1831), and the Bombardier Ale is one of their better known drops. This is a beautiful example of an English ale.
Raise your glass and get it in there quick! Rum and milk was the beverage provided to soldiers at first light in preparation for battle. It was customary to add a tipple of rum to their cup of breakfast milk to help the soldiers shake off some nerves, or as one veteran digger put it, “give 'em a touch of courage”.
One hundred years ago, with nearly a tenth of Australia's population at war, two drinks enlivened our servicemen more than any other: beer and rum. One other drink rectified them when conditions were often far worse – and life-threatening: brandy.
In their finest regalia, veterans lead the charge, topping up their coffee, tea or cool glass of milk with a tot of black rum.
But one tradition that is perhaps lesser-known is the sipping of a gunfire cocktail after attending the Anzac day dawn service. The term 'gunfire' is a common word for an early morning tea (or coffee) in the army, but a soldier decided to add a drop of rum – and the gunfire cocktail was born.
In the armies, both brandy and wine – particularly champagne, and fortified wines such as madeira, sherry and port – were popular with the officers. But the average enlisted soldier reached for what was generally called simply “whiskey,” although it came in a variety of forms.
So what did they eat? Bully beef (tinned corned beef), rice, jam, cocoa, tea, some bread and above all hard tack fed the Australian soldiers at Gallipoli. Hard tack, also known as "ANZAC Wafer", or "ANZAC Tile", has a very long shelf life, unlike bread.
Drinking water was transported to front line trenches in petrol cans. It was then purified with chemicals. To help disguise the taste, most water was drunk in the form of tea, often carried cold in soldier's individual water bottles.
Gunfire (or gun-fire) is a British caffeinated alcoholic drink, a cocktail made of black tea and rum. It has its origins in the British Army and is also used as a name for early morning tea in the army.
Bundaberg Rum, colloquially known as Bundy, is a dark rum produced in Bundaberg East, Queensland, Australia, by the Bundaberg Distilling Company. In 2010, the Bundaberg Distilling Company was inducted into the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame.
There are dozens of accounts of soldiers drinking before and after battle, spread across the whole of history, and right up into the modern day. Alexander the Great, like his father Phillip the 2nd before him, was a notorious drinker, as were his Macedonian brothers in arms.
Thus, the 3.2 percent American lager became the main beer of the US Army, and the government declared brewing an important wartime industry.
Although it's a myth that Anzac biscuits were sent and eaten by troops in Gallipoli, some evidence suggests a rolled oats based biscuit was sent to troops on the Western Front, although this is not widespread.
During the war many Australian soldiers developed a taste for vin blanc or vin rouge. In contrast to today's regional varieties in France that are subjected to strict quality control, these wines were known for being cheap and cheerful.
By 1915, absinthe had been banned in the United States and in much of Europe, including France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, and Austria-Hungary, yet it has not been demonstrated to be any more dangerous than ordinary spirits.
Gunfire breakfast
... the usual term for the early cup of tea served out to troops in the morning before going on first parade, whenever possible. In the War [WWI] recruits in training always had 'Gun Fire' supplied to them, the work before breakfast being found particularly trying.
It consists of equal parts ginger beer and ginger ale with a dash of Angostura bitters and sometimes a measure of lime cordial or lemon juice. It is regarded as a non-alcoholic drink, although Angostura bitters is 44.7% alcohol by volume.
Traditional Gunfire Drink Recipe
It's a simple recipe … Gunfire consists of one cup of black tea, not necessarily a hot cup of tea, with one shot of rum – stirred in the cup.
The Gunner Saint is the original classic. Ginger, Natural Bitters and Lime, best served over ice. A long, non-alcoholic drink with a grown-up kick. Very British refreshing sparkling non-alcoholic cocktail of Ginger, Bitters and Lime, all natural ingredients.
Coffee was the most important beverage to serve U.S. Army troops. The War Department considered coffee an essential element to the troops' diet as it lifted the welfare and morale of the men. Military men believed that a warm cup of coffee completed the ration meal.
Stinking mud mingled with rotting corpses, lingering gas, open latrines, wet clothes and unwashed bodies to produce an overpowering stench. The main latrines were located behind the lines, but front-line soldiers had to dig small waste pits in their own trenches.
About once every week to ten days, Soldiers would go to the rear for their shower. Upon entering the shower area they turned in their dirty clothing. After showering they received new cloths. They had their choice for size: small, medium, or large.
Rest and recreation. Swimming helped with personal hygiene on the peninsula and became an essential form of recreation for those serving at Anzac. As troops were rotated in and out of the front line, they looked for opportunities to relax from the pressures of war.
Anzac biscuits have long been associated with the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) established in World War I. It has been claimed that these biscuits were sent by wives and women's groups to soldiers abroad because the ingredients do not spoil easily and the biscuits kept well during naval transportation.
To deal with these rather unpalatable objects first, hardtack biscuits are a nutritional substitute for bread, but unlike bread they do not go mouldy.