{"id":445,"date":"2010-08-30T13:28:10","date_gmt":"2010-08-30T18:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thehistoricalarchive.com\/happenings\/?p=445"},"modified":"2010-08-30T13:28:10","modified_gmt":"2010-08-30T18:28:10","slug":"what-were-wwii-k-rations-made-of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thehistoricalarchive.com\/happenings\/445\/what-were-wwii-k-rations-made-of\/","title":{"rendered":"What were WWII K-Rations Made Of?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"147322a129097e1fa44d6732c925fd6d\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"><!--\r\ngoogle_ad_client = \"ca-pub-8134560547846945\";\r\n\/* 468x60 tha *\/\r\ngoogle_ad_slot = \"1487607395\";\r\ngoogle_ad_width = 468;\r\ngoogle_ad_height = 60;\r\n\/\/-->\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"\r\nsrc=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\">\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>K Rations were developed in 1941 when the U.S. War department  tasked Dr. Ancel Keys with designing a non-perishable, ready-to-eat meal  that could fit in a soldier&#8217;s pocket as a short-duration, individual  ration. Keys did his research at a local supermarket, choosing foods  that were inexpensive but high in caloric content. He purchased hard  biscuits, hard candy, dry sausages and chocolate bars. His initial k  ration weighed in at 28 ounces and packed a whopping 3,200 calories. The  rations were tested on soldiers who gave uniformly low ratings for  their taste but said that they did relieve hunger and provide energy for  the days tasks. Due to the lack of balance in these meals, they were  intended for short duration activities only. In fact, they were  recommended for a maximum of only 15 meals before the soldiers were to  be put on the more balanced &#8216;A&#8217; or &#8216;B&#8217; field rations. <!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The makeup of the K ration evolved and was first put in use in 1942.  At that time, they were assigned to U.S. Airborne troops on an  experimental basis. Initial reports of this evolved K ration were  favorable. The tests were held in a variety of conditions for three day  periods. After the testing, the soldiers were tested and found to be  healthy. Based on these findings, the use of the K ration became  widespread through the armed forces. (It should be noted that these  tests were performed on optimal conditions -without the stresses of  rugged terrain, heavy packs or combat conditions so that the decision to  roll out the K rations was based on conditions that an adventurous  hiker might encounter rather than a soldier under fire.) As the war  geared up for the United States, the idea of a K ration as a short term  ration for soldiers fell by the wayside and became a staple of many  soldiers fighting on the front lines.<\/p>\n<p>As WWII continued and winded down, it became obvious that the K  ration had problems &#8211; especially when used as a long term food source by  the soldiers. Problems included the lack of vitamin content and the  fact that even these high calorie levels were insufficient for a soldier  working all day in combat conditions. The other problem was the  monotony of the meals. K rations were all the same so soldiers were  forced to eat the same identical foods day in and day out. In spite of  these issues, the K ration remained the common food source for the  military for the duration of the war &#8211; including for troops fighting in  the most extreme of conditions.<\/p>\n<p>So what was actually in a K ration package?<\/p>\n<p>K ration packages were broken into three containers &#8211; one for breakfast, one for lunch and one for dinner.<\/p>\n<p>Breakfast Unit: canned entree (chopped ham and eggs, veal loaf),  biscuits, a dried fruit bar or cereal bar, Halazone water purification  tablets, a 4-pack of cigarettes, chewing gum, instant coffee, and sugar  (granulated, cubed, or compressed).<\/p>\n<p>Lunch Unit: canned entree (processed cheese, ham, or ham &amp;  cheese), biscuits, 15 malted milk tablets (early) or 5 caramels (late),  sugar (granulated, cubed, or compressed), salt packet, a 4-pack of  cigarettes and a book of matches, chewing gum, and a powdered beverage  packet (lemon (c.1940), orange (c.1943), or grape (c.1945) flavor).<\/p>\n<p>Supper Unit: canned meat, consisting of either chicken pate, pork  luncheon meat with carrot &amp; apple (1st issue), beef &amp; pork loaf  (2nd issue), or sausages; biscuits; a 2-ounce D ration emergency  chocolate bar, Tropical bar, or (in temperate climates) commercial sweet  chocolate bar; a packet of toilet paper tissues; a 4-pack of  cigarettes; chewing gum, and a bouillon soup cube or powder packet.<\/p>\n<p>The K rations were produced by the Cracker Jack company and fit in a  box about the same size as a commercial Cracker Jack box. Each box  contained all three meals and represented a caloric intake of between  2,830 and 3,000 calories depending on the components that were used. K  rations were so integrated into the Army&#8217;s food plans that the U.S. Army  M-1943 herringbone twill (HBT) fatigue uniform had simplified, but  large, pockets that were designed to be able to hold a K-Ration box.<\/p>\n<p>Due to its nutritional deficiencies, the K ration was abandoned  after WWII in favor of more varied and nutritionally balanced rations.  But during the war, it did serve its purpose in keeping U.S. soldiers  fed on a daily basis under battlefield conditions.<!-- google_ad_section_end --> Author Resource:-  World War II was a true World War with fighting and involvement from most countries. It was a long and hard fought war.<\/p>\n<p>For true unadulterated stories of the war taken at the front lines, you need to check out the <a href=\"..\/..\/products\/World-War-II-Newsre-37.html\">WWII Newsreel Collection<\/a>, delivering hours of actual footage of events of the war.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div><iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thehistoricalarchive.com%2Fhappenings%2F445%2Fwhat-were-wwii-k-rations-made-of%2F&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=true&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;colorscheme=light\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowTransparency=\"true\" style=\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px;margin-top:5px;\"><\/iframe>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>K Rations were developed in 1941 when the U.S. War department tasked Dr. Ancel Keys with designing a non-perishable, ready-to-eat meal that could fit in a soldier&#8217;s pocket as a short-duration, individual ration. Keys did his research at a local supermarket, choosing foods that were inexpensive but high in caloric content. He purchased hard biscuits, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thehistoricalarchive.com\/happenings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thehistoricalarchive.com\/happenings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thehistoricalarchive.com\/happenings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thehistoricalarchive.com\/happenings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thehistoricalarchive.com\/happenings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.thehistoricalarchive.com\/happenings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thehistoricalarchive.com\/happenings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thehistoricalarchive.com\/happenings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thehistoricalarchive.com\/happenings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}