Food of the Wehrmacht: Allowances
HUMAN RATIONS SCALES.
The daily ration quantity (Portionsatz) is the amount of food consumed by one man
for one day. It consists of three meals, the noon meal amounting to one-
There are four main types of rations served to troops. Ration
I (Verpflegungssatz I) is for troops committed to combat, for those that are recuperating
from combat, and for troops stationed in Norway north of 66° N. Lat. Ration II is
for occupation and line-
REPRESENTATIVE BREAKDOWN OF MAXIMUM RATION ALLOWANCES IN GRAMS PER DAY
Item Component
Duty Class
Class Ration I Ration II Ration III Ration IV
Rye bread (a) 700 700 700
600
Fresh meat with bones (b) 136 107 90 56
Soy bean flour (b) 7 7 7 7
Headless fish
(h) 30 30 30 30
Fresh vegetables and fruits (c) 250 250 250 250
Potatoes (c) 320
320 320 320
Legumes (c) 80 80 80 80
Pudding powder (d) 20 20 20 20
Sweetened condensed
skim milk (d) 25 25 25 25
Salt (e) 15 15 15 15
Other seasonings (e) 3 3 3 3
Spices
(f) 1 1 1 1
Fats and bread spreads (g) 60 50 40 35
Coffee (h) 9 9 9 9
Sugar (i) 40
35 30 30
Supplementary allowances (l) 2 2 2 2
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Total Maximum Ration in grams 1,698 1,654 1,622 1,483
Total Maximum Ration in lbs
3.74 3.64 3.57 3.26
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Wine (in summer) (quarts)
(j) .026 .026 .026 .026
Cigarettes (pieces) (k) 7 6 3 2
The most important items
of the component classes are as follows: (a) bread; (b) meats, soy bean flour, cheese,
fish, and eggs; (c) vegetables; (d) puddings and milk; (e) salt, mustard, vinegar,
and other seasonings; (f) spices such as pepper, cinnamon, and cloves; (g) butter,
lard, marmalades, fats, and bread spreads; (h) coffee and tea; (i) sugar; (j) spirits
and wines; (k) tobacco.
Substitute issues may be made within a component class but
not among different component classes. Thus the daily maximum allowance of vegetables
for a soldier is 60 grams [In dealing with captured German documents, the American
soldier will invariably find the rations allowances computed in grams or kilograms.
A gram equals .0353 ounce or .0022 pound. A kilogram (1000 grams) equals 35.3 ounces
or 2.2 pounds.] of dried vegetables, or 1200 grams of kidney beans, or 400 grams
of salted vegetables, or equivalent quantities of any of about 30 other substitutes.
It is not possible to predict which items will be served on any given day. The following
chart, however, sets forth a likely breakdown of these maximum ration allowances.
b. SPECIAL TYPES OF HUMAN RATIONS. (1) March ration (Marschverpflegung). The march
ration is a cold food ration issued for not more than three or four consecutive days
to units in transit either on carrier or by foot. It consists of approximately 700
grams of bread, 200 grams of cold meat or cheese, 60 grams of bread spreads, 9 grams
of coffee (or 4 grams of tea), 10 grams of sugar, and six cigarettes. Thus it has
a total weight of about 980 grams.
(2) Iron ration (Eiserne Portion). An iron ration
consists of 250 grams of biscuits, 200 grams of cold meat, 150 of preserved vegetables,
25 of coffee, and 25 of salt. Total weight is 650 grams without packing and 825 grams
with packing. An iron half-
(3) Combat Package (Grosskampfpäcken) and Close Combat Package (Nahkampfpäcken).
The Germans have begun to use these types of rations for troops engaged in combat.
They include chocolate bars. fruit bars, candies, cigarettes, and possibly biscuits.
Thanks to Paul Dalby for Translation.