has previously taken stock of the food of the German army in World War II . Interested friends can check it out in previous issues. At that time, they only talked about the basic food guarantee for each soldier. So how were these foods made?
In World War II, the German army attached great importance to the food and drink of the soldiers, so it was equipped with strong logistical support to ensure that the soldiers had enough to eat. This was also the guarantee for the German army to carry out blitz in the early stage. There was no fast logistical support. , no matter how fast the blitzkrieg is, you will still have to go hungry.
Cooking troops
Food management organization with clear division of labor
The German army has always attached great importance to the food of the soldiers. As early as during the First World War, the army's food system was basically improved. By the time of World War II, the German army established There is a food management organization with a clear division of labor. Basically every infantry division has a battalion-sized food management organization. In addition to food, they are also responsible for postal matters.
Field cooking force
Meal company
Meal company is a team similar to the supervision of the entire meal organization, responsible for the food situation of the division
Staffing : The establishment of the meal office is school-level officers, 28 non-commissioned officers and 15 soldiers, a total of 46 people.
At the beginning, the catering company was called the catering department, and it was still on the same level as other teams. After it was upgraded to the catering company in 1944, it managed the bread company and the slaughtering unit.
In the catering company, the officers will receive the number of personnel from each combat unit of the division every day, adjust today's meal share based on the number of personnel, and submit the prepared cooking tasks to each execution department, and finally according to the cooking tasks Notify the required materials to the army-level logistics unit and obtain relevant materials.
Bread Company
Bread is the staple food of the Germans. Therefore, a special unit for making bread as the staple food is set up in the cooking army. This is the bread company. Generally, only logistics units at the group army and division level are equipped with bread companies.
Soldiers making bread
German military standard bread during World War II was made from rye . It was high in calories and easy to carry, so it became a staple food for the German army. In addition, bakers would also make some other bread when conditions permitted. Bread and pastries to reward the soldiers. Of course, because there are not many materials, they can only be made with wheat, rye and minced meat.
On some special and important days, such as Christmas, bakers would also make some fresh cookies and preserved bread for the soldiers to enjoy.
Bread is the most consumed food every day
Ordinary bread company staffing : officers, 2 adjutants, 22 sergeants, 119 soldiers (60 of them are bakers)
First row : oven trailers, 1 dough mixer trailer, 1 6.5 kilowatt generator trailer, 4 bread transport carriages
second row : oven trailers, 6 bread transport carriages
mechanized bread company staffing : officers, 1 1 adjutant, 22 sergeants, 122 soldiers
Of course, in addition to the bread company, there are also soldiers. The whole company will also be equipped with weapons, including rifles, pistols, cars, etc.
Baking bread
As for how much bread the bread company produces every day, it depends on the oven. Generally speaking, the bread company has two oven trailers, namely SD.AH105 and SD.AH106, of which SD.AH105 can be used at one time Bake 80 loaves, while SD.AH106 can bake 160 loaves at one time. Therefore, based on baking every two hours, SD.AH105 can provide 1920 loaves a day. Calculated in this way, can bake the entire loaf in one day. Can provide 10,000-12,000 pieces of 750g bread .
Van
Slaughter unit
In addition to bread, what soldiers need most is a variety of meat. Therefore, there are units specifically responsible for slaughtering livestock in the cooking army. The configuration of these units is different. Some divisions are equipped with a platoon of slaughter units. Some divisions have two slaughtering units and set up a slaughtering company to work in shifts.
Slaughter Unit
Of course, the slaughter unit is not only responsible for slaughtering, they also cut the slaughtered meat into minced meat for stewing, and the remaining meat is used to make German people's favorite food - sausages.
German sausages are essential
A slaughtering platoon configuration : 1 officer, 1 adjutant, 42 soldiers
Main equipment : Vehicles for hoisting livestock, personal slaughtering equipment, meat cooking cauldron, sausage stuffing machine , smoking equipment trucks, freezer trucks, generator trailers, etc.
The daily slaughter volume is quite a lot
Every day, the slaughtering unit slaughters about 15 cattle, 120 pigs, or 240 sheep. In addition, it has to produce 3 tons. The skin of the sausage must be cleaned and sent to the logistics department to make leather products.
Food processing process
Generally speaking, bread companies and slaughtering units will choose to set up camps in urban areas, because being close to urban areas can make use of urban flour factories and slaughterhouses, but there are no available facilities on the Eastern Front battlefield, so they A temporary food processing factory will be established in the wild. There must be a quick water source near the location selected, and secondly, it can facilitate evacuation.
Get the ingredients
After the ingredients are transported, they will process them. In addition to receiving them from the logistics office, the management team can also purchase fresh ingredients locally for processing, because sausages are smoked meat, In order to prevent the soldiers from eating them bad The veterinarian will use a microscope to conduct sampling inspections of the prepared sausages. Only qualified sausages will be distributed to the frontline field kitchen .
Sampling inspection of sausages
Unless there are special circumstances, the German army will gather the bread companies of each division in the rear to make bread uniformly. The prepared bread will be stored in the army storage center, waiting for the supply teams of each division to come to collect it. As for slaughtering Units, because the shelf life of meat is relatively short, can only be as close to the front line as possible.
Field Kitchen
The field kitchen is the real place where all kinds of food are made for soldiers. Field kitchen trailers will be equipped in German battalions and companies, but the sizes are different.
On-site cooking
Every field kitchen will be composed of a material cart and a cooking cart. The material cart stores various ingredients and fuel, and the cooking cart is a mobile kitchen. If it is an infantry unit, it is pulled by horses. Mechanized troops used cars for towing. The cooking cart is equipped with a cooking pot and coffee pot.
Picnic car
Large field kitchen : Capacity 200 liters, can provide meals for 125-225 people, coffee pot can brew 90 liters of coffee at a time;
Large field kitchen
Light field kitchen : Capacity 110 liters, can provide 50-125 people Human food, the coffee pot can brew 60 liters of coffee at a time.
The soldiers help so that meals can be served as early as possible
Generally, there are two cooks at the company level, because they are the only ones responsible for the meals for the entire company, so they have to boil water before dawn, and then start washing and chopping vegetables. A series of busy tasks such as meals, etc., if any soldiers are free, they will also come to help, so that meals can be served as early as possible.
Cooking
Distributing food
The field kitchen is only responsible for preparing food, and the food has to be distributed. Generally, soldiers without combat missions cook directly in the field kitchen, while soldiers on the front line need supplies to be sent to the front line. And the front line can also send people to get it.
Distribute food
In order to ensure that the food is still hot, the German army is equipped with special food preservation tubes that can maintain the temperature of soups and stews. The capacity is 12 liters, but the quantity is not very large. There are 6 in large field kitchens and 1 in light ones. 4. If there are not enough, the frontline officers and soldiers need to collect their own lunch boxes and water bottles and send people to the company to get food. However, because they travel to the front line and are covered with lunch boxes, once they are attacked, they have no power to fight back. , so the risk is still quite high.
Queuing up to eat
Generally speaking, the food rations of the German army during World War II were still very strict and standard, with a series of management and supporting facilities. After all, you can only fight with a full stomach. Because the German army’s field kitchens worked well, the later East Germany The logistics cooking trucks of and of West Germany also followed this structure, which also influenced the cooking trucks of modern countries.
looks very much like the friend who brings food to the dormitory
