Warwick exhibition shows more than 200 years of army food
Included in the World War One section are hard tack biscuits, which were made from flour, water and a small amount of salt, and were baked until they were very tough."If you tried to eat them, you'd break your teeth," said Chris Kirby, the museum's general manager.
"The idea of them was this indestructible food you could carry around with you anywhere. You wouldn't get attacked by vermin, it wouldn't suffer too much from different environmental conditions," he said."As soon as you put it into a stew or hot water you could make a food, a porridge with it."Soldiers even used to write on the biscuits, some examples of which are displayed.
In World War Two, soldiers' food was more diverse and their diets more balanced, according to Mr Kirby.They were given rations that were a combination of tinned food and dry, packed food.The exhibition sees containers from this period on display, including some from the German side.Alongside these are utensils such as spoons and forks, preserved from battlefields."What our research has suggested is, actually, the spoon is the most key utensil that a soldier will have to feed themselves with... forget a knife or a fork, a spoon is what you need," Mr Kirby said.
The earliest war depicted in the exhibition is the 1899 Boer War in South Africa.Items from this period include chocolate bars and utensils."The bars of chocolate are still perfectly preserved," said Mr Kirby."Personally, as a chocolate lover, I don't know how anybody could have not eaten that a long time ago.In addition to the display, there is a talk on 1 March led by Paul Colbourne, WW1 expert and former National Geographic correspondent.
Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
8 hours ago
- BBC News
Women reunited for first time since meeting in Somerset in WW2
Two women who first met more than 80 years ago have been reunited for the first time since World War Moody, 104, was a then recently qualified teacher when she travelled from London to the Somerset village of Hardington Mandeville to help educate evacuated was well-remembered in the village and one of her former pupils, Jean Laughlin, 96, made the trip to her care home in Wiltshire to visit Mrs Moody - who she affectionately remembers as Ms Russell."In the interim, you forget so much and suddenly it all comes back which is lovely," said Ms Laughlin. Ms Laughlin brought some old photos of the village from the 1940s and 1950s to help remind Mrs Moody of "so many happy memories". She said that, although they were older and a lot of time had passed, it was marvellous to remember together. When Mrs Moody arrived at the school, Ms Laughlin said she saw her as a role model. She said: "I was a teenager and she was a young teacher, and she gave me the impetus to go on and become a nurse. I have a lot to be thankful for."She added that her smile was "exactly the same and lights up her eyes", just as it did all those years ago. For Mrs Moody, it was a trip down memory lane for two "old friends from the wartime". Mrs Moody said her memories of Hardington were of lovely days and she "just can't believe" she was meeting Ms Laughlin again. She has recorded her wartime memoirs, which are currently being edited and made into a book, with a preview being sent to friends."She remembers so much in the book, and brought back so many memories for me. [Reading] it was wonderful," Ms Laughlin said."It must have been so frightening for parents to put their children on a train, not knowing where they were going, but Mrs Moody was there to look after them," Ms Laughlin added.
Daily Mail
21 hours ago
- Daily Mail
LIZ JONES: In which I'm so lonely, I text the German
I'm a bad feminist. I am very ashamed. What can I say? I'm weak. I have just had an oak parquet floor laid in my sitting and dining rooms, and I wanted to share how it looks. I am sick of being alone. I texted the German. 'Was thinking about you today. I hope you are OK and happy. I wanted you to know I don't blame you for anything. I imagine life has been hard for you and you've never met a strong, powerful woman who wanted to look after you. I imagine you have been used. I could be wrong. Anyway, the weekend you came to stay at my house is held warmly in my memory. I really did love you. Liz x.'
Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Daily Mirror
'My neighbours made a petition to get rid of my dogs so kids can play in my garden'
A man has shared his disbelief after his neighbour demanded he get rid of his two dogs, who had been living with his parents, because her child got poo on his hands When house hunting, you'll likely have a checklist of must-haves, nice-to-haves, and negotiables. However, one aspect you might overlook until it's too late is the neighbours. A couple were left rather taken aback by their new neighbours, who initially offered friendly greetings but later began dictating what they could and couldn't do on their own property. A 36-year-old man took to Reddit to share how he and his wife had recently purchased their first home, specifically chosen for its "huge back garden". Initially, their new neighbours politely asked if their children could continue using the expansive back garden, but then things took an unexpected turn. It comes after Brits are told to never put one banned item in garden bins as you could face punishment. The man explained: "The previous owners of our place were an elderly childless couple who were well known in the area for basically being grandparents to everyone and the husband had built multiple tree houses and bridges in the trees for kids to play in. The property is fully fenced but has three swinging gates into it. "When we first moved in we were approached by the next-door neighbour who very politely asked if her kids could keep using the backyard to play in. We agreed that it was OK so long as she understood that if her kids got hurt it wasn't our problem and we wouldn't be supervising kids playing or anything. "She was fine with that and seemed very appreciative and brought over biscuits and juice when she came over to watch her kids. Word went around and eventually we had around a dozen kids coming by each week, some supervised, some in groups of two or three, but everyone was polite and tidy so we didn't really care." However, after Christmas, things took a turn when the man's parents moved into a retirement home and could no longer look after their two dogs - an 11-year-old Belgian shepherd and a 12-year-old German shepherd cross Belgian. The man decided to adopt the dogs, which were adored by the children, until one day an irate neighbour stormed over to complain about them - insisting they get rid of them. He continued: "The problem started when a lady we didn't know showed up at our house and started screaming at my wife, apparently her six-year-old had come home with his friends and they had dog poo smeared all over their hands. She basically told my wife that if she didn't get rid of the dogs then her kids wouldn't come over anymore and she'd press charges for endangerment. "My wife basically told her to eff off and that it wouldn't have happened if she'd been supervising her child. The woman left and came back with a petition and around six signatures for us to get rid of the dogs. We told her to do one and that kids were now no longer welcome. We locked the gates and put signs up explaining and left it at that. "Several of the nice neighbours have come by to beg us to change our minds but we don't want to risk it and we don't have the time to supervise the kids so the gates stay locked. We are now arguing with a couple of people who feel it's unfair that the entire neighbourhood is tarred because of one person's actions." Nevertheless, the man was left questioning whether he'd been too harsh by shutting off the garden completely. "There is something seriously wrong with people who think it's OK to sign a petition telling other people to get rid of their well-behaved, confined, senior dogs. Like beyond simple entitlement wrong", someone raged. "I would just explain to your good neighbours that it's a decision you had to make to protect yourselves and your dogs and it would cause way too much trouble if you let some children in and not others. Honestly just telling the parents you aren't liable if their kids hurt themselves may not be enough to protect you, if you do choose to allow children in again, [I recommend] talking to an attorney first." Another fumed: "I would choose my dogs over any human - especially children. I'm child-free and love dogs more than anything. Make sure to tell them which lady it was".
