Hot Stuff! Collectors warming up to military rations

When people think of military collectables, items such as weapons, uniforms, and medals are the first that come to mind. But there is growing interest in military rations due to the unique perspective they give on the daily lives of soldiers.

In the early part of the ongoing Russian Invasion of Ukraine, there were widespread reports of Russian soldiers looting abandoned farms and villages for supplies, even spending time rounding up chickens as they advanced. The overstretched Russian supply system was made evident when videos emerged of Ukrainian soldiers capturing Russian food trucks filled with long expired military rations, which they went on to burn. It proves that even today’s modern, high-tech armies still march first and foremost on their stomachs.

When thousands of soldiers collect together on campaign, the age-old problem of feeding them invariably rears its ugly head. For millennia, large armies “lived off the land” – pillaging whatever they could from the countryside they passed through. However, there were attempts at preserving food for military personnel even in ancient times.

Hoplites in Ancient Greece ate itrion on the march. This simple bar of honey and sesame seeds bears a striking resemblance to the high-energy snack bars found in modern MREs. A few centuries later, the Republican Roman war machine perfected the art of logistics, keeping huge armies concentrated for extended periods. By the time of the Emperor Hadrian, bucellatum (hard tack) was baked in huge quantities for legions on the move.

In the early-modern period, the navies of European powers led the way in military ration technology. Long sea voyages necessitated preservable foods. From the 1760s, Royal Navy crews enjoyed rations that afforded them a balanced diet (and a reasonable chance of avoiding scurvy). These included barrel-packed salt-pork and salt-beef, ship’s biscuit (hard-tack), lime juice, and pickled cabbage, all washed down with a liberal amount of rum.

But it was not until the dawn of industrial warfare that the concept of mass-produced portable pre-boxed field rations took hold, allowing the serviceman to become a temporarily self-sustaining warrior.

Civil War Union soldiers received hard tack – lots of it. It was often deemed “sheet iron crackers” by the men for its ability to break teeth. When insects would creep into the tack and lay eggs, the unpalatable crackers became known as “worm castles.” Hard-tack came in giant 50lb boxes stamped “Army Bread” so it was never a ration tailored to individuals – rather it would be doled out by platoon and the men would stuff the tack in their haversacks so it could be eaten on the move. The Union Army Subsistence Department achieved a superb reputation for efficiency. President Lincoln once commented to one of its officers: “Your department we scarcely hear of; it is like a well-regulated stomach, works so smoothly we are not conscious of having it.”

In Europe during the Franco-Prussian War, the Germans who marched on Paris did so with pockets full of highly preservable erbswurst (pea-meal, fat, and bacon), without which “the troops could not have endured the fatigues to which they were subjected.”

The First Modern Rations

In the 19th century, the first canned food appeared, and subsequently European armies were regularly supplied in the field with an assortment of preservable meats and biscuits. But it was not until the Boer War (1899-1902) that Britain issued the first all-in-one ration.

After a short period of conventional fighting, the Boer Commando units Britain opposed switched to guerrilla warfare. The British Army quickly had to adapt to a counterinsurgency role, dispersing its units into small garrisons. Men could be out on the veldt for days at a time, often without the logistical support of an HQ. The Field Ration, 1900 was an emergency ration with a revolutionary concept – to provide complete emergency sustenance for 36 hours. Handed out to every soldier, the tin was “only to be opened under the direction of an officer.” It contained one half concentrated beef and the other half cocoa powder.

Picking up a Boer War emergency ration today is possible, though sealed ones go for over $500 on average. These are not to be confused with a similar British emergency survival ration produced in WW1 which will have a year from 1914 to 1918 embossed on the front.

By the time of the First World War, Western nations were all experimenting with shelf-stable, tinned rations that would be sufficient to sustain their soldiers. The United States led the way with “Iron Rations.” Taking inspiration from the Boer War Emergency Ration, the American Iron Ration contained three 3-oz beef cakes, chocolate, and salt and pepper. When eaten with hard-tack, also packed in ration tins, the meal was enough to keep a man going in protracted combat. World War I U.S. Army Emergency Rations are very rare, and an original one can be worth over a thousand dollars.

Daily British rations were a good deal less advanced. Maconochie’s army stew was the staple – often loathed by Tommies even though every tin proudly proclaimed it contained only “the finest beef.” Maconochie’s was originally a Scottish fish-bottling company, so British war planners, in their infinite wisdom, naturally thought them the most qualified supplier to produce a watery and unappetizing canned beef stew. The saying went that Maconochie’s eaten warm was bad enough, but was so revolting when eaten cold that it was “a man killer.”

While Iron Rations and Maconochie’s were good enough for sustaining men in the horrific conditions of trench warfare, the bland contents had never been a morale booster. All that would change during World War II when America again led the way in military food technology with the introduction of the K-Ration.

The K-Ration

From 1937 Ancel Keys – an unknown physiologist whose only notable work to that point had been a study of the body’s tolerance to extreme altitudes – began formulating the concept for what would become the staple fighting ration of the U.S. in World War II.

Keys was given a simple objective, to come up with “the greatest variety of nutritionally balanced components within the smallest space.” And so the K-Ration was born – named after its inventor. Space was crucial, as the first K-Rations were intended for paratroopers fighting behind enemy lines without logistical support. Designed in three components, “breakfast”, “supper”, and “dinner”, each box was made small enough to fit into the pockets of the M-42 Paratrooper and M-43 Field Jackets.

The first trial runs were poor – there was much grumbling and Keys noted his test subjects consumed the ration “without relish.” Going back to the drawing board, he added cigarettes, chewing gum, and toilet paper, and the paratroopers of Fort Benning, Georgia found the revamped ration tolerable. By mid-war, K-rations ease of use and light weight made them the mainstay of the U.S. soldier in combat. They contained hard-tack, sugar, chocolate, and something that at least legally qualified as meat.

A key problem with the K-Ration was its lack of calorific content for men in hard fighting conditions. Testing in mountain and jungle terrain was limited. A paratrooper unit designated the Panama Jungle Test Platoon evaluated K-Rations for only three days, marching 11 miles per day in fairly flat, unforested terrain with a light equipment load. When the men were weighed, no abnormal weight loss was recorded, so the trial was deemed a success.

Troops in the Pacific Theatre of Operations found K-Rations totally inadequate to the job. Providing limited sustenance and vitamins, when eaten without supplementary food for an extended period, the K-Ration led to a severe loss of body weight.

Nevertheless, K-Rations were produced in such huge quantities they were shared between Allied armies. While GIs may have been sick of them by 1944, British soldiers fighting the Japanese in Burma loved them at first. However, some Chindit units fighting the Japanese behind enemy lines had to live on them day in day out for up to five months. One extended Chindit operation saw 401 men hospitalized, with only 22 of that number battle casualties. The rest were malnourished.

Chindit officer Michael “Mad Mike” Calvert called the rations “a hardship”, but not “a great hardship”, as they could usually be supplemented with locally-sourced meat and the liberal amounts of rum that were dropped in by the RAF.

Collecting K-Rations today is an expensive hobby. It is rare to find a complete set of K-Rations on the market. Usually sellers offer individual components (either a supper, dinner, or breakfast unit). Condition is important, and original unopened ones can easily fetch around $1000. Other sellers offer items from the component boxes. Cigarettes (which invariably come in 4-packs) are particularly popular, and can fetch hundreds of dollars.

Vietnam

The American war in Vietnam saw a giant leap forward in military rations. MCIs (Meal Combat Individual) – known by the troops as “C-rats” – came into service in 1958. Consisting of a “meat” can, a “bread” can, and a “dessert” can, the rations hold up remarkably well even today.

C-rats had greater variety, foreshadowing the modern MRE, though one unit found the “chopped ham and eggs” meal so inedible they called it “The Joker” and would give it to one unlucky grunt via random draw.

The main problem with C-rats was that the Army never developed a compact stove for cooking them in the field, even though the Wehrmacht had issued Esbit stoves throughout World War II. Grunts in Vietnam were forced to improvise ration heaters out of empty B-1 cans, or eat the food cold if cooking was not an option. Cigarettes were still included to boost morale and help reduce nervous tension. Like the previous K-Rations, they came in 4-packs. Brands included Lucky Strike, Marlboro, and Pall Mall. Collectors should note that cigarettes were discontinued in 1972 and it is the pre-’72 MCIs that remain the most popular on today’s market.

MCIs are not as collectible as K-Rations, because many more of them have survived. Individual cans can be picked up for as little as $10. Accessory packets are more collectible, and ones in good condition are sold for over $100.

Rations inspired by the Space Race also began appearing in Vietnam, most notably the LRP (Long Range Patrol) – known as “Lurps” by the servicemen on the ground. Utilizing NASA technology, the ration was extremely lightweight because the main meal component was packaged by the Oregon Freeze Dry (OFD) company. They came in brown or green packets, looking remarkably similar to the MREs of today.

The main disadvantage was water consumption – around one and a half pints were required to cook the meal. On recon, pilot rescue, or search and destroy missions, cooking was rarely an option. In that case the meal would have to be crumbled up and eaten dry – an unpleasant prospect for any Special Forces man. Even then, a similar amount of water had to be consumed to stave off dehydration.

LRPs were sometimes issued to ordinary soldiers, especially towards the end of the conflict. One grunt recalled that they were a “wonderful diversion” from the mundane C-Rats he was used to – the only drawback being that a large amount of hot water had to be carried to make the meal edible.

Many sellers will refer to the LRP as “Lurps” rations. They can be picked up fairly cheaply, and are often sold in job lots.

The MRE

The greatest innovation yet seen in ration technology is the American MRE (Meal, Ready to Eat) – a design so effective it has been copied by nearly every other army in the world. They first saw active service in the 1980s, and were quickly referred to by soldiers as “Meals, Rarely Edible.”

Menu No. 6, Frankfurters, Beef certainly deserves ridicule. Nicknamed “the four fingers of death”, the Army wisely discontinued this atrocious meal option in 2000, but some unfortunate soldiers were still being issued them in Iraq as late as 2006.

Each MRE contained a main meal, side dish, bread, and dessert, along with a powdered energy drink mix. The lack of cooking utensils suffered by grunts in Vietnam was solved with the inclusion of a flameless ration heater. The increasingly health conscious army of the 1980s declined to add cigarettes but every MRE accessory pack still retained chewing gum and toilet paper.

Due to the quantities produced and the global reach of the American armed forces, it is the MRE that dominates the ration collecting market today. Interesting finds to look out for are the yellow Humanitarian Rations from 1993-2001 and the white Ration, Cold Weather MREs from the late 1980s.

MREs should not be confused with the First Strike Ration (FSR) – a compact, high energy packet designed to be eaten by combat soldiers on the move in the first 72 hours of a conflict. Introduced from 2008, FSRs are more densely nutritious versions of the MRE.

A Global Market

MREs have become so synonymous that they are now a catch all term used by collectors to refer to non-American rations. Even Chinese PLA (People’s Liberation Army) ration packs are becoming popular and can be picked up cheaply because of the huge amount produced for the PRC armed forces.

Russian MRE-style rations are also highly collectible in the West. This is perhaps due to a fascination for what potential enemy forces are eating, and how they are supplied in comparison to Western armies. Russian rations are a good deal pricier than PRC ones and less come onto the market each year. This is no doubt because of the war in Ukraine, which has seen the Russian army struggle to properly supply its soldiers.

Several sellers make money by putting together replica rations. This is especially the case with World War II German rations because original ones are extremely difficult to obtain (and there are many fakes). Replica rations can be obtained at a fraction of the cost and are generally much safer to eat.

Those with a deep interest in military rations should check out Steven Thomas’ YouTube channel, SteveMREInfo1989. Steve has a huge variety of original rations on display, and even eats some of them. Particular highlights (if you can stomach them) include Civil War hard-tack and 100-year-old ground beef. The fact he is still alive at the time of writing proves the enduring value of the preservable ration concept.