Australian Operational Ration 1941

[Norton]

I am interested in Field meal history. Be it Military war time or Civilian foodstuff made for Hunting. camping and expeditions.
Below is an interesting article on the development of Australian combat meals made for jungle use.
Some of you might find it worthwhile

Australia was a pioneer in the introduction of modern combat meals. These were by the standard of the day lightweight, nutritious and palatable for short term combat use in harsh climate and condition
These early meals seem crude but were ahead of their time. A great amount of thought and research went into their development.
Any of us that has eaten a modern Combat meal should read the entire section. It compares major military powers combat meals with pros and cons. Also you can see what they thought were ideal portions per day and How much weight troops lost in mountain warfare exercises while consuming these new meals


http://www.army.gov.au/~/media/Files/Ou ... n%20O2.pdf

‘Operational Ration’, which was introduced to supply the ration
necessary for subsistence when the complete army ration could not be supplied because of
military or physical conditions.
During development it was stated that the operational ration must fulfil certain requirements,
including:
• All dietary elements must be present to satisfy hunger and the calls of nutrition, so as to
present a balanced ration.
• It must withstand heat, and not deteriorate during storage.
• No cooking must be needed.
• Flavour must be maintained, e.g. there must be no rancid change in fat.
• Sterilisation must kill all eggs of moths or weevils.
• It must be in a container easy to open but strong enough to withstand air-dropping.
• Packs must be water-proof.
• Design must meet the current size and shape, and certain items can only be made by
machinery.

[steve1989]

This is really cool, Norton! Thank you for sharing this! I hadn't ever seen that Ration before - looks like it was pretty successful! I'll bet if ya found one intact nowadays it would cost ya a kidney & a half. Absolutely amazing the specimen in that one picture you have there, it's still relatively intact! What a fantastic relic.

I love reading about these guys who had to rely on these original ration designs, they really went through it sometimes, huh?
Those 3 fellas look pretty amused and happy with their food there - certainly better than what a bunch of guys had back then during the war. I think of the Germans at Stalingrad and what they had to eat for instance!

[Acornoz1953]

Oh spare my blushes (as the author of the paper, which l researched and wrote at the behest of the Australia Army History Unit).

Although I am more than happy to have my claim that the Australian issued O2 Ration was the world's first 24 hour rat pack, I'd need to see some pretty compelling proof.

As for adding one to your collection, caveat emptor!

The Australian War Memorial had three, one on display and two in storage at the Treloar Technology Centre. When one of the tins exploded a few years ago at the Treloar Centre (emergency evacuation, ACT Police, Fire Brigade and Ambulance quickly on scene, along with army EOD types) a quick inspection of the other two revealed noticeable swelling. The one on display was hastily removed and the two survivors are now sorted in a custom built blast proof cabinet.

I don't have an O2 ration stashed away anywhere, but I do have an Second World War Oz Army Emergency Ration and post a short article on that at a later date.

Cheers to all.

Graham

[Ruleryak]

Graham - one of these exploded with so much force that all those response teams were called in? That's amazing! Past a certain point I'd venture the only way to preserve any portion of the ration would be to empty the canned items. I've opened a few old rations under a great deal of pressure and have had some annoying cleanup as a result, but I can't imagine what it would take for a canned item to explode that forcefully!

I'm gonna have to read over the entire pdf of your article on this tonight - looks like a ton of great information.

[Norton]

I still think if you compared this to English, Canadian, American, German, Italian, Japanese or Russian rations of this early point in time.
You would not find a grouping that would feed one man 24 in a sealed compact container like this one. Also that could withstand very harsh tropical environments.
What I am impressed with is the attention given to testing, nutritional values and practical considerations of meal preparation under field conditions

[Acornoz1953]

Graham - one of these exploded with so much force that all those response teams were called in? That's amazing! Past a certain point I'd venture the only way to preserve any portion of the ration would be to empty the canned items. I've opened a few old rations under a great deal of pressure and have had some annoying cleanup as a result, but I can't imagine what it would take for a canned item to explode that forcefully!

I'm gonna have to read over the entire pdf of your article on this tonight - looks like a ton of great information.

Sign of the times I'm afraid Ruleryak. Loud, unexpected, unidentified "bang" in the middle the day = "Danger, Will Robinson, danger!", and corporate emergency protocols swing into action.

One of the RAAOC EOD types who turned out happens to be a long time mate of mine. He later described to me how relieved, not to say suffocatingly amused, the EOD team was to find out that their supposed "terrorist bomb" was actually the gooey remains of a 60 odd year old rat pack smeared all over the walls of a storage room.

The O2 Ration on display at the AWM was quietly removed by a police EOD team that very day after the Memorial closed for the day and now reposes quietly in its own special, in its own blast proof container, alongside it's still swelling partner. The staff at the Treloar Centre have a sweep running based on which rat pack will self destruct first and when.

It's actually sad they've deteriorated so far and will one day be no more as they are truly historical items.

Good eating to all.

Graham W

[Ruleryak]

Even more reason for a private collector to get their hands on one and preserve it for future display. That's the sort of thing we're doing with the museum project, although I doubt we'll ever see one of those make it all the way to Montana.