Unusual African rations

[donaldjcheek]

While researching Portuguese, South African and Rhodesian combat rations, I discovered some interesting rations.

The Angolans have a ration that is based on the Portuguese "ração de combate"; in fact it is given the same name.

The ration is NOT made in Angola, but imported from Portugal (Oddly, the Portuguese combat ration is not made in Portugal, but in Spain). The companies that supply the ration also provide similar combat rations for Guinea & Cabo Verde. The contents, according to the companies, include: canned meat, canned sardines or tuna, milk powder, fruit juice powder, quick cooking rice, quick cooking maize meal, sugar, tea, coffee and matches.



Another odd ration is a little-known special operation rations used by South African reconnaissance troops and Koevoet during the Angolan war. Dubbed the "Ops Forte" ration or the "polony style ration," this consisted of a large, flexible plastic tube about the size and shape of a 4-pound roll of bologna. Inside were several more sealed plastic bags which contained concentrated pre-cooked foods or foods which required only the addition of hot water. The entire ration design was to minimize weight and trash, and to allow troops to eat a sustaining meal without the need for a mess kit or stove.

(Like troops everywhere, the South African soldiers came up with their own, less than complimentary, name for the ration. They dubbed it the "Food Dildo.")

Unfortunately, the rations (of which several day's worth were carried in the Recce troops backpacks) would swell and explode in the African heat, leaving a sticky, sodden mess in the soldiers' backpacks. Worse, the troops would be without food for several days until a resupply run (often requiring transport over 500 km) could be arranged.

(No pictures, sorry)



One final odd ration was a "Mess Hall" ration dropped by the Rhodesian Air Force to troops in the bush, primarily Selous Scouts, Rhodesian SAS, and Rhodesian Light Infantry commandos who had been on active operations for several weeks.

Recognizing the need for fresh food to sustain health after eating preserved combat rations for long periods, cooks would prepare things such as chicken, steaks, potatoes and fresh vegetables. These would then be wrapped in several layers of aluminum foil, then placed inside cardboard boxes along with crumpled newspaper. The boxes, taped shut, would then be tossed out of slow-flying observation aircraft to the waiting troops. Everything except the foil could be burned, leaving behind no trace of the troops presence.

[luis0449]

Amazing... thanks for sharing your knowledges

[Treesuit]

Donald,

After reading that article on the "air dropped" "mess hall" ration. I would think that if it were not properly packaged and thrown out by slow moving aircraft that the boxes would have to have some sort of parachute attached to slow the descent. If no "chute then if the cartons accidently "exploded" on the ground then your steak/chicken dinner would be a messy glob in the box all wrapped up in the sports/financial/opinion page of the newspaper.

I've actually seen stuff dropped from aircraft before on fires. Everything from water bladders to sleeping bags and food containers. Most of time everything was kicked out of helicopters but sometimes the pilots wouldn't land the helo, or didn't have time to land period. They kicked out the supplies and took off and left us to figure out what was what and what go destroyed. If it was dropped from aircraft it always had a small parachute attached to it to slow the descent.

But here is something I still don't understand with the "mess hall" ration. If the cooks wrapped everything in tin foil, and everything on the outside could be burned in a fire what did they do with the tin foil? Obviously it won't burn, so therefore: bury it? If they reece troopers wanted to have "no trace" wouldn't they just pack the tin foil out? That makes more sense than trying to bury tin foil only have animals or somebody else dig it back up later on.

Second, on that "food dildo" ration. It's kind of hard for me to figure the tubes exploded in hot african heat if they were prepackged and inside somebody rucksack. I've packed many pre made rations in a rucksack before and never had a single ration "explode". I had one or two leak becuase the seals on the rations were not closed properly. It just can't picture it since our MRE's are similar in concept and design. Albeit not in a long plastic tube.

[dirtbag]

In Viet Nam, the VC (Viet Cong ) used plastic tubes (bags) to carry rice.
You could have several weeks of basic food, slung over your shoulder.
They still had to cook it every night, though.

[Treesuit]

Dirtbag,

I understand that concept from history. That was a simple design and just included rice, what I'm talking about is that the "food dildo" ration was a flexible plastic tube with prepackaged meals inside much like our MRE pouches.

I'm just tying to figure out a reason why prepackaged meals would "explode" in somebody's rucksack in intense heat, unless the fact that somebody didn't pack their rucksack properly and the tube got roughed up, the pouches were punctured or their wasn't a proper seal around the meal pouches.

I do think the design and concept of a plastic flexible tube is very ingenious but with my background doing many trips for the military, civilian and firefighting in the backcountry I am having a hard time believing meals would self destruct in a tube. If anybody out there thinks I'm missing something please post it. Thanks.

[Bypah]

In Viet Nam, the VC (Viet Cong ) used plastic tubes (bags) to carry rice.
You could have several weeks of basic food, slung over your shoulder.
They still had to cook it every night, though.

They used what they have available for them Most of the time where simple handmade cloth tubes.
You can do the same with either socks or pantyhoses and use them as food carriers for rice, onions, hardboiled eggs etc...

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[donaldjcheek]

Buran & treesuit are correct. The Vietnamese (both VC & NVA) carried rice tubes made of silk or cotton. Each could hold up to a week's worth of rice ration, which each soldier had to cook for himself. Usually they would pool up with buddies and cook in groups of 4.

Treesuit, I don't know if the Rhodesian AF attached a streamer or drogue to the boxes, they just said they tossed them out of the planes. During Operations Manna & Chowhound, the RAF & USAAF dropped crates of 10-in-1 rations over the occupied Netherlands without parachutes. Some crates burst open, most did not; the light observation planes used by the RhAF are slower than the C-5s used in WW2.

Concerning the "food dildo": there's not a whole lot of information out there. South African recce operators are understandably reluctant to talk about operations in Angola, but several memoirs and interviews mention the "polony style" ration in unfavorable terms, and they unanimously say the things burst in their backpacks. The ration was quickly withdrawn and replaced with the 2-can ration that later became the SADF standard.

Hopefully, someday I'll find a picture of one

(As an aside, Col Viljoen, 32 Bn Cdr, decided it would be more hygienic if the troops were circumcised - Recces often operated for weeks in the bush, and water was scarce. So he arranged for a Doctor, Lt. Piet Coetzee , to fly out to the operational area and perform the procedures on a "voluntary" basis. This led Sgt Major Mike Rogers to rename Ops Forte to Ops Foreskin.)

[donaldjcheek]

Here's a little more info on the "food dildo."


From "Buffalo Battalion," by L. J. Bothma.

"We were fed up with eating the same rations every day. To top it all, some or other army dietician had devised a new ration pack. Beside a small tin of corned beef or viennas, there was a large plastic sausage full of some sort of supposedly nutritious goo which looked and tasted like wallpaper paste. But at least there were two dried peaches in every ration pack to get one's stomach working again. For extra energy there was a little packet of Super C sweets ..."


From "Grensvegter?" by Barry Fowler.

"And then there was the famed Ops Forte rations (that only those involved could explain) which apparently included food dildos specifically issued to compliment the forces UNITA appearance in a clandestine operation that was as sterile as one can get, except for the white leader group that looked and smelled like UNITA from a distance anyway. These dildos were also known to burst without any aggravation...".


From "32 Battalion: The Inside Story of South Africa's Elite Fighting Unit," by Piet Nortje.

"The polony-style ration packs had proved a major problem in the Angolan heat, as on reaching a certain temperature they simply exploded, covering the contents of backpacks in a messy goo."


From "They Live By The Sword," by Col Jan Breytenbach.

"32 Bn troops could not use the standard South African ration pack, for obvious reasons. ... (They) came up with a thick polony type sausage containing a nutritious witches' brew of soya bean, flour, various vitamins and sauces for flavouring. These evil looking things were intended to augment the dry mealie meal rations carried by the troops. This combination had to provide them with adequate sustenance for a period of weeks..."

[Treesuit]

Donald,

That is some interesting info you found. Judging from all the descriptions it sounds like something between meal packs and dietary powders inside the plastic tube (i.e. food dildo). The accounts from that time period are all still classified, I know, but from all the short accounts if the smaller packets inside the tubes were powder substances then a packet rupturing is highly unlikely unless it came into contact with water and with a little high heat: "boom" sticky, gooey mess.

Then again, it sounds like the tubes had a congolmerate mix of dietary powders in them to offset the ration fatigue. Which I can't imagine reaching into your rucksack after a long march and pulling out this tube and trying to figure out how to make a satisfying meal of all of it. I guess I'd rather take my chances with the individual packets.

Another point of curiousity, what was the main substience for the troops during that time. Was it mostly grains, pastas, canned meats. I'm not sure exactly what they lived on for so long out in the "bush" during operations.

[donaldjcheek]

Treesuit

The staple food for much of southern Africa is mealie meal, a type of coarse-ground cornmeal somewhat similar to hominy grits in the US. Made from either white or yellow corn, it is known by a variety of names: sadza, samp, mielie, mealie pap, or just plain pap. Even though it was imported to Africa from the Americas, it has become the chief source of carbohydrate for most of southern & eastern Africa. It is cooked in a variety of ways: with green vegetables, with beans, with pumpkins or squash, with peanuts or peanut butter, sweetened with honey or syrup, thickened with sweet potato or soured milk, or fermented into a form of beer. The now-traditional method for Africans is to roll it into small balls and dip these into gravy, or form a ball of the stuff around a piece of cooked meat.

Apparently the South African troops were issued a packet of mealie meal, along with a just-add-water packet of ProNutro cereal, inside the food dildos - along with several packages of that "nutritious goop" they keep talking about.