MREInfo.com

i didnt get it...

the rations are in this olive green box, lookin like a metal tin??

Yes, the CR1Ms come packed in a metal tin inside the rations case. Here's another picture from the Australian rations page:

http://www.mreinfo.com/international/au ... -cr1m.html

This picture is looking into one of those cans without the lid on it.

Hi katojapan

Nice to meet you here,i have seen all your videos on youtube.
Good work

Hi, I'm new here. I spent some time in the military, so I can offer my own memories of Aussie rations if anyone's interested.

When I joined up in the late '80s the rations were pretty old-fashioned, and I suspect they were largely unchanged from those issued in the '60s for Borneo and Vietnam. They contained corned beef as one of the main meals, which was like a throwback to WW2. There was another meal called 'Luncheon Meat Type 2' which was just disgusting. (No, I never came across 'Type 1'.) There was also a tube of salty 'Butter Concentrate' for your 'Survival Biscuits' (hardtack crackers that were virtually indestructible), which as far as I can tell nobody used.

We also had butterscotch lollies (boiled sweets/hard candy) - you could never get every bit of wrapping off, so if you were game to eat them you ended up with bits of plastic in your mouth. I usually threw them away, along with the butter concentrate.

There were breakfast meals of steak & eggs and ham & eggs, which I guess were similar to those in the old US C-rats. There was also a casserole-style dish called 'Beef with Gravy & Onions' or something like that, which could be turned into a pretty good meal with the addition of spices or Tabasco (brought from home).

In the early 1990s the menus changed considerably. This was probably the result of improvements in food technology and/or knowledge of nutrition. I also think they were changed to reflect the changing tastes of the population at large - we eat a lot of different cuisines in Australia, and even the most conservative Anglo-Saxon people will eat Chinese or Italian on a regular basis. The quality of the food continued to improve during the '90s - we even started getting Tabasco in the packs! Many people celebrated the introduction of Vegemite, but that stuff is just nasty.

Best main meals in this period were 'Corned Beef Hash', 'Beef with Tortellini', and 'Lamb with Rosemary & Veg' - delicious even by 'normal' food standards. The worst was 'Chicken Pasta' - really bland.

I left the service before the soft packs came in, but the menus posted here look pretty good. They look especially good after looking at some of the other nations' meals!

By the way, those green metal tins were often pressed into service as garbage bins. Very handy.

Can I just say I have also eaten old-school MREs, and I actually liked the tuna noodle casserole?

Baldy,
Hey welcome to the forum. YOU actually like the 'tuna noodle cassarole" unghh ....I couldn't stand that one but at least it had the chocolate chip pound cake of loaf in it. That one dessert was pretty coveted back then.
Also on a side note I had a Australian instructor get me hooked on Vegamite, so I actually like it. I find it hard that believe that a Aussie or Kiwi wouldn't go for it. As I remember that's a staple of the diet "down under"

Thanks for the welcome, Treesuit. I guess Vegemite is like anchovies on pizza... you either love it or hate it. But you're right, it is very popular here. I heard they conducted a survey and many, many troops asked for Vegemite... but the most-requested item was 'women'!

Yeah, they did the same thing in NZ, but the answer was sheep!

Baldy,
Well, I guess I as right on that assumption: Vegamite is still very popular, probably right up there with women and your beer down there.
I do have to ask what is the prefered way to eat Vegamite? I heard that it is very good spread on plain bread, and of course served on fresh bread with lettuce and tomato, and probably a 1000 other ways but is there one particular way everybody eats it?

The most popular way to eat Vegemite is to spread it thinly on toast. Vegemite has a strong flavour and doesn't really 'go' with many other things, but I know a guy who likes cheese & Vegemite sandwiches.

Gday Baldy.
Vegemite same as British marmite is commonly a toast topping, but as sick as this sounds I like it with a toasted egg sandwich.