new book: Rations of the German Wehrmacht in World War II

[Stef]

CHAMPIGNON CAMEMBERT??? WTF

It´s just the name of the cheese factory "Champignon"

Oh, I prefer that
The cheese tubes look like the margarine tubes in the old EPA's. Was there also margarine tubes then?

[biscuits brown]

The cheese tubes look like the margarine tubes in the old EPA's. Was there also margarine tubes then?

Yes there were but they were in the Australian and UK jungle ration kits!

Apparently the contents were not good.

[Treesuit]

Is it becuase the oils in them spoiled too quickly in the jungle heat?

[Jim Pool]

For those interested in German rations of WWII I direct you to this link:

http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/ ... p?t=457039

I'm using it as an extension of the book to add new information, products etc.If you happen to own the book and would like a copy of the PDF change/update file please E Mail me at:

pzrgtgd@hotmail.com

The majority of the file is new pictures but does include correcting 2 factual errors as well as some typos etc.

Warm Regards Jim Pool

[biscuits brown]

Welcome Jim!
Great book. You have done a great service to ration collectors and historians and general ration freaks everywhere

it seems as if ration artefact archeology played quite a part in your research also. Do you see that as being a future field now that "above ground" specimens of vintage rations are getting old and deteriorating?

its fascinating to find rations artifacts in situ, so one can actually reconstruct historically the actual units who had consumed them.

Hopefully it will take off in W Europe too.

[biscuits brown]

Is it becuase the oils in them spoiled too quickly in the jungle heat?

I dont know TS. Must have been crap.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stor ... 5401.shtml

Above is a good short eyewitness description of UK jungle rations in the later part of WW2 in Burma.
Mr Bennett mentions milk in tubes, not margarine. But I have seen a seperate reference to it im sure.

[Jim Pool]

Thank you for the kind words. Tom and I tried our best to paint an accurate picture of the Wehrmachts Ration system. We hope it will spark even more interest and research into this fascinating but neglected area of the history of the German military in WWII. I think that battlefield archeology will play an even greater role in the Ration story sparked in part with the books publication. Much of whats shown in the book is due in large part to the serious work of Russian and other collectors/historians, who spend their time excavating war time battlefields. Aluminum cans, glass ware and some of the other styles of cans tend to stand up to the ravages of time rather well. Paper products which the Germans used a lot in their ration system don't do so good. However given the scarcity of German WWII rations we had no option but to show remains of labels etc. in the book. We were fortunate enough to locate many rare and almost one of a kind pieces manufactured from paper and card stock. That of course is due to the generosity of the many collectors, dealers and companies who supported the project.

Its hard to tell how the book will do outside the U.S. but every copy that Amazon Germany, France,Japan, Canada and the UK initially recieved sold out quckily. Of course they might have only recieved only a few copies. The publisher keeps that info secret. But I've had positive comments from the few folks overseas that got a copy.

PS Great Website!

Regards Jim

Welcome Jim!
Great book. You have done a great service to ration collectors and historians and general ration freaks everywhere

it seems as if ration artefact archeology played quite a part in your research also. Do you see that as being a future field now that "above ground" specimens of vintage rations are getting old and deteriorating?

its fascinating to find rations artifacts in situ, so one can actually reconstruct historically the actual units who had consumed them.

Hopefully it will take off in W Europe too.

[Richard w.]

Hi Jim- I wanted to link to your thread on Wehrmacht Awards but I couldn't figure out how to make a link that didn't prompt for a login and password.

The supplemental .pdf file is very nice, too.

[Jim Pool]

Hi Richard,
I don't know if there is away to get around the whole password thing. However you don't need to be a paying member to view most of the forums. Jim

Hi Jim- I wanted to link to your thread on Wehrmacht Awards but I couldn't figure out how to make a link that didn't prompt for a login and password.

The supplemental .pdf file is very nice, too.

[mreheater72]

I've just received this book [Rations of the German Wehrmacht in World War II] yesterday and and I thought it would be of interest to some of you on the forum.

That´s a really awesome book ! Thanks for the clue !