FOOD AND dRINK
Food and drink was quite scarce so it was considered a luxury. Getting the food from the kitchens to the front line could be impossible if there was a battle imminent or in full flow. However, when the men were at stand-down it was easier to get food to both the British and the German.They could expect certain food to be available to a degree of frequency. The men were outside 24/7 and they burnt up most of their energy trying to stay warm. As a result of this, they all had to have 4000 calories a day to keep them going. Now, your average man is meant to have 2500 and that comes from eating lots of different things, however with the men in the war, their 4000 calories came from eating the same thing every single day with a slight change if they were lucky. Also, with 4000 calories, you would think they would get fat but they didn't. With all the manual labour of fixing the trenches, trying to keep warm in the could and fighting diseases, they would have used up all the calories by the end of the day.
daily Rations
The theoretical rations for a British Soldier were:
20 ounces of bread or 16 ounces of flour
3 ounces of cheese 5/8 ounces of tea ½ ounce of salt 4 ounces of jam 1/36 ounce of pepper 1/20 ounce of mustard 8 ounces of vegetables 1/10 of gill lime if vegetables are not given
½ gill of rum 20 ounces of tobacco maximum 1/3 of chocolate- optional 4 ounces of oatmeal instead of bread 2 ounces of dried vegetables 4 ounces of butter/margarine 1 pint of porter instead of rum 4 ounces of dried fruit instead of jam |
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Actual rations
They had very few rations. A few cracker like biscuits, if they were lucky some bacon and cheese but they mainly ate Bully beef, which was basically tinned corn beef. They also had tinned stew called maconochie's which had water mixed with chloride and vegetables and if their were no vegetables then the soldiers would use lives to add more flavour. By the winter of 1916, flour was very scarce so bread was being made with dried ground turnips.
Drinks
There was a daily rations of tea and rum given to the men to keep them warm and to keep their morals high. It was the only to drinks that were available on a day to day basis.