The Virtues Of Meals Ready to Eat


British MRE's come in two types, tinned (GS, or General Service, the supply of which, by 1999 will have been exhausted.), and retort-packaged boil in the bag (GP, or General Purpose).

GP rats have a shelf life of six years. GC have a shelf life of ten years (because they're in tins).

Like GS rats, GP rats come in a thin brown cardboard box, about 12cm x 8cm x 8cm. The box holds one x 24-hour man ration, from a choice of nine menus. And that's pretty much where similarities end, except for the accessories pack.

Each ration comprises Breakfast, Main meal, dessert, snack, and a beverage/accessories pack.

Accessories pack: Wrapped in a transparent plastic bag, sealed with adhesive tape (like sellotape)
2 x Coffee sachets (5g)
6 x Tea bags
6 x Non-dairy whitner sachets
6 x Sachets quick dissolving white sugar (25g)
1 x Beef stock drink sachet (5g)
2 x Powdered fruit drink sachets
2 x Powdered soup drink sachets
1 x Pack Wrigley's PK chewing gum (4 pieces)
1 x Small folding tin opener (in GS ration packs only)
5 x weather-proof matches ('lifeboat matches') plus striker, in a small plastic zip-lok bag
1 x Pack Rolled Oats Mix (dehydrated porridge)
1 x Pack chocolate drink mix (to make 1 pint)
1 x Pack Dextrose glucose tablets (orange flavour was common)
1 x Bar of chocolate. Catering bars of Yorkie, Mars, or Rolo's were most common. Yorkies were preferred by my unit - they didn't melt as much as the others!
6-8 x Sheets double-ply gov't issue toilet tissue (smooth one side, like sandpaper the other. Called slide'n'hide sheets by the troops)
1 x Pack Biscuits, fruit filled (fortified malted garibaldis)
2 x Packs Biscuits, Brown, AB (solid - VERY solid - 'digestives')
1-2 x Packs for the AB biscuits, normally of long-life pate, cheese (one big foil-sealed pack), or fruit spread. The cheese was called 'Cheese Possessed' by the troops)
1 x Menu sheet. In English and French

Boil-in-the-bag packs:

1 x Breakfast pack, such as Bacon & Baked Beans, or some such. Remarkably, they tended to actually tasted as in the description on the packaging.
1 x Main Meal (normally taken in the evening, prior to dusk, if cooked). Something like Pasta, Chicken & Mushroom in white sauce, or Lancashire hotpot, were main meals. I preferred Beef stew. It tasted better.
1 x Dessert pack. Pears in syrup, mixed fruit pudding in butterscotch sauce, or something as plain as milk rice pudding. They all tended to taste good!

    The rations are designed to fit neatly into the soldiers combat webbing, the boil-in-the-bag rats, contained in a soldiers mess-tins for added protection, in the utility pouches, and the accessories pack in the oversized water bottle cover, with the water bottle and canteen mug.

    The soldier was also issued a folding hexamine solid-fuel stove, and sixteen blocks of fuel in a box about six inches square by one inch deep, to cook with. The thing about these rats is that they can be eaten hot OR cold, as they're retort-packaged (pre-cooked and sealed in the bag while still piping hot). I have to say, they were better hot. But I have eaten them cold with no ill affects .


    This information was provided by Roger Stenning.


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