FLYING RATIONS TYPE B

John Baker

John Baker

Final Approach
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John Baker
A while back, I came in possession of a small round tin can, painted blue.

On the top it reads:

" FLYING RATIONS TYPE B

Packed 9/52

To break inner seal twist coin under lid. "

The can has a screw on top. It is 3.5" in diameter and 1" thick.

What I am wondering is what type of food these small ration cans contained, what was in them?

I remember reading an old WWII book that mentioned the air crews grabbing handfuls of ration cans and stuffing them in their pockets before a mission.

Any of you guys know anything about them?

John
 
Nasty, nasty stuff...

MREs were a great improvement over the old canned rations.

(And early MREs weren't so great -- tuna and noodles, anyone?)
 
I have an MRE toffee crunch cookie that has been in my glove box for over 5 years. I wonder if its still good?? :)
 
dmccormack said:
MREs were a great improvement over the old canned rations.

(And early MREs weren't so great -- tuna and noodles, anyone?)
Click to expand...
You could salvage a tuna and noodles by adding a packet of cheese goo and a small bottle of tabasco that came in certain MREs.

pookies said:
I have an MRE toffee crunch cookie that has been in my glove box for over 5 years. I wonder if its still good?? :)
Click to expand...
I still have a few unopened MREs from the 1990s. I intended to take them on camping trips but never did. I sure that they are way beyond the expected shelf life. Next time I come across it I will open one to see what it looks like.
 
Open it. Eat. Enjoy! Then you'll know. :D
 
This can is way to small for MRE or "C" rations. It may be from the British or Canadian air forces.

During my hitch, we had "C" rations. A box contained a pack of cigarettes, some toilet tissue, a can of crackers and some jelly to spread on them, matches, a can of lard with some sort of food like substance suspended in the goop, a can of a desert, peach halves or chopped up fruit in sugar sauce. We generally tossed any food that had to be heated to be palatable. We carried the cans that had things like spaghetti, beans, or anything else we could eat cold without barfing it up.

I've also wondered what "K" rations consisted of. I think my can of flying rations was more from that era.

John
 
I still have a box of C-rations circa 1972 that were issued to me in the 1980s. I flew for a couple of years in the 1980s and never saw a flying rations can. We had boxed nasties for our meals. These were simple sandwiches, chips, fruit, etc that were made about 12 hours before we took off.

Is this what your can looks like?

http://www.para-phenalia.com/cart/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=1007
 
dmccormack said:
Where we you to trade away that nastiness to?

Whoever grabbed tuna and Noodles regretted it in any platoon draw I was in...
Click to expand...
No one ever wanted the pork patty. I tried several times to rehydrate into something edible but failed everytime. Beef stew and the tuna could at least be eaten when cold. I do recall a time when beefstewsicle was eaten for several meals.

BTW where did they get that cheese spread from? Had to be leftovers from some biological warfare experiment gone bad. At least the peanut butter could be used to seal leaks in shelter halves.
 
ScottM said:
No one ever wanted the pork patty. I tried several times to rehydrate into something edible but failed everytime. Beef stew and the tuna could at least be eaten when cold. I do recall a time when beefstewsicle was eaten for several meals.

BTW where did they get that cheese spread from? Had to be leftovers from some biological warfare experiment gone bad. At least the peanut butter could be used to seal leaks in shelter halves.
Click to expand...


I used a shelter half exactly once in OCS. After that they mildewed in the supply room with 326 others.
 
dmccormack said:
Nasty, nasty stuff...

MREs were a great improvement over the old canned rations.

(And early MREs weren't so great -- tuna and noodles, anyone?)
Click to expand...

WE never ate that crap, we had a cook assigned to the crew, he brought his daily grocery list aboard every flight, and prepared great meals aboard. stake and lobsters any one.

he fed a crew of 32, and never got complaint. Cookie, where ever you are we love you.
 
Tom-D said:
WE never ate that crap, we had a cook assigned to the crew, he brought his daily grocery list aboard every flight, and prepared great meals aboard. stake and lobsters any one.

he fed a crew of 32, and never got complaint. Cookie, where ever you are we love you.
Click to expand...


Infantry <> "cooks"

(Well, eventually hot rations appeared, ladeled out from mermite cans)
 
John Baker said:
This can is way to small for MRE or "C" rations. It may be from the British or Canadian air forces.

During my hitch, we had "C" rations. A box contained a pack of cigarettes, some toilet tissue, a can of crackers and some jelly to spread on them, matches, a can of lard with some sort of food like substance suspended in the goop, a can of a desert, peach halves or chopped up fruit in sugar sauce. We generally tossed any food that had to be heated to be palatable. We carried the cans that had things like spaghetti, beans, or anything else we could eat cold without barfing it up.

I've also wondered what "K" rations consisted of. I think my can of flying rations was more from that era.

John
Click to expand...

The ham and lima beans was particulary bad. Now, there was a coffee cake in some of them that wasn't bad.

ScottM said:
No one ever wanted the pork patty. I tried several times to rehydrate into something edible but failed everytime. Beef stew and the tuna could at least be eaten when cold. I do recall a time when beefstewsicle was eaten for several meals.

BTW where did they get that cheese spread from? Had to be leftovers from some biological warfare experiment gone bad. At least the peanut butter could be used to seal leaks in shelter halves.
Click to expand...

That peanut butter was be best cure for diahriah (I know I misspelled it) known to man. It would stop up anyone anytime.
 
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