Bon Appetit!
What was the diet of the prisoners? Did they have to survive on a lot of ersatz junk? Did they really drink a lot of self made liquor?
God is subtle, but He is not malicious. (Albert Einstein)
I finally remembered to dig out my copy of The Colditz Story by Pat Reid. There's a table there which shows the rations per prisoner in 1942. This is taken from the Protecting Power's report- Switzerland being the Protecting Power in Britain's case
This was Colditz's but I expect much the same rations were given to PoWs in other camps.
(One English pound equals 454 grammes)
Breakfast was the same from Monday to Saturday: 4 grammes of coffee substitute.
On Sundays they got 3.5 gr. instead. I assume this to be "ersatz" coffee made from (IIRC) acorns.
Dinner was the same from Monday to Friday: 400 gr. of potatoes and 500 gr. of turnips. Often this was served in soup form- described as "gruel" in the book. I doubt the potatoes were the finest maris pipers either! Sometimes pieces of pig hide would be added which gave a delicious smell of pork but little else.
On Saturdays prisoners received 400 gr. of potatoes, 112.5 gr. of peas, 75 gr. of millet, 62.5 gr. of oats, 68 gr. of cooking fat and 37.5 gr. of barley. Sunday: 350 gr. of potatoes, 250 gr. of supposedly fresh meat and 600 gr. of turnips.
The evening meal was the same from Monday to Friday: 20 gr. of jam substitute and 300 gr. of bread. Some cheese- 31.5 gr.- was added on Fridays. Reid notes that the jam substitute was inedible and apparently made from the remains of beetroots or some such. It did however prove to be a handy ingredient for distilling spirits!
On Saturdays they received 20 gr. of jam substitute, 175 gr. of sugar, 175 gr. of jam and 300 gr. of bread.
On Sundays they received 30 gr. of jam substitute and 425 gr. of bread.
As I said that was in 1942 and as the war on the rations worsened considerably, only the red cross parcels helping them to survive. Photos of released PoWs often show them as quite skeletal, certainly thin and drawn and underweight and malnourished.
Not quite the impression that the movies give you!
Trust me. I know what I'm doing.
Ahhhhhhh !Its Odbod the Fanny Craddock of the film boards.
What no wars to fight today ?For a lady who proffesses no bigotry somone who loves all, you sure do get a lot of warmongering done.You would not be hiding some deep seated bigotry would you wee man?
Cooking the books
I can hear some o` ye`r geordie pals licking their lips at the veritable feasts you describe in ye`r post ......of course, they would represent a Christmas dinner to you.A change from boiling auld tackety boots isnt it son?
Maybe a wee mug like you could help me get a wheel for my MI98 -155mm Howitzer.
Even junglecats sit doon `n huv a wee purr tae themselves now and again, likesay, usually after they've likes devoured somebody
You stalking me now, Rossy? What a sad pathetic little man you are! The Rab C Nesbitt of the IMDb boards, only not anywhere near as smart.
Trust me. I know what I'm doing.
GRUEL--almost like Oliver Twist.
God is subtle, but He is not malicious. (Albert Einstein)
https://www.scrapbookpages.com/Mauthausen/Tour/PhotoTour7.html Resembles food given to Mauthausen camp inmates, although they would not have received Red Cross parcels which Western POWs often received.
Real coffee was a luxury in wartime Europe. The acorn coffee may have had some nutritional value - since it was often all there was for breakfast, it would have to.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Cross_parcel Interesting article. A book I read on rank and file POWs mentioned that tins of curried mutton were sometimes part of the British Red Cross parcel. It is interesting that there was no agreement on safe conducts for Red Cross ships and they were occasionally attacked, especially in the Mediterranean.
"Chicken soup - with a *beep* straw."