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The 3 major Rations types in World War 2 (D, C, K)
D-Ration: These rations are based on one that was removed from a carton dated September 1942. Three bars were actually considered a full days ration. They were intended as an emergency ration when no other subsistence was available.
Historical:
Though some research was performed during 1934, it wasn't until a 1935 directive from the US Army Quartermaster Corp that a strong effort was put forth to find a replacement for the Armor Ration. Ration nomenclature and polices were under revision and development during the late 1930s. Therefore it wasn't until 1939 the chocolate bar was designated as Field Ration Type D and standardized as the official emergency ration of the US Army and Army Air Forces.
Initial procurement was in the summer of 1937 for 90,000 rations (270,000 bars). These bars were for testing purposes only. 600,000 rations (1,800,000 bars) were procured in late 1941. During 1942, approx 117,800,000 rations (353,400,000 bars) were procured. Most of these bars were stockpiled overseas. No bars were procured during 1943. In the second and third quarters of 1944, an additional 52,000,000 rations (156,000,000 bars) were ordered. This was the final procurement of this ration. For many years after the war, stockpiles existed.
Though the ration was intended for emergencies, it was used as meal supplement or replacement. In some instances, the ration was treated as a confection rather than a ration item.
Clearly, a ration of three bars with 1800 calories would provide enough energy to keep soldiers active while other foodstuffs were not available. However, the ration lacked the nutritional value to serve as a regular, long-term ration.
Tests in 1940 called for some of the bars tested to be first sealed in aluminum foil, then wrapped in parchment paper, then Kraft paper wrapped around the long axis, and then twelve bar being packed into a tin can.
By February 1942, packaging required the bar be wrapped in moisture resisting cellophane (due to an aluminum shortage) and placed in a waxed paperboard outer box. Original examples seem to indicate that the aluminum foil and parchment paper inside the waxed cardboard carton were was used concurrently. The individual boxes were then packed into cartons of 12, which were in turn packed into wooden crates (12 to a crate for a total of 144) for shipment.
The army also made a 2oz. D-Ration Bar both in a “long” and “short” format. These were intended for use within a K-ration.
C-Ration: We have chosen to start with cans that are based on the Quartermaster specification in place during 1942.
The cans are 12 oz in size with gold lacquer. The labels are side mounted on both the M (Meat) unit and B (Bread) unit. A key was soldered to the bottom of the B unit and the cans came with an opening strip. Six cans constituted a full days ration. The early war specifications included M-1, Meat & Beans, M-2, Meat & Vegetable Stew, M-3, Meat & Vegetable Hash, and three B units. The B units contained 2.50oz of biscuits, 1.00oz of Confection (candy), .50oz of sugar, .25oz of coffee. Eventually, as the war went on, clearly the food became monotonous.
So in early 1944 new specifications came out. The title of the C-Ration changed from “U.S. Army Field Ration C” to “Ration, Type C, Assembly, Packaging, and Packing”. This included 3 M units and 3 B units plus 1 accessory pack. The B units varied to the meal. But included biscuits, compressed and premixed cereal, candy-coated peanuts or raisons, soluble coffee, sugar, lemon or orange juice powder, hard candies, jam, cocoa, beverage powder, and caramels. The accessory pack included cigarettes, halazone water-purification tablets, book matches, toilet paper, chewing gum, and an opener for the meats. The M unit had; meat and beans; meat-and-vegetable stew; meat and spaghetti; ham, egg, and potato; meat and noodles, pork and frankfurters and beans; pork and beans; ham and lima beans; and chicken and vegetables. The early war M units were all abandoned because of poor acceptance.
Eventually, the late war ration came out in July of 1945 and was rarely seen at the front. The late-war rations hard candy and candy-coated peanuts and raisins were deleted from the B units because of poor keeping quality, and a fudge disc and cookie sandwich were substituted. Salt tablets to alleviate heat exhaustion were added to the accessory pack. The ultimate revision also substituted sugar tablets for the granulated type, increased the variety of beverage powders, and added a compressed cocoa disc to the list of B components. At the request of The Surgeon General, halazone tablets were deleted from the accessory pack. Beef stew was a new canned meat component. The accessory pack was divided into two packets, first named the "long" and the "short" pack and later, the "accessory pack" and the "cigarette pack." Gum, toilet paper, can opener, granulated salt, salt tablets, and wood spoons were included in the "long" pack.The cigarette pack consisted of three units of three or one unit of nine cigarettes, and matches.
Historical: The C ration was actually constantly undergoing changes and improvements since its inception in 1938. Therefore it isn't easy to summarize the major and minor changes succinctly. The first large scale procurement of the ration actually occurred in Oct 1941 when 1.5 million rations were ordered even though the C Ration was adopted and standardized in Nov 1939.
Ration Package:
The Nov 1939 standard called for the larger 15 oz cans. During 1940, there was less than 500,000 of these rations ordered. All of these were intended for the Louisiana Maneuvers of 1940. The Nov 1939 standard strongly recommended that the cans be gold anodized on the outside to prohibit oxidation and increase the long-term storage of the rations. However, the standard was not changed to require a gold anodized exterior until Nov 1941 (I think that was right) and then only for M units. Early in 1942, the standard was again amended to require all cans be gold anodized. Then in June 1944, the standard was again amended to require either OD lacquer or anodizing on the cans. However it is my belief, that there was overlapping based on existing stocks. So you may see gold anodized prior to 1941 and after July 1944.
As a result of the Louisiana Maneuvers, it was decided in Dec 1940 to reduce the can size to 12 oz from 15 oz. The 12 oz can remained the standard until the 1950s.
Ration Label:
As for labeling of the cans, before Dec 1941, the cans were lithographed with the contents and packager on the side of the can. There is no evidence of a standard color of the label, but our research has shown M units marked in red or black and B units marked in either blue or black. Cans were embossed on the lid with the month and year of packaging. In Dec 1941, the packager was required to remove his name from the label and emboss the lid of the can. Some manufactures were embossing the lid with their name, so in the early part of 1942, clarification was announced to ensure that the establishment number and not the name was embossed on the lid with month and year. In Dec 1942, all B units were required to have the label lithographed on the lid of the can while M units could be on the side or lid.
There was actually some accusations the government didn't want the companies to get free advertising, but it seems for reasonable to me that is not the case. Embossing the lid with the establishment number does a couple of things. First, the lithographed label could be rubbed off making it difficult to attribute a can to a specific company in the event of manufacturing or quality defects. However the downside to this was that to much embossing could weaken the lid and result in damage to the contents of the cans.
With all that said, the set that contains all gold cans with side labels represent only 1942 production. Even though the 12 months doesn't seem like a long time, 1942 had total production requests of approximately 77 million rations. The rations produced in 1942 and 1943 were most of fighting men of the United States Armed Forces saw and consumed during World War 2. Compare this to less than 500,000 15 oz can rations and less than 15 million 12 oz silver can rations.
Production Numbers:
The following is a table showing the approximate number of C Rations contracted by the War Department during World War II. As a reminder each ration consisted of 3 M Units and 3 B units.
MONTH / NUMBER OF RATIONSOct. 1941 / 1,500,000
Dec. 1941 / 4,500,000
Jan. 1942 / 10,000,000
July 1942 / 775,000
Aug. 1942 / 8,225,000
Sept. 1942 / 19,000,000
Oct. 1942 / 15,000,000
Nov. 1942 / 7,000,000
Dec. 1942 / 17,000,000
Jan. 1943 / 6,000,000
Feb. 1943 / 6,000,000
Mar. 1943 / 1,245,000
Shipping Crate:
For shipment overseas, the C Rations were packed in a nailed wooden box. The box contained 8 rations (48 cans). The cans were arranged in two layers of 24 cans separated by chipboard. On one end of the wood crate was the typical solid crescent and stated US Army Field Ration C, 8 Rations, with the weight and cubic displacement. On the front side of the crate was marked with the packager's name, contract number and date of packaging.
K-Ration: A ration set included a breakfast, dinner and supper in the colorful morale style of outer boxes. Each set included a breakfast, dinner and supper for the pre-war, early war, and morale style of outer boxes. In addition, it included three each of the breakfast, dinner and supper inner boxes
Historical: K Rations were originally developed as a parachute ration intended for airborne troops. However, the ration was quickly adopted for widespread usage. The K-ration went through about 7 changes before the final one was agreed upon. Ancel Keys is the inventor of it. Although, nobody is sure if he used the last letter of his last name in naming the K-Ration. The K-Ration was developed at the University of Minnesota.
Only three menu items were available, Breakfast, Dinner and Supper. As finally specified:
The FINAL breakfast packet contained a canned meat product (Chopped Ham and Eggs), (8 rectangular) biscuits, a compressed cereal bar, soluble coffee, a fruit bar, gum, 4 sugar tablets, four cigarettes, water-purification tablets, a can opener, toilet paper, and a wooden spoon.
Appearance:
The FINAL dinner carton had a canned cheese product, (8 rectangular) biscuits, a candy bar, gum, grape, lemon or orange beverage powders, granulated sugar, salt tablets, cigarettes, and matches, a can opener and spoon.
Appearance:
The FINAL supper packet included a canned meat product (Beef and Pork Loaf), (4 rectangular) biscuits, bouillon powder, confections and gum, soluble coffee, granulated sugar, 4 cigarettes, can opener, and spoon
Appearance:
The biscuits, beverages, sugar, fruit bar, confections, gum, and spoon were packaged in a laminated cellophane bag while the canned meat and cheese product were put in a chipboard sleeve-type box
According to the Summer 1944 Edition of The Officer's Guide, the army K Ration consists of the following:
DESCRIPTION OF THE "K" RATION
Breakfast Units: K-1 Biscuits; K-2 Biscuits; Meat and Egg M-Unit; Fruit Bar; Soluble Coffee Product; Sugar Cubes; Cigarettes; Chewing Gum; & A Key.
Dinner Units: K-1 Biscuits; K-2 Biscuits; Cheese Product M-Unit; Confection; Lemon Juice Powder; Sugar Cubes; Cigarettes; Chewing Gum; Matches; & A Key.
Supper Units: K-1 Biscuits; K-2 Biscuits; Meat Product M-Unit; Chocolate Bar (Field Ration D); Boullion Powder; Cigarettes; Chewing Gum; Toilet Tissue; & A Key.
There were several variations to the design of the meal cartons, but only two designs were widely seen. The most common is the "camouflage" or "morale" style. It is the late war pattern adopted in 1943. The outer carton for each meal had a unique design and color. It was designed to add variety, but most importantly, to enable the individual to quickly determine the meal. With the limited selections, it seems it was important that somebody wasn't stuck with just one type of meal.
The second most common was the plain brown outer carton. It designated the meal on the outside, but did not indicate the contents nor offer any advice to its usage. These were made from late 1941 through 1943.
The early trial styles of outer cartons were also plain brown, and had the name of the meal as well as the early contents printed on the outside. This style actually had a meat component that was in a rectangular type tin rather than the round tins found in later K Rations.
Generally, the inner cartons remained consistent throughout the war. The inner cartons were dipped in a solution of paraffin and bee's wax to seal from the elements and protect against chemical agents. The outer carton was used to protect the wax from the inner from rubbing off and prevent inner cartons from sticking together in a shipping crate.
K Rations were shipped in a chipboard box over-packed with a wood-shipping crate. Each shipping crate contained 36 meals or 12 rations. The wooden crate weighed 40 pounds and displaced 1.2 cubic feet.
The P-38:
It is the can opener included in the K-Ration. It got its name because it took 38 cuts to open the tin and that it worked as fast as a P-38 lighting. It also went by the term “John Wayne”, but this term was used more in the Navy. Troops used the P-38 to do other things like clean their nails and as a screwdriver.
Sources:
World War Two Ration Technologies:
Militeria Products Co.:
Quartermaster:
The above information is not of my work
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