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Hello everyone!!
I'm mettnoon from Thailand.
Now I'm looking for the information about american rations during the year of 1957-59 for the film production. We plan to make a film from a popular novel in the next two years and it is now the preproduction time we're preparing all the informations.

In the book the main character graduated from USA. He is a hunter who leads the group to hunt treasure in the deep forest. This hunter uses american rations in the forest. And that type of ration that I have to search for.
The time in the book is during 1957-1959. The writer describe the ration that "It is a macaroni soup. Under the soup can there is a small can sticked together. Inside this small can there is the cotton wool with alcohol. The small can has a small iron spindle outside. Spin it and you see the small hole. Light the match stick and put it in the hole. The cotton wool with alcohol inside the small can will catch the fire and heat the soup above."
And another type is a loaf. It is in the small can. When the can is opened. The air outside will enlarge the loaf to be about 3 times bigger.

I'm trying to search for this type of ration. The writer insists that there is this type of ration really. He wrote it from his real experience. But I can't find it. I have searched in the website of the Qmmuseum but I found nothing.
During 1957-1959 I know that it is the time of C-rations. But the pictures and texts I found are not the type I want. There is no alcohol stove sticked together under the food can. I found only that the soldier have to make the seperate stove from the C ration can. And the menus I found have no macaroni soup and loaf. Most of bread type is crackers.

So I'd like to ask you all for help. Please help me find this type of american ration. Now I'd like to have a picture of this ration most. I have to know how it look like for making the mock-up of this ration. And if anyone could tell me how I can find the original one, that would be appreciated.
This forum is for the big fan of US-Ration. I hope that someone could help me. In thailand it is very very difficult to find the information of US-Rations.
Thank you in advance.

mettnoon

ps. now we have purchased the two boxes of C-Rations from e-bay. But it is not quite likely.

ps. 2
Sorry for my poor english.

[And another type is a loaf. It is in the small can. When the can is opened. The air outside will enlarge the loaf to be about 3 times bigger.]

I'm not certain, as I've never seen this particular ration item, but this sounds a lot like the "White Bread" B-3 unit that was included in the late '50s & early '60s C-ration.

My old platoon sergeant described it as a "lump of damp dough that smelled strongly of alcohol (from the yeast in the dough)... If you opened it up and let it sit out in the sun for a few minutes, it would swell up and spill out of the can."

Along with "Beans & Mothers" (Ham & Lima Beans), this was the C-ration item he hated most. He said it wasn't bad if you could slice it and fy it, but he never found anybody that was able to eat it straight out of the can - it was like eating raw dough.

Hello mettnoon. I haven't heard of that kind ration before but there are probably more people on these forums who are more familiar with the rations from that era. Hopefully we'll hear from member "donaldjcheek" because he usually has good information on rations from that era.

From everything I've read, the main US Army ration in 1957-59 was the MCI (Meal, Combat, Individual), or c-ration, like you mentioned. But that's not to say there wasn't another experimental ration or some type that was cooked up special for a Special Forces group.

hi,

i have heard about this type of rations from my father. he was in the german army from 1959 to 1972 and they had many prctice with US army.

also other german mre and c ration collectors told me about this kind of heater.

i have never seen a ration like this.

bye

jubifahrer

Thank you for all replies.

But can anyone post the picture of M-3 Unit white bread?
I've searched in google using "m-3 Unit", "white bread m-3 Unit", "M-3 Unit ration" etc. but it has no picture of it to be found. In this site M-3 Unit is crackers and jam, not white bread.

What should I do next to find the pictures of this two items?
Ordinary items are not easy to find, but extraordinary, experimental ones.......

mettnoon

Metnoon

Most likely the B-3 White Bread was in the same size OD green can as the B-3 crackers & candy. Stencil the top, "B-3 Unit" and underline it, with "White Bread" stenciled below in slightly smaller script.

I confirmed on the US Army Quartermaster Site and various Vietnam-era "grunt" sites that the "White Bread" unit was included in the C-rations at least through the late 1960s.

Awhile back I did a post about a 5in1 ration that was up for sale on ebay. One of the items in the case was canned white bread. I am posting the picture's for you. Hope they help you with the movie! If they do how about a small credit in the movie. Light's, camera, action!!!

Thank you everyone!!!
We are searching for this canned White Bread in e-bay again now. But that isn't my duty.

Only one thing left. That macaroni soup with alcohol stove item.
Who does know about it?

Hello mettnoon!

While I was in the Army we were still eating the C Rations (Meal, Combat, Individual). I remember the White Bread very well. Personally, I liked it but you did have to develope a taste for it's "unique" flavor!

I'm not sure what anybody is talking about with the description of "the bread over-flowing out of the can"..... during 4 years of eating those things I never once seen that happen. As a matter of fact, when useing the G.I. P-38 can opener and opening the can in the normal way (from either the top or bottom) it was rather difficult to get the small loaf of bread to slide out of the can because it would catch on the sides / ridges of the can created when using the "rocking" motion with the P-38 to open the can. When the loaf would not come out easily you had to pry it out with either the tip of your plastic spoon or the point of a knife --- this usually resulted in the loaf breaking apart in to small pieces. A lot of guys would then just eat the loaf out of the can (in pieces) with their spoon.

Another way of getting the loaf out of the can was to use a pocket knife blade and cut the loaf in to quarters (from top to bottom) while it was still in the can. Then you would spear one of the quarters with your knife blade in it's center, with the flat portion of the blade facing towards the center of the can. To remove the quartered chunk, you would press the knife blade towards the center of the can and then lift the speared chunk of bread up and out. By pushing the blade towards the center it moved the chunk away from those rough ridges on the inside of the can created by the P-38. The other 3 chunks would come out easily after that. The result would be 4 nice sized chunks that you could put in your canteen cup and heat along with your main entree. This was really good with the Boned Chicken (adding a little water and the small packet of powdered creamer made a sort of "cream sauce" or gravy.) The bread chunks would of course soak up some of the moisture and would be just like (chicken and) dumplings.....YUM! Another favorite combination was adding the bread chunks to Beef Stew with Potatoes and Gravy; Tuna; and even the bean entrees (Beans with Meatballs or Beans with Frankfurter Chunks). Believe me, with only 12 different C Ration menus you would get very creative, very quickly!

One final method of getting the small loaf out of the can -- in one piece -- was to turn the can on it's side and open it that way. The P-38 would open the can just under the rim of the sealed lid and you would get a smoother cut edge. When the lid was cut off, you could pretty easily just shake the bread out in one little solid round loaf. I alway cut my loaf in to 2 thick round slices as they were stronger for spreading the Peanut Butter, Cheese, or Jam that we got in the rations. If you had a very sharp pocket knife and were careful, you could slice the loaf in to 3 pieces but it was almost impossible to pick the thin slices up with your fingers without having them break apart.

As for the the other entree you mention, I've never seen or heard of it but it could very well have been a much earlier issued meal.

I have however seen a small, olive drab colored can of alcohol used for ration heating. Back in the early `70s I bought one from my local Army / Navy Surplus Store. It was a very small can with a pry-off lid (just like a paint can). There was nothing special or significant about the can other than it's small size. I may still have this can somewhere in my collection. When I get a chance I will look for it and if I do find it I'll post a picture of it for you.

If I can be of any further assistance, let me know. Good luck to you!

C-rats


ETA: I would also like to say that all of the White Bread I ever came across in C Rations was in the small can......never in large cans.

C-Rats, thanks for the detailed, very interesting information about the "White Bread"! I would like to read more stories about C-Rations!

So long mreheater72