During World War II, the U.S. Army Department subdivided individual soldier rations into four types:

A rations: fresh food, the rarest and most valuable of all military rations.

B rations: canned food, mainly semi-finished products that still need to be processed.

C rations: canned food, ready to eat

D rations; concentrated chocolate

The United States has sufficient supplies of wartime supplies, demonstrating its strong economic and technological strength. Each American officer and soldier is equipped with several sets of khaki military uniforms and woolen military uniforms; in addition, there are work clothes, jackets, coats, duck down sleeping bags, Leather boots, raincoat, etc. In terms of food, the most distinctive feature is the various refurbished cans.

In 1937, the American Hormel Food Company produced "canned lunch meat" for the first time. During World War II, Spam canned luncheon meat became the main protein in the Allied food during World War II. source.

American military recipes, at noon and evening, include canned food stewed with prunes, minced meat and vegetables heated on waste cans, most of the meat is Spam luncheon meat

In the second During World War I, U.S. military field food developed rapidly. There are more than 23 types of field food. Type C food (Individual Combat Food) was the most common food eaten by soldiers during World War II. It weighs approximately 3 kilograms and has 11 meal options for soldiers to choose from, five of which contain beans. The US military has also developed special food for special operations teams, including those engaged in jungle warfare and mountain warfare, called Type B food, which is mainly distributed to teams of 100 people.

The U.S. military widely used industrially produced and packaged combat rations (Combat rations) during World War II, and their evolution and formula were quite complex. When friends watch World War II movies, they often hear that there are three types of rations, namely C rations (C ration), K rations (K ration) and D rations (D ration).

C combat rations were developed starting in 1938. The U.S. Army's C combat ration is specially designed for troops under actual combat conditions without a restaurant. It is required to be easy to carry by individual soldiers and meet the nutritional needs of three meals.

C combat rations are packaged in 6 small tin cans and an accessory bag. Three of the tin cans are meat, called M ingredients. The other three tin cans are bread, called component B. 6 cans make up a day's ration. In most cases, the US military's C combat rations are cold meals. But it can also be eaten heated.

The original packaging of C rations

M ingredients come in various recipes: meat and beans, meat and vegetables, meat and macaroni, bacon, eggs and potatoes, meat and noodles, pork and rice, sausage and beans, pork and beans, bacon and lima beans, chicken and vegetables. These items are cooked, packed in tin cans, and shipped to the front line in wooden or cardboard boxes. The logistics staff prepare meals based on different meal preparation plans. For example: M1 combination plan includes ham, eggs and potatoes, meat and beans, chicken, and vegetables; M4 combination plan includes pork and beans, meat, macaroni, ham, and lima beans. It can be seen that no matter which plan takes into account nutrition, calories and taste.

Ingredient B also has a variety of formulas: biscuits, mixed compressed oatmeal, sugar-coated peanuts or raisins, instant coffee, cane sugar, instant lemon powder or orange powder, fruit sugar, jam, cocoa drink powder and brown milk sugar. Logistics staff can just add different ingredients according to different recipes when preparing meals. For example, combination plan B1 is: biscuits, compressed mixed cereal, coffee, sugar cubes, and sugar-coated peanuts. The combination plan of No. B4 is the same as No. B1, except that chocolate beans are used instead of sugar-coated peanuts.

Put the above three cans of M1 and the three cans of B4 together to form a C combat ration. Of course, don’t forget to receive an accessory pack. The accessory pack contains nine high-end cigarettes, purified water tablets, matches, toilet paper, chewing gum and a can opener.

Another type of ration widely used by the U.S. military during World War II was K Field Rations. K rations were first adopted by the U.S. Army in 1942. The first troops to use K rations were paratroopers.

Early K rations were packaged in brown cardboard boxes.

Later, it developed into colorful paper boxes, with breakfast boxes in brown, dinner boxes in green, and dinner boxes in blue. This color distinction made it easy for soldiers to choose the type of food they needed.

The meal box of K combat rations contains canned cheese, biscuits, candies, chewing gum, beverage powder, sugar, salt flakes, cigarettes, matches, can opener and wooden spoon.

The lunch set for K combat rations below includes 1 can of painted beef stew, 8 compressed biscuits, 8 small pieces of chocolate, 1 box of cigarettes (Camel, Black Cat, Chelsea, Chesterfield, etc.) , 1 box of matches

K combat ration dinner box, containing canned meat, biscuits, meat soup, candy, chewing gum, instant coffee powder, sugar, cigarettes, can opener, toilet paper and wooden spoon.

K combat ration was eliminated after World War II due to insufficient calories.

Another combat ration, D, was a very famous food during World War II. It only has one ingredient, chocolate candy. D rations are high-calorie high-end foods. Since everyone likes to eat chocolate, the US military also regards D rations as a good thing to boost morale. The D ration weighs 124 grams and is produced by the Jose Corporation of Jose, Pennsylvania. By the way, Jose is also the hometown of Lieutenant Winters. "Jose" Tropical Chocolate is a heat-resistant product developed by Jose Company in 1943 according to military requirements.

With its irresistible taste, Jose chocolate became popular all over the world during the war when supplies were extremely scarce. It was the most popular food and became a symbol of American culture. There is a scene in the TV series "Band of Brothers" where Webster of E Company gives chocolate to a Dutch child who has never tasted chocolate.

Chocolate, Coca-Cola gum and field lunch boxes were once a few items that American officers and soldiers carried with them during World War II. The United States, which calls itself a "second-tier team," did not participate in the war on a large scale until 1944. Four million soldiers went abroad and drank 1 billion bottles of Coke in a year. The American soldier, who looks carefree, always chews chocolate and gum wherever he goes, and even spreads it to the children around him when he is happy. Those Western Europeans whose settlements were ruined by the war looked envious. This kind of field lunch box not only contains buttered bread slices, luncheon meat, and salad dressings, but also contains two "Camel" brand cigarettes and three matches, so you can smoke a few puffs after the meal.