Malaya What If
- Thread starter Fatboy Coxy
- Start date
Pretty much, though the testing did take into account athletic activity, what they didn't take into account was that a) combat burn calories on a whole different level than, lets say, a sports activity. The stress, fear, lack of sleep, and carrying full combat loads just doesn't compare. Then there's b) how the environment often factors in. The freezing cold of a Continental European winter; the miserable mud and rain combined with the steep terrain of an Italian mountain winter; The baking heat of a Saharan summer; the draining swamps, humidity, heat, endless wet, and rain of the New Guinea rain forests. All also sucked calories at prodigious rates even without combat!
Add in that indeed the field kitchens couldn't reach troops on the front lines as often as planned, not even close, and that troops themselves tended to not eat the rations as prescribed, but only the bits they liked (still an issue with the MRE) and you see the issue. Even with the field kitchens the troops would've been chronically underfed.
It was a solid, well thought out effort, but without truly realistic conditions available to test against, it was bound to come up short. The MRE is as close to a truly well thought out combat ration as I've seen, being based on studies of calorie usage under real combat conditions. Nonetheless, as said above, even then it only works if the person eating it eats all of it as prescribed. Few do!
Driftless
Donor
I had tossed in the "C" and "K" combat rations for comparison to the common lower calorie ration the Japanese soldiers were working from during the OTL Malaya, DEI, Burma campaigns. IF the Commonwealth and KNIL hold on longer, or even achieve stalemate, the Japanese logistical train is going to be challenged to keep those soldiers at operational efficiency, no matter how disciplined and inured to hardship as they were.
I can imagine some rations can be "requisitioned" from local residents, but enough?
I can imagine some rations can be "requisitioned" from local residents, but enough?
ctayfor
Monthly Donor
One of the easiest ways to keep calorie intake up in modern rations is their supplementation with "energy bars." When I was in the Royal New Zealand Army Corps 45 years ago, such things didn't exist, but we were issued a 100g Cadbury "Energy" chocolate bar with our daily (mainly tinned) rations. It was quite dark chocolate and fairly sweet, suitable for nibbling or for throwing into boiling water in a canteen cup with milk powder and possibly an extra sachet of sugar, to make a good cup of hot chocolate. That was one part of the ration pack that I don't recall anyone discarding or looking to trade.
Not fantastic basic nutrition because of the fairly high refined sugar (" empty calories") content, but the fat is a good energy source and the theobromine helps with alertness. A good supplement for battle rations, rather than basic food value.
Not fantastic basic nutrition because of the fairly high refined sugar (" empty calories") content, but the fat is a good energy source and the theobromine helps with alertness. A good supplement for battle rations, rather than basic food value.
The Australia Army learnt a valuable lesson from the fighting in New Guinea - the soldier needs all the help available in his rations. They need to be nutritious and appetizing, easily prepared and interesting to eat, hot or cold. We worked on issuing 10 man ration packs when in combat supplemented by 1 man, 24 hour ration packs. When available fresh rations were to be issued but they were not necessary. We could supplement it with cordials for hot weather and rum rations for cold weather. Americans when attached would quite often eat an entire 24 hour, 1 man pack at a single sitting and then asked, "what was next? " They were used to receiving only a single meal MRE and we had to explain patiently that was not how we operated. Our rations were based on a 24 hour period and assigned accordingly. They were surprised at the quality of our rations, which were usually excellent. Their MREs have improved over time but still don't measure up that well to our 24 hour 1 man ration pack, which comes in 5 different varieties.
The goal for field fielding has historically been to minimize the use of preserved/packaged rations for three reasons: they’re generally not appetizing, they’re relatively expensive compared to fresh food, and they were often nutritionally incomplete. Even in SWPA, US forces made efforts to maximize the usage of fresh foods- there were field bakeries at the divisional level (one formed a provisional rifle company at Bataan after the flour ran out), gardens at Hollanding, and the famous coke and ice cream plants. The nominal plan for field feeding was to feed at least one hot meal a day for troops in the line with a goal of two plus supplements of soup and coffee all prepared by the company mess section.
This often broke down quickly in combat, especially in landing operations or offensive operations when the kitchens couldn’t be put into operation. Because they were likely to be committed first, combat arms troops and their attachments were typically on field rations the longest. Paradoxically, light forces, who burn the most calories because of the physical nature of their operations, are most likely to short themselves on rations by “field stripping” the ration to what they’ll really eat in an effort to save weight. An example from the Vietnam War novel the “13th Valley” based on the author’s experiences during operations in and around the A Shau Valley in 1979-71 shows infantrymen taking their issued three a day MCI (C-rations) and stripping them to a can of fruit for breakfast, a can of cheese and crackers for lunch, and a main meal can for dinner. Over a prolonged period this practice causes loss of muscle mass, fatigue, and nutritional deficiencies. These effects are exacerbated in extreme climates and by the stress of continuous operations and close combat.
Extensive research was, and continues to be done into field rations and the effects of calorie deficient. In the US, many of these studies were done using students in the US Army Ranger School, where food deprivation is used to induce stress in the students during field exercises (one ration meal a day, two a day in winter, typically eaten cold in about 5 minutes a meal) This is an ideal test environment because it provides a very controlled environment, since ranger students are isolated from outside food sources (even during garrison operations students generally subsist solely on dining facility meals) and are likely to consume their entire ration for the day (no hoarding or scavenging of MRE components is allowed, and students can only eat when permitted by the Ranger Instructor). Parallell studies were done with soldiers receiving the standard issue of MRE rations. This research led to the fortifying of ration components, the refinement of menus to include more varied and familiar items like commercial candies, inclusion of flameless ration heaters, more snacks, and the addition of “helpful hints” in ration packets reminding soldiers to “eat a little of eve component” if they couldn’t eat the full ration.
Studies from recent combat operations show that this was a mixed success. While many units operated from fixed sites using contracted food, forces engaged in protracted combat operations, as was common in 2003-2005 in Iraq and 2001-2011 in Afghanistan continued to field strip rations, consume insufficient calories, and suffer from disproportionate weight loss compared to their peers in more static units. For our purposes, heat and fatigue were cited as two reasons why troops did not consume a full ration, while the nature of infantry combat (many infantry units used “3 day” or ”assault packs” similar to a civilian commuter backpack for mobility in urban or mountainous terrain) meant that weight and space were at a premium and food competed with water, ammunition, and batteries. In one operational study soldiers conducting dismounted operations were found to have lost an average of 10% of their body weight in a month between commitment and being pulled out for refit. To combat this, the current trend is to issue soldiers in these circumstances a 24 hour ration composed of numerous fortified snack items designed to be eaten cold or on the move direct from the wrapper, such as pocket sandwiches, fortified squeezable applesauce, energy bars, and enriched gum.
This often broke down quickly in combat, especially in landing operations or offensive operations when the kitchens couldn’t be put into operation. Because they were likely to be committed first, combat arms troops and their attachments were typically on field rations the longest. Paradoxically, light forces, who burn the most calories because of the physical nature of their operations, are most likely to short themselves on rations by “field stripping” the ration to what they’ll really eat in an effort to save weight. An example from the Vietnam War novel the “13th Valley” based on the author’s experiences during operations in and around the A Shau Valley in 1979-71 shows infantrymen taking their issued three a day MCI (C-rations) and stripping them to a can of fruit for breakfast, a can of cheese and crackers for lunch, and a main meal can for dinner. Over a prolonged period this practice causes loss of muscle mass, fatigue, and nutritional deficiencies. These effects are exacerbated in extreme climates and by the stress of continuous operations and close combat.
Extensive research was, and continues to be done into field rations and the effects of calorie deficient. In the US, many of these studies were done using students in the US Army Ranger School, where food deprivation is used to induce stress in the students during field exercises (one ration meal a day, two a day in winter, typically eaten cold in about 5 minutes a meal) This is an ideal test environment because it provides a very controlled environment, since ranger students are isolated from outside food sources (even during garrison operations students generally subsist solely on dining facility meals) and are likely to consume their entire ration for the day (no hoarding or scavenging of MRE components is allowed, and students can only eat when permitted by the Ranger Instructor). Parallell studies were done with soldiers receiving the standard issue of MRE rations. This research led to the fortifying of ration components, the refinement of menus to include more varied and familiar items like commercial candies, inclusion of flameless ration heaters, more snacks, and the addition of “helpful hints” in ration packets reminding soldiers to “eat a little of eve component” if they couldn’t eat the full ration.
Studies from recent combat operations show that this was a mixed success. While many units operated from fixed sites using contracted food, forces engaged in protracted combat operations, as was common in 2003-2005 in Iraq and 2001-2011 in Afghanistan continued to field strip rations, consume insufficient calories, and suffer from disproportionate weight loss compared to their peers in more static units. For our purposes, heat and fatigue were cited as two reasons why troops did not consume a full ration, while the nature of infantry combat (many infantry units used “3 day” or ”assault packs” similar to a civilian commuter backpack for mobility in urban or mountainous terrain) meant that weight and space were at a premium and food competed with water, ammunition, and batteries. In one operational study soldiers conducting dismounted operations were found to have lost an average of 10% of their body weight in a month between commitment and being pulled out for refit. To combat this, the current trend is to issue soldiers in these circumstances a 24 hour ration composed of numerous fortified snack items designed to be eaten cold or on the move direct from the wrapper, such as pocket sandwiches, fortified squeezable applesauce, energy bars, and enriched gum.
During the draft-lottery phase of Nam, I was classified 1-Y (not draftable until all the 1-As had been used up), eventually changed to 4-F (medically rejected), I think due to my red-green colorblindness. However, a further potential problem would have been my allergies to chocolate and coffee, which have long been key elements of field rations. What do armies do about soldiers that can't eat chocolate, when that's so broadly used as a base ingredient of high-calorie desserts (WWII) and energy bars (now)?
If they could raise that many extra forces though, why not send them to Egypt or Malta that are bordering on collapse. Singapore and Malaya are ultimately lower priority then North Africa, and success early on in Malaya means nothing if changes result in North Africa collapsing.
The. British rations in the 80s were dire the only thing good in them was the chocolate bar cheese and sausages the rest were only fit for a dog. Thankfully we copied the American MREs eventually.
They eat other foods. There is plentiful cheese and ration biscuits for them to consume instead of Chocolate. They would have disliked the Australian Army Chocolate ration anyway. Most soldiers do, initially. It is usually issued near white, with the Cocoa solids separated by heat from the milk solids. It is perfectly alright, just not as appetizing as normal civilian Chocolate.
Fatboy Coxy
Monthly Donor
Hi Viper91, yes that's a good question, but I'd say, they had enough troops in the North African theatre, just not trained, or the units were being rebuilt from the disasters of Greece and Crete. And as you can see in my Operation Crusader posts, the British do have the upper hand. Malta is a bit of a different story, I don't think it was troops, and I'm guessing your arguing for more aircraft there (Hurricanes), the problem here was one of getting them there, and the high attrition rate. So yes, I do agree there is some questioning of my allocation of Hurricanes to Malaya, although I'd say the RAF had plenty, and most of the pilots of the Article XV squadrons in Malaya are somewhat green, probably not that desirable for Malta. And on that note of Malta, you might recognise some of my Canadian pilots when we get to the air action, from Malta.
During the MRE development cycle, the US Army introduced commercially made kosher/halal MRE type meals (actually managed through unit chaplain supply channels) and later and MRE type Humanitarian Daily Ration (HDR). The HDR is vegetarian and has “widespread cultural and religious acceptability”. Some of the vegetarian entrees of the kosher/halal meals eventually made it into the MRE itself (look up the veggie omelett, aka “vomlette”). Otherwise there is no accommodation in MREs.
There are soldiers who do not use elements of the ration for various reasons (religious, medical, etc). Usually there is enough swapping of rations or there are acceptable meals available to them. Ironically, many soldiers in prolonged combat discarded the MRE dessert items before they discarded bland foods like breads, which was a factor in calorie deficient. Otherwise, a medical history of allergies, especially ones leading to anaphylaxis is considered disqualifying for enlistment. If developed on active duty the allergy may lead to a restriction on career field and assignment or separation following an evaluation of medical fitness.
Agree with Mr. Coxy's premise - the only additional bodies of troops that have gone to Malaya have been pretty much green troops which would have been unhelpful in North Africa or Malta. similarly the hurricanes that have gone to Malaya have been airframes which were then married up to engines from Canada so no way they could have gone to Malta easily. The 4 R's and the Valentines are the biggest stretch but they were using Valentines to equip Indian units anyway and it is reasonable to suppose that after very heavy losses of the large pre war boats in the med that the R's were kept back as otherwise being deathtraps in a high risk warzone
I have to disagree.
Not everything was great but a lot of the rations were good enough or even quite tasty.
Being short of water could be a problem if you were issued an arctic pack but I have fond memories of mixing rolled oats and hot chocolate
Last edited:
Attacking airfields at night is almost impossible. You just can't find them in the dark. The chances they will be lite up for the attackers is about nil, and there are almost no landmarks to guide them in. That's why it was almost never done.