Australian soldiers in WWII ate a diet heavy in preserved foods like bully beef (canned corned beef), hard biscuits (like ANZAC wafers), and cheese, supplemented by tea, sugar, and jam, especially in the field where fresh food was scarce, but rations could be supplemented with items like powdered milk, fruit bars, and even Vegemite for morale, though this varied by location and availability.
If a soldier entered enemy territory or was stuck in No Man's Land, a well packed kit could mean the difference between life and death. For this reason Australian troops were issued with the 'Iron Ration', an emergency supply of preserved meat, cheese, biscuit, tea, sugar and salt.
Second World War
However, soldiers at the front still relied on preserved foods. These largely consisted of tinned items, but also dehydrated meats and oatmeal that were designed to be mixed with water. Morale-boosting items, such as chocolate and sweets, were also provided. And powdered milk was issued for use in tea.
Equally, the Germans respected the Australians. A German battalion commander wrote in late 1918: Forces confronting us consist of Australians who are very warlike, clever and daring. They understand the art of crawling through high crops in order to capture our advanced posts …
Bully beef (tinned corned beef), rice, jam, cocoa, tea, some bread and above all hard tack fed the Australian soldiers at Gallipoli.
Military commanders took advice from medical staff and were much more pragmatic. They realised that providing condoms would prevent sexually transmitted diseases and maintain manpower levels. Military personnel also used the condoms to keep sand out of gun barrels, which saved time when they cleaned their weapons.
Alaskans are among the last to still eat hardtack as a significant part of their normal diet. Originally imported as a food product that could endure the rigors of transportation throughout Alaska, hardtack has remained a favored food even as other, less robust foods have become more readily available.
What did Rommel say about Australian soldiers? "If I had to take hell, I would use the Australians to take it and the New Zealanders to hold it". He admired the fierce Australian and New Zealand defense on El Alamein.
Audie Leon Murphy (June 20, 1925 – May 28, 1971) was an American soldier, actor, and songwriter. He was widely celebrated as the most decorated American combat soldier of World War II, and has been described as the most highly decorated enlisted soldier in U.S. history.
Pre- vious scholarship has shown that Hitler was a firm believer in God and that he did have a positive view of Jesus even though he expressed only contempt for the Christianity of the established churches. However, the issue of whether Hitler considered Jesus divine has not been satisfactorily answered thus far.
Fruit and vegetables were never rationed but were often in short supply, especially tomatoes, onions and fruit shipped from overseas. The government encouraged people to grow vegetables in their own gardens and allotments.
All-you-can-eat meals of steak, pork chops, sides, lemon meringue pie, ice cream, and even popcorn and candy during movie screenings kept the sequestered troops well fed. The last meal served before the landing was breakfast in the very early hours of the morning, said by many to be scrambled eggs and bacon.
Hardtack actually tastes pretty good because it soaks up the flavor of the liquid, stew or soup that you use in order to soften the hardtack. By itself, hardtack is not delicious because it is basically a VERY HARD salty thick bland cracker.
The difficulty of delivering fresh meat to the front during World War II saw Spam become a ubiquitous part of the U.S. soldier's diet. It became variously referred to as "ham that didn't pass its physical", "meatloaf without basic training", and "Special army meat".
As long as the individual MRE components aren't damaged, punctured, (or swelling!), they should still be edible. Some people (on usenet) say that an MRE may lose its flavor or turn an unappetizing color but will still retain all the nutritional value. But other people will say the nutritional value decays over time.
Simo Häyhä This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 5 January 2026. Simo Häyhä (17 December 1905 – 1 April 2002), often referred to by his nickname The White Death, was a Finnish military sniper during the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union in World War II.
During WW II John Wayne was unable to enter the in The USAF due to a Football injury while attending USC. He was classified ineligible for Military Service. He tried to have his Draft status changed to 1A. He didn't serve because it would have been an extreme financial hardship on his family.
1957: Prime Minister Kishi Nobusuke said to the people of Australia: "It is my official duty, and my personal desire, to express to you and through you to the people of Australia, our heartfelt sorrow for what occurred in the war."
The Nazis considered Jews to be their number one enemy. During World War II, Nazi Germany and its allies and collaborators murdered six million Jews in a genocide now known as the Holocaust.
They acknowledge two distinct maritime boundaries conclusively delimited by the Australia–New Zealand Maritime Treaty of 2004. In 2017, a major poll showed that New Zealand was considered Australia's "best friend", a position previously held by the United States.
Legal issues
Primarily, such regulations pertain to the name and recipe. They must be referred to and sold as Anzac "biscuits" or "slice" and never as "cookies".
The oldest foods still eaten today