MESS TENT
Our old adversary Napoleon Bonaparte once said "An Army travels on its stomach." This was very much the case during many of the conflicts that the 80th Regiment found itself embroiled in. A contemporary account says that a common soldier's rations consisted of soft bread or biscuits (Ships biscuits or Hard Tack), cheese, butter, and beer. Vegetables, beans, rice and peas were added when available.
The following is taken from CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL, 14 MAY 1859. "Whether at home or abroad, a British soldier expects and receives more animal food than a continental soldier. A French soldier eats 2 1/2lbs. of bread per day, but adds to it very little solid meat; a British soldier will bear all sorts of privations patiently, save lack of food, and his dinner must include meat, or it is no dinner to him. One pound of salt pork, or fresh beef, was the daily ration of meat." When meat was in short supply, fish was substituted. Since fish did not travel well, it had to be heavily salted, which frequently left the soldier with a severe thirst. Consequently it was not liked. The cheese and biscuits were the usual rations taken when the troops were on a long march. The families of the soldiers were issued the same rations, but in proportional quantities.
During the "Troubles" with Emperor Napoleon Wellington directed that his Men were to purchase all food and drink His armies were not to "forage" for their food, which would put a strain on the population. Should they fail to obey this order the penalty was death. The purchase of local Food and Drink was used to supplement the poor or none issue of Rations.
Said of Soldiers during the 1859 review noted above of conditions in the British army: "The soldiers know little of cooking, and there is no one to teach them. They have their 1lb. of bread and 3/4lb. of meat daily, and they have fuel and vessels for cooking; but the processes are wasteful and ill understood. Boiled meat is almost a universal diet with them, for hardly any arrangement has yet been made for roasting or baking. Sometimes a few men will club together, and pay for having a joint of meat, with potatoes, baked at a neighbouring bakehouse; if they depend on the barrack facilities, they can scarcely get beyond boiled meat - too often, through bad management, hard and tasteless. They take it in turn to cook, by an arrangement among themselves; but they are sorry cooks at best. Each regiment or detachment receives its quota of meat and bread at a particular hour daily, and distributes to companies and squads."
Rations
The British Army issued Rations to the Men through the Commissary. In 1815 the Rations Scale was as follows.
For MEN
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In Barracks One and a half pounds of Bread (680 g) One ounce of Butter or Cheese(27g) One pound of Beef or half a pound of Pork (450g) One ounce of Rice (27 g) One quarter of a pint of Dry Peas (130g) |
On Campaign The Rations that were issued to the Men while on Campaign differed to that issued in Barracks: One and a Half pounds of Bread or Unground Wheat (680 g) Two pounds of Potatoes (900 g) One Pound of Beef or Mutton (450 g) One Pint of Wine or One Third a pint of Rum (200 ml) |
For WOMEN
Women assigned to the Regiment were officially allocated Half the Men's Ration and Children were issued One Quarter.
In reality alcohol was generally provided on active service in relatively generous quantities or at least subsidised. A practice which contributed to the NSW corps being known as the RUM Corps. Alcohol was often used because the water found on the march was often contaminated and unfit to drink. By the time the 80th Regiment was serving in Australia Tea and Coffee had become popular and a Tea ration was added to the regular rations.
Some Military Trivia
The term a 'a square meal' came from the fact that soldiers carried a square cutting board made of wood. When a soldier had enough food to cover the cutting board he had a square meal.
The term 'weak tea' comes from the ration of TEA issued weekly to a soldier. He would take his ration which was roughly the equivalence of four contemporary Tea bags wrap it in muslin cloth place it in his drinking mug and pour in the boiling water. He would then take the cloth and lay the tea out to dry. By the end of the week it certainly was weak tea.
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