Life in the Trenches
Soldiers
fought, soldiers died, some lived through World War One; others lived but were
disabled for the rest of their lives. Life in the trenches was said to be ‘hell
on earth”. In the muddy battle fields there was plenty of life but no real
living for the young men who fought in them.
Death, mutilated
limbs, disease, rats, maggots, lice and insects were all around the fighting soldiers,
who lived minute by minute dodging the bullets and shell fire. With shells
exploding all around them and bullets flying just above their heads, life in
the trenches of World War One was very hard.
Soldier’s food during WW 1
Food for soldiers in the trenches during World War One
was considered a luxury. Getting decent hot food from the field kitchens to the
front line trenches was almost impossible when a battle was in full flow and
there was no set meal
time for the fighting soldiers. When soldiers were at stand-down, hot meals were able to be delivered
from the field kitchens to the front line trenches.
A total of 3,240,948 tons of food was sent from
Britain to the soldiers fighting in France and Belgium during the First World
War. The British Army employed 300,000 field workers to cook and supply the
food. At the beginning of the war British soldiers were given 10 ounces of meat
and 8 ounces of vegetables a day. As the size of the army grew and the German
blockade became more effective, the army could not maintain these rations and
by 1916 this had been cut to 6 ounces of meat a day. Later troops not in the
front-line only received meat on nine out of every thirty days. The daily bread
ration was also cut in April 1917. The British Army attempted to give the
soldiers the 3,574 calories a day that dieticians said they needed. However,
others argued that soldiers during wartime need much more than this.
Soldiers in the Western Front were very critical of the quantity and the quality of food they received. The bulk of their diet in the trenches was bully beef (caned corned beef), bread and biscuits. By the winter of 1916 flour was in such short supply that bread was being made with dried ground turnips. The main food was now a pea-soup with a few lumps of horsemeat. Kitchen staff became more and more dependent on local vegetables and also had to use weeds such as nettles in soups and stews.
Soldiers in the Western Front were very critical of the quantity and the quality of food they received. The bulk of their diet in the trenches was bully beef (caned corned beef), bread and biscuits. By the winter of 1916 flour was in such short supply that bread was being made with dried ground turnips. The main food was now a pea-soup with a few lumps of horsemeat. Kitchen staff became more and more dependent on local vegetables and also had to use weeds such as nettles in soups and stews.
The soldiers in the trenches ate quite well, and the food was considered to be luxurious, compared to what their families back at home were eating.
A typical days ration for a British Soldier
20
ounces of bread or 16 ounces of flour or 4 ounces of oatmeal instead of bread
3
ounces of cheese
5/8
ounces of tea,
4
ounces of jam or 4 ounces of dried fruit
½
ounce of salt, 1/36 ounce of pepper
1/20
ounce of mustard,
8
ounces of fresh vegetables or 1/10 gill lime if vegetables were not issued
½
gill of rum or 1 pint of porter
20
ounces of tobacco (two cigars and two cigarettes or 1 oz.
pipe tobacco, or 9/10 oz. plug tobacco, or 1/5 oz. snuff)
1/3
ounces of chocolate - optional
4
ounces of butter/margarine
2
ounces of dried vegetables
Daily Ration for a German Soldier
26
½ ounces of bread or 17 ½ of field biscuits or 14 ounces of egg biscuit
53
ounces of potatoes
4
½ ounces vegetables
2
ounces dried vegetables.
There
was meat available for both The British and German Soldiers in the trenches,
but only when a lull in the battle allowed it to be delivered from the field
kitchens.
Daily Ration for an Indian soldier
1⁄4 pound meat
(Non-meat eaters received 2 ounces of gur (coarse, unrefined sugar made from sugar cane juice) or sugar or 3 ounces of milk in place of 4 ounces of meat)
(Non-meat eaters received 2 ounces of gur (coarse, unrefined sugar made from sugar cane juice) or sugar or 3 ounces of milk in place of 4 ounces of meat)
1⁄8 pound potatoes
1⁄3 ounce tea
1⁄2 ounce salt
1 1⁄2 pounds atta (flour)
4 ounces dhal (dried lentils, peas or beans which have been stripped of
their outer hulls and split)
2 ounces ghee (clarified butter)
1⁄6 ounce chillies
1⁄6 ounce turmeric
1⁄3 ounce ginger
1⁄6 ounce garlic
1 ounce gur
Sheep being taken ashore at Gallipoli in 1915, to be issued live to the
Indian troops for slaughter according to their religious practices. [AWM
C01662]
Indian troops' iron rations (emergency
supplies issued in case soldiers were cut off from regular rations) consisted
of:
1 pound biscuit
8 ounces gur
1 ounce tea
6 ounces condensed milk or 21⁄2 ounces dried milk
in lieu, when available.
