The last surviving ration pack from D-Day was found in a Dorset museum

Story Transcript

Elliot Metcalfe has found what he believes to be the last surviving ration pack from the Normandy landings. 

Metcalfe — who is the director of the Keeps Military Museum in Dorchester, U.K. — was preparing an exhibit on military rations when he came across it.

"We pulled it out thinking, 'Well, that would be interesting for our exhibition,'" he told As It Happens guest host Tom Harrington. "As soon as we got it out of the box, I instantly sort of realized what it was and that it certainly wasn't a '50s ration box."

The news comes as Allied nations commemorate the 78th anniversary of D-Day this week.

Metcalfe says that the ration pack was likely issued to someone from the 2nd Devon or the 1st Dorset regiment, both of which their museum represents. 

"That would have meant it belonged to a man who landed on Gold Beach at half seven on the 6th of June 1944," said Metcalfe. 

He added in an email that the 1st Dorsets would have been the first British infantry to land on D-Day.

The ration pack was first found during a museum audit in 2006, but was mistakenly labelled as an item from the 1950s. But how it first came into the museum's possession is a mystery.

"It could have been in the building since the war. The museum itself is in the old Dorset Regiment Depot," said Metcalfe. "It could well have been in the building since the war, or it could have come in from a D-Day veteran any time since."

Each Allied soldier was given two of these "assault ration packs" to power them for at least 24 hours until supply lines were established.

What's inside

"It's all very dry, I'm afraid," said Metcalfe. "You'd be having biscuits, oatmeal blocks and some bars of chocolate, chewing gum, a block of meat and some sweets was pretty much your food for the day, along with tea and sugar as well to wash it all down." 

According to the Keeps Military Museum, a complete assault ration pack like the one discovered contains the following items:

• 10 biscuits.
• 2 oatmeal blocks.
• Tea, sugar and milk blocks.
• 1 meat block.
• 2 slabs of raisin chocolate.
• 1 slab of plain chocolate.
• Boiled sweets.
• 2 packets of chewing gum.
• 1 packet of salt.
• Meat extract tablets.
• 4 tablets of sugar.
• 4 pieces of latrine paper.

The rations were packed in a waxed cardboard box, "sealed to help keep the contents water- and gas-proofed," according to a blog post by the museum.

"The idea was that it would give the soldier 4,000 calories, which is what they calculated an active soldier would need to sustain themselves through the day," said Metcalfe.

The design of this particular ration pack was also a "step forward," according to Metcalfe. Earlier rations were issued in tins, which were bulkier and heavier. This one was redesigned to be lighter and small enough to fit in a small mess tin in a soldier's rucksack. 

The box smells sort of chocolatey beef now. I definitely wouldn't be tempted to eat it.- Elliot Metcalfe, Keeps Military Museum

Despite being nearly 80 years old, the ration pack itself is still sealed. Metcalfe and his team wanted to keep it that way, so they went to conservators at the Fishbourne Roman Palace for assistance. There, they conducted an X-ray of the pack.

"The X-ray came out much better than we could have hoped," said Metcalfe. You can clearly see the chocolate. You can see the chewing gum. You can even see the outline of where the toilet paper is on top." 

In fact, the X-ray revealed that all the original contents of the pack are still inside. Unfortunately, this also includes all the food, which is now almost 80 years old.

"The box smells sort of chocolatey beef now," said Metcalfe. "I definitely wouldn't be tempted to eat it."

Given its age and fragile state, Metcalfe and his team are keeping it in storage for the time being.

"The likelihood is it won't last forever, unfortunately, due to the nature of what it is," said Metcalfe, adding that there are several pinhole-sized holes in the box.

"The best thing we can do is look into how we can conserve it for the longest time possible."

Written and produced by Aloysius Wong.