The 1914 standard German Army one-day supply of "Eiserne Bestand" ("Iron Ration" in widely accepted English speaking terms), was correctly known in the German/Prussian/Bavarian Military as the "Iron Portion." later in the war this ration was also later called the "Marschproviant" (Marching/traveling ration) consisting of:
• 1 x 135 grams packet of Erbswurst "Pea & Ham Soup" (6 x 22.5g portions)
(no longer standard iron ration issue by 1914 however, older soldiers who were familiar with using
Erbswurst as the old standard of Iron ration still carried this around in reserve when opportunity arose from daily rations issues)
• 1 x "Zwieback" (rusk egg biscuit), or Hartkeks (Hardtack) bags (250g each), or 250 grams of
shelf stable bread (Grey bread or Pumpernickel)
• 1 x coffee cans (25g each) (baggie, box or tin) Both ground and whole bean were available) 2
tins are normally carried the other 2nd tin used as part of daily rations.
• 1x salt bag (1 x 25g portions) (Generally the Bavarian Brand of Bad Reichenhaller) in a small
box or a plain brown wrap. With daily rations can total up to additional 25 grams
• 1 x serving can of canned meat, e.g. Beef or lard (200g each) or generally either the 200 gram
Wurst (Blood Sausage, Liverwurst etc.) or the 300 grams Schinken (Ham) or Schmalzfleisch (a
slightly more fatty version of today’s luncheon meat) or 170g of Bacon/Spec
• 1 x canned vegetable (150g) (e.g., peas, beans etc.)
• 1 x 20 grams pack/box of Sugar (from main field service ration)
• 2 Cigars and/or two cigarettes or 1 ounce of pipe tobacco or 3-6 grams of snuff (generally
Bavarian units would receive snuff from local companies in quantities above normal issue) this
was first issued to all German armed forces personnel from the 1880's as part of daily rations.
• Total weight including packaging: between 800 grams - 1 Kilogram (one day ration).
Also, to note this style of ration was separate to the German "daily ration" which contained more food stuff.
These Iron Rations rations (normally 2 day supply per soldier) were to be retained until no other field service supplies were available in an emergency, and were only to be consumed upon orders. Oddly enough, the German military at the time had made a mental leap beyond regulation, and actually provided soldiers with a second day's worth of portable iron ration, which was to be treated as the daily meal, and could just be consumed en route to engagements, and as such also became known as “marching ration”.
Note that around mid-1916, meat in rations were beginning to get shorter and shorter, with a
"meatless" day once a week in their daily rations being the norm. By 1917, 1/3 of rations was cut down to supply meat, then further cut down to contain nearly no meat in rations by 1918! This, of course, was made up for by pigs, chickens and other livestock that would be either traded or bought from a soldier's own wages, or inadvertently find itself 'accidentally' falling into someone's cook pot!
Concluding Theory:
In conclusion, after decades of trial and error, in the 19th century the German Army, and German
colonial forces have improved on their theories of standardisation of emergency daily ration intake for it’s military. This concept continued that was either already used or adopted by other nations in the first world war, which may have further influenced military rations around the world today. Even the term “Iron ration” is used as a modern term for emergency food stuff in a time of crisis or short supply in a civilian/armed forces context.
In order of appearance:
Peter Vella - Returning Soldier
Suntee (Danny) Vonkhorporn - Smoking, sitting Soldier
Eduardo Nicolas - Sleeping Soldier
Documentary Credits:
Research: Peter Vella
Narration: Peter Vella
Producer: Eduardo Nicolas
Director of Photography: Cori Mitchell
Script Editor: Belinda Vella and Eduardo Nicolas
Film Production: Fire & Thunder Photography Production
Social Media Pages:
Facebook: HistoricalCo...
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Sources:
drive.google.com/file/d/1dqC0...
~ British General Staff. "Handbook of the German Army" (Home & Colonial) 4th Edition, August
1914. London: Imperial War Museum, Dept. of Printed Books, p.226.
18 апр 2023
