AAF Combat Lunch
The original combat lunch to subsist air crews on long-range flight missions consisted of unprepared and dehydrated items which were to be cooked or reconstituted by crew members during flight.68 Despite the general absence of heating or cooking equipment aboard military aircraft, these types of foods were listed in the initial specification 64 and persisted throughout the war. The specification described the ration as a unit package consisting of food for three men for one meal with extra beverages.65 Components were dry milk, chili powder or tomato paste, bouillon cubes, hard candy, gum, precooked rice, salt, tea tablets, and can opener, all packaged in a waxed fiberboard box. Subsequently, the variety of components was increased by specifying two menus or combinations of components.66 The ration was to be placed aboard the plane in quantities sufficient to provide meals for all crew members. It was assumed that water would be provided for reconstituting the dehydrated components and making the beverages. Crew members were to carry out preparation procedures in the plane.
A limited procurement of the combat lunch was made in 1943 and 1944. In December 1944, the Air quartermaster, recognizing that preparation of foods in flight was too much to expect of aircrews, discontinued the ration and sought various means of using up the quantity on hand. By July 1945, the ration was recognized as obsolete and eventually the specification was cancelled.67
The following concise criticism of the AAF Combat Lunch was expressed by the Laboratory after the war:
The consensus of the crew members is that the food is not sufficiently desirable to compensate for the effort required in preparation. Such a large variety of items is not deemed necessary. The majority of crew members think that a few cans of prepared soup, a thermos jug of coffee, a few meat or cheese sandwiches, some fresh fruit (preferably oranges) and a few candy bars would be much more suitable than these flight lunches. The chewing gum, chocolate and Charms (hard candy) included in these flight lunches are the only items considered desirable......
Sandwich Packs
The review of rations used by groups in flight would not be complete without mention of the efforts to provide sandwich packs. These efforts often were negated at flight bases by lack of supplies and by inadequacies of equipment. To facilitate preparation of sandwich lunches at such bases, the Subsistence Laboratory, in May 1945 started to develop a "sandwich-beverage pack," which was to contain the ingredients for preparing sandwiches and beverages. The cessation of the war caused the work to be abandoned just when a promising start had been made, but the effort did leave some spade work which was utilized in 1950 in the development of the inflight food packet.
Army Rations-Historical Background