German WW2 Iron Ration - The MRE that Fueled Blitzkrieg
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- čas přidán 23. 07. 2024
- When the Wehrmacht made a breakthrough, or found themselves isolated; and no hot chow could be had... the German WW2 Iron Ration was the German MRE that carried them through.
Designed as a 24 hour emergency ration, this German "MRE" was the fuel for the fire that was blitzkrieg. Providing soldiers with basic sustenance during gaps in hot chow.
No frills in nature, and with a history that long pre-dates Nazi Germany and the Wehrmacht, the Iron Ration carried the army of darkness across Poland, the green fields of France and the Russian Steppe... until it didn't any longer.
Hitler stole the Iron Ration from the Kaiser.
#WW2 #NaziGermany #MRE
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See my running series on WW2 rations here: • Vintage World War 2
Timestamps:
Intro 0:00 - 0:40
Why The Iron Ration 0:40-2:11
Unboxing 2:11-3:30
Making Coffee (Ersatz) 3:30-3:54
Mystery Meat 3:54-4:45
Knackerbrot 4:45-5:28
Tasting 5:28-6:53
Soup and Coffee 6:53-9:02
Wehrmacht Shaving Kit 9:02-11:51
Conclusion 11:51-12:30
Hunger is a great seasoning.
True dat
Amen.
It really enhances the flavor of organic molecules.....
Bet. I always laugh when my kids "don't want" a food. Lol. Ok kiddo, just you wait. That first world living never lasts.
@@stillcantbesilencedevennow 😁
My one Granduncle was in the German Army during WW 2....The very few times that he talked about it was how much the American K-Ration was very highly desired by German troops as it had EVERYTHING that you would want... American smokes, wunderbar!
Most of my relatives fought in Russia, but one in France before being captured a few days after D-Day. He mentioned the quality of US solider rations. Especially the peaches in syrup.
A mundane basic staple today, but back then and during the 1950ties to 60ties something you didn‘t get to buy in Germany.
@@BlueShift24 My fear is being in such deep do do that you have a meal like this for months on end.
@@johnnorman7708 nothing worse than repetitive food over and over again. Even if it is of good quality, the lack of variation would really take a toll on my morale.
The spectre of hunger always lurks. An army travels on its stomach.
That can of meat seriously looked like pork in juices. USDA commodity.
Cook the meat togehter with the soup in your feldgeschirr and as a german soldier you got very often a couple of potatos in your breadbag wich you can add to the soup. And stick your bread into the soup so its getting warm an soft. So you got a meal wich is nice warm and pretty ok.
Greetings from austria.
Say hi to Krampus for me.
@@MREScout the real one or my mother in law 🤣
I was going to suggest the same thing. The US ACW soldiers would mash their hardtack with something hard, then mix it with the bacon grease from your bacon so they could eat it.
@@unclejohnbulleit2671 you're making me hungry!
While he was eating the soup I was thinking exactly that. A substantial meal is a morale booster and what at first appears just some simple items looks really well thought out as planned to be that boost.
Germany had other ration items, but the iron ration was meant to be held onto for emergencies while the other items were intended to be consumed whenever. They had an energy bar primarily issued to the Luffwaffe made from coconut (which is why many old Luftwaffe pouches smell faintly of macaroons), erbswurst (a feature of German army rations since 1876), which was pea soup with bacon in tablet form, just take out a tablet from the foil tube, crush it into powder in your canteen cup, and pour in hot water to make instant soup, and Scho-Ka-Kola, a dark chocolate with coffee and kola nut intended to provide energy. Scho-Ka-Kola was considered a luxury item and issued to boost morale, but many German soldiers caught on to the fact that they were given such morale boosters right before going into heavy combat and took it as a bad sign. During the Battle of the Bulge, American POW's were given Scho-Ka-Kola and the Wehrmacht troops nearly revolted when they found out their luxury rations had gone to prisoners instead of them.
But generally speaking, German rations were very simple and no frills, they were intended solely to keep you alive in an emergency when no other food was available. The Germans were very dedicated to the idea of serving the troops hot meals from the field kitchen, to the point they even had special backpacks with insulated containers for the purpose of having soldiers run hot food from the kitchen to the troops in the field. German mess kits were probably the best design of the war, and they're still widely copied and produced to this day.
Erbswurst... and a few years ago, those suckers at Knorr canned the production... Miss it. Loved to eat the Knorr pea soup as kid...
Also: Scho-ka-Kola is great!
In fact, it was strictly forbidden to open it without order, so the Iron Ration was only existing for a moment that actually never came.
Scho-ka-kola is still available in Germany. It's a very dark bitter chocolate and is much better than its name.
@@SoupkitchenBavaria there is a dark version, a milk chocolate version and o e with nuts.
red can, blue can and, iirc, green can, iirc
I appreciate the comment. It was an absolutely fascinating read. I had no idea what the German logistics were for food and your comment taught me more than any video or book has ever taught me. If you don't mind me asking was there a specific book about this you read? I'd love to learn more about WW2 logistics specifically involving the cooking and movement of food for the eastern front.
My family were farmers during the 2ww.. grandpa made teas and never drank coffee, they also raised sugar beets and sourgum and reduced them for sugar and molasses.
So they sold the ration stamps to neighbors..
Why didn’t you continue Farming ?
Farming is a Great and a very NOBLE Profession
I recently bought a bunch of WWII ration books from a farm auction. There were quite a few unused ration stamp.
Your cousins are all made out of sourgum you damn Hippie I'm out of Ammo
"Ersatz" means "replacement". The earlier iron rations that the Prussian/WWI troops carried contained "erbswurst", which was dehydrated pea soup base.
yes the soup is a new form of the erbswurst [pea sausage] used in the past by the Germans, for making emergency soup. WASA brand Rye Crispbread are crackers very very similar to the ones in the video. The Germans have always like soup in an emergency ration. Lots of salt = long shelf life. I worked with British Royal Marines when I was in the USMC a few years Desert Storm... they had a nice ration but it was the same stuff EVERY DAY...., imagine if you ate this ration for several days in a row...???...
When I was growing up my Dad worked with a former Wehrmacht infantryman. I got to hear some of his stories and this made me think of one. He said that some of the meat that came in the field rations like this one by his description, were marked with the letter A.M. It was supposed to be the initials for the company that canned it. However, soldiers humor soon took aver and the A.M. became Alt Mann, or old man. 🤨
Not the First Time i hear about that name. Mostly that was italian canned food, really old stuf stayed in depots for years. Mostly during the african campaign, the italian army was tasked to feed the afrika korps Also... And that Is were the name took Place.
I read that in a Sven Hassell novel. 😄
What! No Pervitin. ☹️
AM was the name of the italian military food (Amministrazione Militaria). German soldiers got it in North Africa and Italy.
One thing... Military humor is generally the same worldwide.
I was born in Canada, but my parents came here after the war. My dad told me that in the last part of the war every man, woman and child would carry a knife with them, pocket knife, or whatever. After an allied air raid there would be dead horses in the street. Horses were still used in those days for many things, even in big industrialized cities. If you came across a dead horse, you would butcher it for some salvageable meat. They would jokingly call cats "Dachhasse" -- or "roof rabbits". Also fair game. Modern people have no idea how desperate life can be in a war, especially for civilians.
Cat meat? Nope. Horse meat if you’re starving might be an option however
Horse meat is suprisingly tender and sweet.
During the russian oppression of ukraine in the early 20th century peasant farmers were to eat their kids. They would go younest to the eldest to feed the rest of the family. Many of the elderly offered themselves for slaughter in order to save the children.
People in in Communist China during starvation periods would cook their leather belts and eat them.
the french, russians, kazakhs and japanese still eat horsemeat today. to some extent, can be found in indonesia also.
The US c rations, beef and potatoes were my favorites. C rations were great compared to the first generation of MRE's.
Anytime in winter we NEEDED the Beef and Potatoes or Pork and Potatoes and those chunks of glorious fat= energy and warmth inducing .
We got hold of some Cs in Germany when I was in the Navy. I had 4 and they were all beef and potatoes. I thought they were pretty good. Hell of a lot better than the box lunch we got on the plane going there. lol
@@ut000bs I'm glad they didn't give you the Tuna fish ones. Nothing wrong with Tuna, but 4 crackers with a dollop of Tuna on them was a real disappointment. Oh well, starvation, we did not suffer! Peace Sailor.
My step dad taught me how to use the exhaust manifold of the Deuce and a half or 151 to heat up meat tin from the C rats when I joined the Army (MREs were new and not universal yet). He also warned me about never forgetting the vent hole so as to not blow my tin (and meal) all over the inside of the engine compartment Lol.
@@SGT_RPGames I know one of my friends in the railroad did something that. He set a can of soup on the manifold, but got busy in the elsewhere and forgot about it until he heard a loud bang and found soup all over the engine.
You forgot the Methamphetamine.
It is a true that some German rations like schocakola which is a chocolate had some meth in it but most of the meth was given to the panzer crews to give more energy which is what meth does however it does come with side effects
The meat in the tin is not sauage. Its in the tin boiled pigmeat. Normaly it tastes very good. What you see in the tin is pices of pig-meat, gelatine an fat, use a littele bit salt and pepper. You can compare it a little bit with the american corned beef. You can it use for cooking oder eat it colt on the knäckebrot ;-). The bread normaly used in Germany is a kind of brad also in an tin. Its called "Dosenbrot" this is the bread we call "Pumpernickel". A heavy wholecorn bread.
I love authentic German pumpernickel, ate it all the time when we visited my Oma & Opa in Eschwege--I was born there in 1957. I'd love to find somewhere to get real German pumpernickel now!
My grandfather was in the Wehrmacht. He was in Poland, ussr, Italy .France & back to Germany. I have his “ butter dish” fat ration container. It’s bright orange Bakelite. Visible in snow when supplied by air. Great video. 🇨🇦
The meat ration's fat is kept in the can because it would have provided extra calories. It would be good mixed in with the vegetable soup.
I was a 19D. Fun stuff. I was based in Schweinfurt, deployed for OIF 2. Nice to see another scout enjoying the simple things. Wish my kids understood the succinct beauty of an MRE. When you're hungry, ANYTHING like these is a delicacy.
When I was growing up, my parents knew several former members of the Wehrmacht, who were in Hitler youth, and later in the Wehrmacht, and who basically said in a situation like this, you would cook the soup in a little tin can fire, or one of the little esbit stoves that the German soldier carried, and you dumped the mystery meat into the vegetable soup, and it tasted much better.
Thank you for the information
That makes sense and sounds like it would be pretty good. I wonder what would happen if you got caught eating that ration before you were ordered to?
@@brianwalsh1401 knowing the nazi party, it would be harsh
@@george2113 Yeah, you're right. Probably get KP and guard duty for a few months.
@@brianwalsh1401 I hope it would be so light, people were hung with electric wire
Loved the content! Former 11-C with two tours. Appreciate you doing something awesome after your deployments. Subscribed and shared!!
I was in operation desert storm in 1991 and we got our hot xmas dinner chow January 5th , this type of meal got us thru! Great vid!
Me too...but I had the benefit of being on HMAS SYDNEY (an FFG) ..We were at sea on Christmas day (First RAN warship to do THAT since WW2... lol) And my Boss - the Supply Officer- and I dished out the Christmas lunch to the sailors.... One Petty officer dressed in a Santa suit and went around handing out 2 cans of beer to the troops... (RAN warships are NOT "dry" like USN vessels but the "Beer issue" is "2 cans per man, per day, perhaps!") We had the Chaplain onboard and had "Carols by Cyalume Stick" It was actually a pretty bloody good day!
Very cool, as a reenactor getting to eat these rations in the field under similar conditions is something truly special. It's cool to watch a documentary and see some ww2 soldiers eating some rations and saying, "I have had that before!" Great video man!
Squeezing your peacetime frame into a costume and sitting in a field playing dressup, all the while knowing you can go home or find a hotel whenever you’d had enough isn’t “similar conditions”. Reenactors, honestly.
@@HydroSnips I'm no way saying that we are in exactly or even close to the same conditions. When I say similar conditions I'm talking about sleeping outside in a fox hole in the cold maybe it's raining or not or just out in the field with the same equipment and uniform items.
It also heavily depends on what type of reenators and type of event you are attending. There are public events/ living history that are a lot more relaxing and a lot of times not as authenticity focused Then there private tacticals and immersion events. These are the events that I am talking about and I much prefer, the outdoor field events when you're out in the field for days, not in a comfy bed or hotel and provides you at least a TINY percentage of an experience that is somewhat similar but is totally worth it. NOT saying it's the same at all.
Finally, I do not appreciate the what seems to be a hostile comment. While I do admit there are definitely silly and farby Reenactors and I do understand your argument, next time just say it in a more respectful manner. Plenty of reenactors that I know Including myself has put a lot of research in authenticity in our impressions and are not fat lol. Reenacting when done correctly, Although cannot replicate actual combat, can replicate a Small percentage of soldiers daily life out in the field. It has made me incredibly grateful for the life I have had knowing that these guys went through so much worse. And at the end of the day is also alot of fun. Breakout Normandy and Operation Cobra in Texas are great examples.
@@schnelletruppenreenacting1959yeah that fellows comment came off very hostile and condescending...I bet he thinks the only way to enjoy a reproduction meal like this is to be under heavy shell fire during an ongoing conflict and have his mates die around him and even then he would probably say it's not really similar conditions, because its not really ww2. Nothing wrong with doing some reenactment and getting a small taste of some aspect of the period you are portraying. Living history has its charms and I happily encourage it.
@@HydroSnips crybaby
The hard part is getting a hold of the Pervatin and not digging a 30 ft long trench after you do get some.
Great video and thank you for your service Sir.
Great video mate. Cheers for that.
Great vid! I'm surprised there isn't a tube of Pervitin in there.
Would have been better than the freeze dried sanka
Pervitin wasnt in the iron ration
You get it from the normal army supply but nearly everybody writes to theyr family to send them pervitin cause they needed more than they get
I’m suprised you won’t aborted as a child.
I have had the light tan MRE's and the Old Dark Brown MRE's that were used during the first Gulf War, and I must say the older ones had the absolute best Cocoa. I have had a lot of Cocoa over the years and there so far has been none better. My Dad got me those old MRE's from when he was in the Air Force.
Those older ones were great. My favorites were the ham slice and chicken a la king.
Just found your channel - going to be tuning in!
I never knew I needed a channel about MREs, but I have subscribed. This was just fun.
Welcome.
Seriously, loved the video. I've been going to make some erbsen paste to take on camping trips.
Excellent review of this old ration thanks
Thanks for your service. 👍🏻
Great subject and review. In addition to all the interesting things brought up, in particular the Safety Razor and the Shaving Stick were most interesting, as classic branded Shaving Sticks, Safety Razors and Double Edge (DE) Blades have regained popularity, including small travel Safety Razors. I'd swear you could probably sell the shown 'Travel Safety Razor' and 'Shaving Stick' on EBay and no one would know or guess it's from a a German WWII Iron Ration kit. Of course items were often sourced from the civilian market and wouldn't be modified unless absolutely needed. It's funny how now and then 'the wheel turns full circle'; we go away from certain things and then come back to them. All the best from Australia.
To insert the razor blad, unscrew the razor head from the handle. The heafd comes apart and then place the blade between the two sections of the razor head and screw it back onto the handle. A more modern version was that you did not have to unscrew the razor completely, but by screwing the handle partially from the razor head, the top either opened or the top section was so loose that you could easily slide the razor blade into it.
Lol I came here to say the same thing I can't imagine trying to slide a razor in lmao there goes ur fingers
@@thedeaderer8791 they have made some like that before they usually like the shick injector or special proprietary razor and blades you probably won't find that in a standard razor useing standard de blades but when you dealing with gem and other single edge blades you start seeing weird stuff
Yep. Very much like my Merkur razor that I use.
BBeen using a sfety razor since '77. Learned how to shave with my granddad's Gillette, WW2 era. I still have it.
yep i have my grandfathers razor and it works great. best shave i have ever had.
I read somewhere that WW-II German soldiers loved American coffee, chocolate and cigarettes that came with the G.I.’s rations !
I still have my p38 from Vietnam. And need to use it on occasion. Still very effective.
Aussie ration packs still come with P38, though the pack is mostly composed of bags and pouches. They still issue a small can of cheese, along with the can of main meal, which is a nice touch. A B C D menus vary of course, but always with the cheese and P38. good times. And a bar of excellent Tasmanian chocolate.
He would have gotten the can open faster if he was using it in the right direction.
@@aaftiyoDkcdicurak 😁
Add the Alt Mule meat to the soup. The Ersatz coffee was real coffee, imported through neutral Turkey, but cut with grain to make it go further ( I served six years in Germany during the 1980's; I don't recall if there is chicory in Europe)
Barley I think. Basically anything can be made into a somewhat passable coffee. In the US they had Postum... toasted wheat. Chicory I seem to associate with the USSR... they had plenty of beet sugar too.
@@MREScout If I remember corectly the south used chicory to make fake coffee during the us civil war.
@@MREScout Eight O’Clock coffee had a version with chicory.
There is Chicory in Europe. It's not used much as a coffee substitute, but the leaves are eaten as greens.
Good show.Thanks!
The erbsensuppe is still made in Germany, and the usual thing to do with the potted meat is mix it with the soup, crumble up some of the crackers into it, and make a stew like dish.
Other than messing up nice soup with that can of dog meat it sounds like a good idea.
Unfortunately no, production was stopped in 2018… a piece of history died
To load the blade into the safety razor, hold the top and totate the handle anti-clockwise. The top of the razor will unscrew and detach. Place the blade atop the bottom plate. Place the upper plate above the blade and screw back the handle.
You beat me to it. That's how those no moving parts razors work. And they are double edge.
Nice! Former 19K here. Love the work, friend!
I appreciate how smooth your pronunciation of wermacht is
I'm pretty sure you were supposed to use the canned meat with the soup. pea soup in germany (in special during that time) has usually always some kind of meat/bacon/sausage in it.
Yeah, pea soup is traditionally made with pork.
Nah youre wrong.
From one veteran to another, thank you for your sacrifices and your service. You’ve definitely earned my subscription. I like these type of MRE videos. When I was in, it was always fun to trade MRE’s with whichever allies we were training or working with just to see the types of food they were eating. If we got a chance to eat at their field kitchens that was even better. I made lot of friends that way. Fun times and good memories...
Thanks for your service. Thanks for watching.
@@MREScout
No problem. Keep the videos coming. Happy holidays to you and your family as well.
@@sawingwithsammy6059
Dude, what is your problem? The man is making the videos he likes and other people like them too. He’s simply mentioning the fact that he served as a point of reference to let us know that he has quite a bit of experience with MRE’s. Why are you trying to make this some sort of pissing contest about the level of how hardcore his service was or something? So you were a Sapper? Big Deal! You’re not as important, spectator, or as hardcore as you think you are. I could tell you some stories about my service and the jobs I had in the military that would make your service look like a camping trip in the Girl Scouts! And guess what? There are people that could put me to shame and did a bunch of stuff that was even harder than what I did. But I’m not going to go into the details of my service because that ain’t none of your business. Neither is anybody else’s service either. We shouldn’t be making judgements about each other’s level of service. ALL of our jobs were important and we were all cogs and gears in a much bigger machine. All of our jobs were needed and if we didn’t do them, they would have had some far reaching effects for somebody we couldn’t even see further down the chain. One of the key principles of being in the military is selfless service. Yes, veterans talk about their experiences but if you expect recognition and glory for your service, you’re looking for it in the wrong place. Being in the military is an utterly thankless job. Many times the only people that care about our service is other veterans and family members of veterans. This is why I give some praise to other veterans, because no one else will. I’ll even praise you and thank you for your service and sacrifices, even though you’re acting like an a**hole right now. Because military service IS a sacrifice you pay with your life, time, and health. While other people were pursuing their own goals and dreams, we were serving in the Military to make sure they had enough freedom to be able to do that. Military service is such a sacrifice and such a raw deal for some veterans that they are NEVER able to get back on track with living for themselves ever again. They never receive any help adjusting, never got any benefits, and many veterans end up homeless with crippling mental disorders and substance addictions from traumas associated with their service. Many veterans die during their service and many go on to delete themselves years after their service. Instead of trying to tear the man down, why can’t you just be happy he’s alive, well, with his family, and living the best life he can?
@@leroyjenkins4811 over dramatic and missing the point. I'll speculate you were a very very Special and the best at it all. The fact you mentioned mental health The younger generation is mentally unstable because of poor upbringing. I'm an old man now. What's the point of teaching people to be honest. As far as my Service no don't worry I'm not proud of it because anyone who served after 1953 was just in Service to the Corporation, military industrial complex. Wasted the best parts of our lives and look at what it has become woke garbage. Bottom line when someone pisses me off I fight them , still do. Right now I've got a cracked rib . I lost that fight last week.I'm an old man and I don't give a fuck. I'm not any longer a patriot so I really don't give a fuck about your or my Service but a man should not steal or copy another man's work.
Wow dude you are awesome I hope you had a merry Christmas. The way you say things is so genuine I didn't think I'd enjoy someone reviewing an mre but I truly did. Great job man you earned my subscription
That "french" voice that remarks the pass of time is getting more famous than Jacques Cousteau and Inspector Clouseau. Merry Christmas to all of you American friends!!
When you said the soup tasted salty. It reminded me of when I was at the range in February during basic. They served us chicken noodle soup. Army soup that came powdered in a can. I still remember that because it tasted good on that cold day. Even though the soup tasted like it was 50% salt!
Knäckebrot is a Swedish invention (knäckebröd). I dunno how popular it is over there, but it's a common sight here in Germany, even today. I personally think it's vile, but health nuts love it. It's better than no bread at all, I guess.
It wasn't bad per say it was like eating crispy saw dust. Not entirely untastely, but not great either.
i prefer it over soft bread.. im swedish tho... some knäckebröd with cheese and a split pea soup with mustard and after that, pancakes with jam...every thursday. its military tradition.
@@lordfisting4327 you put mustard into your soup portion?
its also really easy to set on fire, very good for camping trips.
Really? US here, I think they go well with cheese. Clean light taste.
Stuff like this you should link to. You earned a follower.
Its about time I found a fellow scout! Great video!
I remember being a kid during WWII and the coffee shortage. Possum was a really bad substitute. I also remember living on C rations in Korea, all good except the Pork and Applesauce, I would throw that can as far as I could. The hot chocolate was especially good. And there would be a small candy bar, toilet paper and a few cigarettes. Oh, and a P-38.
I think you meant "Postum" rather than "Possum". No?
Ever had Ham and Limas? one of the most vile products to come out of WWll. My brothers had them in Korea and Vietnam and warned me about it. I had it once, and I'll bet I threw that can as far as you did the Pork and Applesauce, and for the same reason!
@@4mileauto I sure hope so! 😁
I was in the Army when they switched from C-Rats to MREs. ( Meals Rejected by Ethiopians )We scrambled to get all the C-Rats we could. Being a true Southerner I loved the “Ham and Limas” and would often trade just to get them.
@@emoryfindley8702 Oh, that's just sad. And I like southern cooking.
That soup looked good. I would have broken up a bunch of those crackers into the soup to thicken it, scooped some of the mystery meat and fat in there too, and then you got stew.
Great video! Hats off to you for actually sampling all that food, I would have hesitated on the canned meat.
this video got you a sub. well done sir
That knäckebrot was pretty much the only bread we got in the Finnish school system and military. I still like it to this day and always take some with me for hiking and camping as it is light. It also burns very well and gets the tent stove very hot in a tight spot.
We always had that as a kid. In the US the brand name was Wasa Brod. Sadly they no longer make it.
@@tinknal6449 More like no longer import it. Wasa Bröd are of the producers here in Sweden. We eat that stuff pretty much on a daily basis here. Apperantly the Italian company Barilla owns it now but it is still around.
@@michaelpettersson4919 Good to know. Maybe I will see it again.
@@michaelpettersson4919 How do you eat it? We would put butter or pickled herring on it.
@@tinknal6449 Butter as a foundation are always a good idea. I prefer my pickled herring on a plate thou. As a topping on the butter I tend to go for sliced cheese or sausage. Cucumber, fresh or pickled work great on top of the cheese. There are also liver pate are also common, I prefer a course spreadeble variant myself there but there are many options so essentially anything goes, experiment.
Never, NEVER EVER cut cordage when you can untie it. Nice Opinel though.
Very interesting - Thank you
Great video!
From what I've read for most of the war the German army made sure the frontline troops were well fed, such that frontline troops were getting better food than the rear echelon. The Iron ration might not be haute cuisine, but at least it could keep a man going. The soup ration looked pretty tasty and with the addition of the pork and the hard tack it probably made a decently tasting belly filler.
Knäckebröt, in Finnish näkkileipä is dried up rye bread. Fills you up nicely. In the army we used to throw some näkkileipä in the soup in pieces as there was a canned meat soup in our rations and the bread gets a fantastic taste from it and brings texture to the meat and potatosoup. You can also boil the bread into porridge and believe me, rye porridge is Good, especially if you find some lingonberries to throw in there;) Try it man, i promise you it's good. Otherwise, nice video as i'm new to the channel👍
These are great videos showing a different but vital part of the war. The presenter's facial expressions are priceless.
Had a chance to train with Bundeswehr troops in the early 1960s, ate a very similar ration several times. I used less water (0,75-0,5L) to make a thicker soup, and crumbled the knackerbrot into it, which ws much more palatable. The razor looks very much like a "3-piece Gillette", which means you would unscrew the handle, then sandwich the blade between the two top pieces and screw the razor back together.
Crispbread is very common in german households. It's a rye flatbread baked into crackers. It's hard but not very dense and heavy. You eat this stuff for breakfast or at the school lunch.
@@SusCalvin I have an impression that crisp bread is mainly a north German thing, but I may be wrong. It’s certainly fairly common in Scandinavia too, though.
@@DebatingWombat It is a cracker-like bread that stays very long. People can have some crispbread sitting in the cupboard for months. It's not dense like hardtack, you can comfortably eat it without soaking it. It's surprisingly light and airy.
@@SusCalvin I know what crispbread is and have eaten it numerous times, mainly as a child, though. What I was wondering was whether it was mainly a northern German thing or if it’s also prevalent in the south.
@@DebatingWombat I know it's half-common in Germany, every second household will have some. No idea which parts though.
I gotta say, your channel is heavily underrated. You deserve more subs than this for sure!
Thanks for saying so. It’s still new and I’ve been inconsistent with posting so it’s mostly my fault but I do appreciate the words of encouragement
Go check out Steve’s MRE channel
Since there’s so much bread I’d have probably mixed it with the soup and added the meat into it to make a really thick soup.
Great video and cool channel mate! Keep em coming!
Thanks, will do!
I am fascinated by your Wehrmacht MRE videos!
The soups should be Erbwurst basically pea soup it came in two types green and yellow. It was part of German rations since before WW1
Something that you might not have considered… this ration assumes you have access to a heat source of some sort especially considering it’s supposed to sustain you for 24 hours before you get fresh chow and the fact it’s soup and especially the coffee NEED hot water. As such the meat would be heated up, perhaps with some of the crackers crushed into them to thicken.
As I said since this is supposed to sustain for 24 and only eaten when ordered by your company commander, they would probably wait for an opportunity to arrange some sort of heat source even if it’s just boiling water to simmer the cans in
Yeah he's missing the messkit and esbit stove. The pig meat must be boiled in that soup as I know it,
@@elijahjamesperez8936 the pig meat is allready boiled and ready to be eaten
I like this. You have a new subscriber!
You got a sub thanks for sharing this
These were limited rations indeed. Minimal food included. I have only seen A couple of these. Shaving razor and soap looked cool as well. Nice review. Peace , John, AKA, Magnum.
The Wehrmacht had a loose relationship with food. "Live off the land" only gets you so far.
@@MREScout , I understand, my friend. Again, A very cool review sir. Peace.
„Knäckebrot“ is Sweidish-style crsipbread, which even today is very popular in Germany. The most common brand in Germany is „Wasa“. I guess you can buy it in the United States, too. It‘s great because it is inexpensive and will last many months before it turns bad. Great for camping or for emergencies.
That tin of meat really looks nasty. By the look of it, I‘d day it is spoiled, since the meat and water seperated already. Canned meats should be packed tight, with almost no empty space in the can.
German butchers offer inexpensive house-made brands of meat or sausage meats in glass. Basically one block of meat, some jelly around it, topped of with fat (which you scrape off and use instead of butter). Think of SPAM.
Great review, friend. Will follow and subscribe. Kinda like those MRE reviews.
Thanks for watching. The meat was actually pretty good once you got past how it looked. The knackerbrot was like eating wood.
@@MREScout yeah, the basic Knäckebrot ist very bland. There are variants with sesame or poppy seeds or with a higher content of wheat flour. It’s the kind of bread you need to put a generous amount of butter and jam on it for it to taste good. Peanut butter should work great, too. Or any spreadable meat.
Way better that the hardtack that was the other bread option, that stuff can be used as a substitute for ceramic plates in body armor
@@seankane8628 Sharpen the edges and you get makeshift Ninja Stars.
Butter or the fat off the canned meat
Good video. Thanks.
I love the p-51 can opener over the 38. Glad to find this channel in my recommendeds, since Steve1989MRE seems to be on hiatus.
The meat looks strange, maybe its just because i am used to modern Schmalzfleisch wich is basicly the same. Canned pork. I have a few cans at home just in case great shelf live and utterly great on bread with onions and pickles. 😋
This channel is incredibly cool! Keep up the great work my man.
The pea soup was also available commercially as Erbswurst until the early 2000s. Stable for a very long time and actually decend in taste. Would be cooked in the mess Tina over the portable stove.
Actually until 2018…
I am glad I tried it before it was discontinued. It was likely the oldest still surviving instant food in the world (it predates the Nazis by decades).
It was not really special but it was actually kinda tasty and went well with canned meat
@@bingobongo1615 I am a "1960s model" and it was a common staple food for camping trips. As you said - nothing special but easy to transport and cook. Add a tin of sausages to your backpack and you are supplied.
The German Hartkekse (hard tacs) were called Panzerplatten (armour plates) by the troops, because they were so hard
Just found this channel. Scouts out! You have a new subscriber.
Hooah
very good review, I think the cracker would be sort of like hard tack that has been around for centuries, not normally eaten dry but used as thickener for soups and stews
Hard tack or ships biscuit are hard enough to use as armor on a tank. This wasn't quite that.
The english translation for Knäckebrot is "crispbread". Maybe that sounds more familiar
Cool video. Haven't even finished it but I already like it. Thanks for the service!!
Peasoup, which is often more like a pea stew, has a long standing tradition with the german military. It will successfully fight hunger, usually longer than bread or other grain based food. On public occasions the modern german army, the Bundeswehr, will often give out peasoup and as a rule of thumb there is nothing the german military does better than peasoup and you'd be hard pressed to find better peasoup than that of the Bundeswehr. The fresh one that is
My favorite. I make it all the time. Lots of fiber which keeps away the hunger much longer than carbs. Pea soup has a lot of carbs too but the fiber helps.
Do the bundeswehr still issue these combat rations as in the programs to the field troops?
@@sebastian-FX357Z1 I have never seen pea soup in an EPA (our MRE equivalent) but when you are out in the field and it is feasible, usually the Kompanie Sargent brings hot food for everyone in a truck. That is usually some sort of pea soup or really any stew. I am not necessarily sure about the EPA part I just have never seen it
Now you know why Hot sauce was invented
Outstanding!
Erbsenzuppe - pea soup.
Scouts Out! Was a 19d too, my youngest son is in the Bundeswehr (I live in Fulda btw) and he brought me some of the newer EPA rations and french rations, the coffee still tastes pretty weak but the soups are pretty damned good, but if you can get some of the french rations, oh lala, those are really awesome, haut cuisine ;) The crackers suck in both of them though :)
When I was at school in the early 80's I had a teacher who was about to retire. He told us quite a few things that we in Germany hadn't talked about at the time. His brigade was on its way to Stalingrad... and everyone knew they wouldn't get out alive... From the commanders
"Panzerschokolade" (Pervitin) was given out to raise morale, and nevertheless there were several soldiers who were incapacitated by a shot through the right hand in the hope of getting to a lazerett on their way home.
Instead, these men were brought before the "martial court" and then shot on the spot for "cowardice in the face of the enemy."
My teacher only survived because he was shot in the stomach before Stalingrad...no one else in his brigade survived otherwise...
Andrew, Germany
The 1993 German language film Stalingrad has a scene that is nuts. The Pitomnik airfield with wounded desperately trying to get the last Yunkers out. The doctor looks at one of them and says “powder burns self inflicted wound” and they shoot him on the spot and throw his body on a huge pile of corpses. Nasty stuff
@@MREScout z
The “knackerbrod” is crisp bread, and it’s a really common bread here in Germany. Normally with a slice of cheese or ham on top, often made in the morning and eaten at lunchtime.
All the real coffee was going to the boys. Makes me proud of the greatest generation for the sacrifices they had to endure. I definitely couldn't live without my coffee.
Well said. I can't imagine the public outcry these days if the government said, limit your Starbucks to 1 per week so we can send coffee to the military.
@@MREScout it wouldn't happen. The Karen's would protests in front of the white house for months
Where did you get the ration from. I'm specifically interested in the one you got because as a fellow NCO/Iraq war veteran I too use a safety razor and shaving soap instead of cartridge type razors and would love to get the same package.
I enjoy your videos Scout, keep up the good job with great videos, Pathfinder control out.
The razor is screwed. Unscrew to fit the blade. Thanks a lot for the amazing video
Those biscuits look like Ryvita which was a product in the UK during the 70s which was touted as healthy and a way to lose weight if you replaced bread with Ryvita.
I remember my Mum eating them.
Watching this review is fascinating.
I've seen quite a few British and US WW2 ration reviews, both real and repros but never a German one.
Thank you for the really interesting review :)
I could imagine eating too much of that knackerbrot would have you running to the toilet, so I can see why it would be marketed as diet food. Interesting taste, terrible texture and mouth feel.
I have a pack of rye crispbread in my kitchen right now, from the German Aldi supermarket chain. The ingredients are rye flour and salt - no sawdust these days. The nutritional info says they're low in everything but fibre. So, I think they'd help with the runs rather than cause them, but not much nutrition for a fighting man.
Knäckebröd! I love it, it's my go-to bread for breakfast.
Not sure whether it's mentioned somewhere else in the comments but you're supposed to unscrew the top of the safety razor, which will then come apart into two pieces, to insert the razor blade. There were the ropes of razor men used up until the 70s when disposable razors came into vogue. The old school safety razors are actually making a come back because there's less waste disposing of just the blade. I actually use one made by the Western Razor Co. and like it quite a bit.
you are correct ...also i beleive it is called a double edge saftey razor ...there are single edge razors the blade is very similar to the old box cutter blades
First time watching your channel. Very informative and highly entertaining. I’m trying to figure out if it’s your presentation or am I now become that old and boring. Thinking you! Good job. Thanks for the distraction and chuckle. Awesome! Subscribed
Thanks!
Only just seen this. Excellent stuff with the pea soup and ersatz kaffee. German crispbread is descended from the Scandinavian stuff which vikings took to sea with them. No wonder both oeoples were always so pissed off lol.
As a collector of wehrmacht militaria for 40 years as well as Vietnam era I have tried some repro and original items and c rats are good, even though 40 years old 😀 Great to see the opinion on the iron ration from a combat veteran
Crispbread is good stuff. It's hard but very light, it's bubbly and not at all dense. You eat it with butter and meat spread or cheese.
Just a thought, if you put the pork sausage in the soup you would have a nice stew to dip your biscuits in to soften them up.
I'm sure some of the troops tried this.
it would be interesting to see if it works.
I need to tell you man...this is the first video I watched from you...4.5 seconds into the video, I subscribed
Thank you
Erb Wurst - literal Pea sausage , ground peas, bacon, spices compressed into a tablet Put in cup of hot water made a mug of pea soup First issued to Prussian army in 1870 and continued until recently as part of German rations
That is a double edged blade razor (based on the Gillette New Model). You unscrew the handle from the head and separate the head and drop the blade in and re-screw the handle and shave with it. Remember very, very little pressure and multiple passes (re-soap and re-shave) to get closer than ever before.
The construction you described was fairly popular for travel and inexpensive safety razors on both sides in the 1940s. Much less machining than the clamshell type. They also have the advantage is being more compact in a shaving kit if the head is taken off.
I would have thought the handle of the shaver would have screwed off so letting the top of the shaver to come off than allowing you to place the blade on the the plate , than screwing the top back on .
Indeed it does. I didn’t figure that out until later
I figured it slid in from the side
You can stock up on these items in any German super market, whenever you feel nostalgic for the Ostfront. 🤣🤣🤣
I use a p38 all the time xD reason being, every can opener I buy, always breaks, as they are junk nowadays, so I started using my p38. I have gotten so good with it I can open any can faster then an electric can opener lol, what else would I need?
Try the p-51, it's a little bigger, Amazon has it
They work so great that they can be used backwards, which is how people use them all too often.
I have used a p38 alot, had no problems with it at all
So many people use it in the wrong direction 🤷