Any Good Books on WWII US Army Rations?

[Robthewild1]

Hey guys,

I was wondering if any of you folks happen to know of any good reference books on WWII era United States Army Rations? Maybe even some good online articles? Looking to find things like, well documented/pictured examples of things like packaging, wrappers, and even of the food stuffs inside them. Anything that's filled with information on distribution, etc.

I've been starting my research on the K-Ration units at the moment, and so far have gathered most of my knowledge from kration.info. Great website, with great pictured examples. Just hungry for more (pun intended). I also caught a couple of steve1989's videos of his couple of WWII era rations he opened up, and thought they were fantastic references as well.

My interest in WW2 rations originates from doing my research for my WW2 German Reenacting unit/group. I'm more of a DIY rations dude when prepping for an event (that and their isn't many well done reproduction rations for the German faction, or any that I've been 100% pleased with. I'm pretty picky to be totally honest). So, I spent the last year reading up on the subject, and began recreating some packaging and stuffing them with the closest modern alternative food and non-food items. My goal is to provide my group with items that look, and hopefully taste (in a sense) like the real deal. Hopefully stepping up the immersion level by doing so. Only thing that I skimp out on is the packaging materials, not only is it cost friendly for me and my guys, but this way you don't feel bad tearing into these things, or crushing them, or whatever you wanna do with them. As of late, I've sparked an interest in doing WWII US GI reenacting as well, and wanted to apply the same concept to my future en devour all while keeping my thing for DIYing my rations. Haha.

Thanks Guys, Hopefully someone might know of some good books or reads on the subject!

-Robert

PS: If you're curious on where I get a lot of my info on WWII German Rations, dererstezug.com has a couple articles on the subject. But my favorite source is Jim Pool's books Rations of the German Wehrmacht in World War II Volume 1 and 2. Filled with great information, excerpts from US Army Ration Report Evaluations, distribution, very well documented pictures of original examples, even shares information on typical storage conditions, all the way up to can constructions of the canned meat rations. I highly recommend it.

[parafireboy]

For ration info specific to the US only, "Food in the American Military" by John C. and Carol Fisher is a good one. The ISBN is 978-0-7864-3417-6. It covers all periods from the Revolutionary War all the way to present, but has a lot of great detailed info. Hope this helps!

[Ruleryak]

The museum's been building a library for a few years. I'll check and see what I have that covers WW2 and will let you know titles/etc. One of these days we want to get a copy of vols 1/2 of Jim Pool's Wehrmacht books, but we do have a handful of other tomes, military and civilian.

[Robthewild1]

Thank you Parafireboy! I will have to look that one up.

And also thank you Ruleryak! That's awesome, I'd love to hear what you folks have in your library. Thanks again guys.

[Robthewild1]

Anyone happen to find anything?

[donaldjcheek]

1. Food in the American Military, by John C. Fisher & Carol Fisher. General overview of US military rations, Army & Navy, from the Revolutionary War up to 2011.

2. QMC Manual 17-3, US Army Rations & Supplements, December, 1944. This covers all rations used by the US Army during WW2. Available in PDF format from the 90th Infantry Division Preservation Group http://www.90thidpg.us

3. QMC Historical Studies Number 6: Development of Special Rations for the Army, by Harold Thatcher. Written for the Office of the Quartermaster General in September 1944, reprinted by George Petersen, National Capital Historical Sales, in the mid to late '90s.

4. NATICK TR-82/013: Summary of Operational Rations, June 1982, by Vera Mason, Alice Meyer & Mary Klicka. Although written in 1982, it has a good historical summary of the C & K ration. Available online in PDF format.

5. CMH Pub 10-12-1, The Quartermaster Corps: Organization, Supply and Services, volume 1. Written by the Center for Military History in 1953, covers almost all aspects of US Army QM supply during WW2. Part 2, Chapter V, "The Development of Subsistence" covers rations.

Hope this helps.

Don

[Robthewild1]

Thank you Don! I will definitely be looking up these! Appreciate it!