NEW ARMY RATIONS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 219, 15 September 1943, Page 4

NEW ARMY RATIONS

TROOPS IN FIELD

U.S. EXPERIMENTS

(By THOMAS R. HENRY)

First issues of the army's new "U" ration for troops in the field are being received at air force stations in North Africa. It provides a varied, palatable diet with no cooking necessary—merely addition of either hot or cold water for breakfast cereals, coffee, ham and eggs, roast beef, meat balls and spaghetti and several other dishes.

Mess officers are unanimous in praise of the ration as the best for held service yet achieved by the scientists of the quarter-master corps, and men who have subsisted for months on little more than the "C" ration are equally enthusiastic over the change. A little variety in diet probably has a lot to do with the reaction.

Eighth Army Ideal

The issuance now is opportune, because most air corps medical officers in the field have just prohibited buying green vegetables, such as a very delicious lettuce, from local Arabs after deciding that it was unsafe with any normal amount of preparation. These vegetables used to give a welcome relief to mess hall monotony. The new ration comes packed in wooden boxes each of which contains enough for five men for one day. It would be difficult to carry on the back, but most troops here travel by jeep or truck anyway.

A similar ration, with the addition of cigarettes, was devised by the British Ministry of Food last winter especially with the Eighth Army, then crossing the desert, in mind, and at that time it was hailed as nearest to the ideal yet realised. American Army experimenters evidently were working along the same lines at the same time. Variety in Menus Three different menus for three succeeding days have been issued, with different cereals each morning and different meat and fruits for each meal.

The ration is not intended to take the place of the "K" ration for troops actually in the front lines, to which there has been little objection, but is close to ideal for small parties sent out on scouting missions or for air crews on a day's mission. If it is possible to get hot water the need of a kitchen and cooks for hot meals is obviated and even with cold water the ration is quite palatable.—Auckland Star and N.A.N.A.