. Italian or French crackers would be issued as well."

I wonder if the Landsers appreciated to change of pace LOL. Robert

ochoin ceithir. Trying other rations were ,from what I have heard, were always a welcome respite from their own rations LOL. Robert

"Yellow peas with fresh vegetables

75 g (2.68 oz) yellow peas
up to 300 g (.66 lbs) fresh vegetables (celery, carrots, leek, green peas)
up to 375 g (.82 lbs) potatoes
5 g (.18 oz) fat
5 g (.18 oz) fresh onions
Season with salt and fresh herbs (marjoram, parsley, chives etc)

Wash and soak the peas on the day before. Set them up in aprox. ¼ l (1.04 cups) of water and let them boil for aprox. 1 hour. Clean the vegetables, peel the potatoes and dice or slice into not too big pieces. Braise the onions in the fat and add the vegetables and potatoes to the peas and boil everything till done. At the end add the chopped herbs. Let the marjoram boil with the food for about 10 to 15 minutes. Season with some pepper."

Rations of the Waffen SS
link

"(nicknamed Alte Mann or old man)"

For the sake of true pedantry: Alter Mann.

I have seen both used, but I have seen ALTE more. Robert

Excelent find Robert.
Many thanks for share.

Amicalement
Armand

"I have seen both used, but I have seen ALTE more"

It all depends on the circumstances. For AM initials, Alter Mann.

You are welcome Tango. So when the letters "AM" is used the "A" stands for "Alter"? Robert

Kriegsmarine rations

"according to a statement in the interrogation of one (of six) at the island Narvi on 20/06/1944 in Soviet captivity obscurities sailors:

Menu of T 31:

Breakfast:

Coffee
Jam – 60 gr
Bread – as much as you desired
Butter – Sundays

Lunch:

Soup with meat (stew – if only because of the limited working area of the kitchen staff, even cooking on a "stock" was important pot can be kept for long, and with other ingredients, "stretched" orflavored with meat.). For example: lentil soup, pea soup, potato soup, vegetable soup

2. Course – meat or fruit
Compote on 3 Sundays
Bread – as much as you wanted

Dinner:
cold – cheese or sausage 60 gr
Butter – 40 gr
Coffee without sugar"

link

Just to stir things up a bit more the Italians joked that AM stood for "arab morto."

Scmidt, Rommel's ADC, says that the DAK found British corned beef so much better than AM that they sent it home to their families as a delicacy!

Cheers,
Bertie

"So when the letters "AM" is used the "A" stands for "Alter"?"

It could be "alte Mann" if the article were used, i.e. "der alte Mann". But in this case, without the definite article, it is "Alter Mann". Thus ends today's grammar lesson. Next up: joys of the subjunctive.

LOL Thanks tuscaloosa. Robert