US Rations etc
During the period 1941-1945, 23 different rations and ration supplements were developed for use by U. S. Armed Forces throughout the world. The most famous were the D Bar, C Ration, and K Ration.
Various US items in my collection
US K-Rations
K-ration was adopted for use in 1942. The components of the K-ration was designed for only a few days use under assault conditions, the demands of war meant that soldiers often ate them for days or even weeks, At the height of the war in 1944, over 105 million of these rations were produced.
Early boxes were plain brown card, the packaging changed in 1944 to a coloured design to make it easier for soldiers to quickly select the meal, brown for breakfast, green for supper, and blue for dinner. Within these coloured boxes the meal was contained in a plain box, this was twice dipped in wax, after the contents were inserted and the box was sealed, in order to keep the contents waterproof.
US C-Rations
C-Ration (B Unit) dated 1942
U.S. Army Field Ration C, (B Unit) or combat rations issued
from World War II to the 1980s. Each ration consisted of six cans including
three M-Units containing a canned entrée, three B-unit containing cheese,
crackers and candy, dessert, and an accessory pack. The accessory pack contained
a mix for a hot beverage, salt and sugar packets, plastic spoon, chewing gum, a
pack of four cigarettes and several sheets of toilet paper.
US D-Ration / D Bar
Concentrated emergency ration used by the US Army, it was a palatable 4-ounce bar containing 600 calories, the chief ingredients were chocolate, sugar, cocoa fat, oat flour skim milk powder and vanillin, with Vitamin B-1 . It was standardized in 1938 as Ration, Type D.
2 Extremely rare Matchbooks "Strike 'em Dead" Remember Pearl Harbor Anti Jap, And "Strike at the Seat of Trouble" Anti Hitler.
2 unused matchbooks with the matches, One "Strike 'em Dead" Remember Pearl Harbor the matches are in the shape of Japanese soldiers Dated 1942 San Francisco U.S.A, The other the matches are in the shape of bombs. The cover has the rear end of Hitler as the striker for the matches. "Strike at the Seat of Trouble - Buy War Bonds" The pack is from Philadelphia, Pa.
USAAF B-8 Flying Goggles, an A-14 Oxygen Mask, and USAAF A-11 Brown Leather Flying Helmet all Dated 1944
US M1911A1 Colt date coded 1943
The M1911 is a single-action, semiautomatic handgun. It was designed by John M. Browning, and was the standard-issue side arm for the United States armed forces from 1911 to 1985. It was widely used in World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Its formal designation as of 1940 was Automatic Pistol, Calibre .45, M1911 for the original Model of 1911 or Automatic Pistol, Calibre .45, for the M1911A1, adopted in 1924. The designation changed to Pistol, Calibre .45, Automatic, M1911A1 in the Vietnam era. In total, the United States procured around 2.7 million M1911 and M1911A1 pistols during its service life.
