Bully Beef UK Rations

Texas Star · May 8, 2013

I mentioned in my topic about BPA in can linings the British military issuing "bully beef" as a primary field ration for most of the 20th Century. I found an article on the Net that said that issue finally ceased in 2009.

This stuff seems to be what we Americans call canned corned beef. No corn in it. The term refers to the beef being once cured by using salt kernels the size they called "corns."

It was issued mostly with hardtack crackers. Some troops evidently tried to heat it when they could. Otherwise, they ate out of the can, putting the beef on the dense, potentially tooth-cracking crackers.

Can this have been their primary meal in combat? Wouldn't other items also have been supplied?

Who knows?

I've seen many references to the bully beef in accounts from Commonwealth authors. To see how it got the name, see my topic on the BPA issue.

If in fact the British soldier was eating mainly this in battle, it really makes you appreciate US rations!

How did they raise enough beef in wartime to meet needs? They didn't. It was largely imported from South America, as is most US-sold corned beef in stores today.

BearBio · May 8, 2013

I like it. we keep several cans around, together with a bag of frozen hash browns for a quick corned beef hash dinner.

I remember seeing a program about finding a camp where a bunch of ice-bound sailors had been trapped. Several went crazy and murdered some of the others. For years everyone thought it was the equivalent of "cabin fever". Turned out it was lead poisoning from the canned goods they were eating.

Another interesting point: Corned beef and cabbage isn't really Irish. It is Irish-American. Seems the Irish ate bacon and cabbage, since bacon was a poor man's cut of pork (Ever hear of living "High on the hog"-the higher up on the animal, the better the cut of meat). When the Irish came to the US during the Great Famine (aka "Irish Genocide"), they couldn't afford bacon but corning was a way of improving cheap/tougher cuts of meat such as brisket.

Alpo · May 8, 2013

I don't know if this is true or not, but thought it was a lovely story. One of WEB Griffin's "Honor" series. WW2 Argentina. They were neutral, so could sell to anyone. The Germans, needing food, would try to buy beef. The Americans would bid against them, and as we had more money, would usually win. But we did not need all this fresh beef. So we corned it. The whole cow. T-bone, prime rib, filet mignon. Didn't matter. Chopped it up, corned it, canned it.

slfree · May 8, 2013

"If in fact the British soldier was eating mainly this in battle, it really makes you appreciate US rations!"
I will never appreciate US rations. Survive, yes, appreciate, never.
I served in the days of "C" rations. At least they included cigarettes and matches. Got to sample MRE's after Hurricane Ike. At least the MRE was easy to warm

rburg · May 8, 2013

Glad it wasn't raised in GB. It'd be the hot ticket to Mad Cow (BSE?). Even the lead solder wouldn't kill the Prions, but they'll kill you.

old bear · May 8, 2013

it really makes you appreciate US rations!

Not if you were ever given the chance to"enjoy" the C ration version of Lima beans and ham, warmed to perfection with almost hot water in a steel helmet..

Bkreutz · May 8, 2013

old bear said:
Not if you were ever given the chance to"enjoy" the C ration version of Lima beans and ham, warmed to perfection with almost hot water in a steel helmet..

Or the ever popular scrambled eggs and bacon that smelled like someone passing gas. But it was better than bugs (well, some bugs aren't so bad

) I've also heard that the bully beef often had no beef in it, they named it so their Sikh soldiers (who wouldn't eat pork) would eat it.

Texas Star · May 8, 2013

Bkreutz said:
Or the ever popular scrambled eggs and bacon that smelled like someone passing gas. But it was better than bugs (well, some bugs aren't so bad) I've also heard that the bully beef often had no beef in it, they named it so their Sikh soldiers (who wouldn't eat pork) would eat it.

I don't know whether Sikhs will eat pork, but they had many Muslim soldiers before Indian independence, when Pakistan was created. (Sikhs have their own religion; aren't Muslim.)

Hindus wouldn't eat beef, so I suspect that Indian soldiers had differen rations. Ghurkhas are Hindu, but John Masters, D.S.O., etc. who served as an officer in the 4th Ghurkha Rifles, wrote that they sacrificed a bull in an annual ceremony. Killed it with an outsized kukhri.

Some Hindus do eat meat of some kinds. Jim Corbett sometimes killed game for them while hunting man-eating tigers.

For the record, I have never eaten US rations. The closest I came was getting a flight lunch when deployed on an aircraft, and it was just a lunch packed by the flight directions cafeteria. Some US air bases had really good food; others indifferent. But I never ate MRE's, etc. My son has and said that some are better than others. Sometimes, our patrols would go by the mess hall (dining hall in USAF parlance) and get egg sandwiches and bring them around to those of us working the gates and in such areas as the Nuclear Weapons and Air Intelligence Schools at Lowry AFB in Denver. Those sandwiches were pretty bad.

I think it was the late Bill Mauldin who wrote that the Germans in WWII sent a lot of good food to troops at the front. But bully beef was really beef, not something else. I've read that the British tea ration was premixed with powdered milk and was pretty bad. Not what you get from Twining's now, thank goodness. I'm sure that forces in India and Burma got at least some normal tea, though. It would have been there, and would be a morale factor.

shouldazagged · May 8, 2013

Texas Star said:
Ghurkhas are Hindu, but John Masters, D.S.O., etc. who served as an officer in the 4th Ghurkha Rifles, wrote that they sacrificed a bull in a annual ceremony. Killed it with an outsized kukhri.

It was part of an annual ceremony, Masters wrote. The man assigned to perform the execution of the buffalo was chosen for strength and skill, and used a huge kukri with, as I recall, a blade twenty inches long or so. If he beheaded the critter with one swing there would be good fortune for the next year. If he failed to cleanly sever the head it was a terrible omen and he was disgraced.

I don't recall if they ate the meat or not--need to go back and check the book.

Masters was a fine writer as well as a good military officer. If you want some fascinating reading about the life of a British officer in a Gurkha regiment before and during WWII, his Bugles And A Tiger and The Road Past Mandalay are great.

LVSteve · May 8, 2013

rburg said:
Glad it wasn't raised in GB. It'd be the hot ticket to Mad Cow (BSE?). Even the lead solder wouldn't kill the Prions, but they'll kill you.

BSE is a modern problem brought on by bad cattle feed. British cattle still ate grass and cattle beans back then.

shouldazagged · May 8, 2013

By the way, I love "bully beef". Not as good as a corned brisket, but pretty decent with cabbage and potatoes.

BlueOvalBandit · May 8, 2013

Awww cmon MRE's aren't THAT bad, except Chicken Pesto Pasta. I can eat a lot of things but that wont pass my lips unless I'm dying and I'll probably start with a toilet paper appetizer.

But then again I'm a freak who actually likes hard tack...

Texas Star · May 8, 2013

shouldazagged said:
It was part of an annual ceremony, Masters wrote. The man assigned to perform the execution of the buffalo was chosen for strength and skill, and used a huge kukri with, as I recall, a blade twenty inches long or so. If he beheaded the critter with one swing there would be good fortune for the next year. If he failed to cleanly sever the head it was a terrible omen and he was disgraced.

I don't recall if they ate the meat or not--need to go back and check the book.

Masters was a fine writer as well as a good military officer. If you want some fascinating reading about the life of a British officer in a Gurkha regiment before and during WWII, his Bugles And A Tiger and The Road Past Mandalay are great.

I have those books and have read some of his novels, too.
You probably know that he became an American after the war and a famous author. Had what was probably PTSD after fighting the Japs in Burma. Said the war sucked emotion from him. Some of his books became movies. One was, "Bhowani Junction."

klondike · May 8, 2013

The US must have had a huge surplus of canned beef after WW2. I remember my mother feeding us seven kids on the cheapest meat available which was chipped beef. It is sure not cheap now.
Spam was the other.

Texas Star · May 8, 2013

So, if I buy a can of corned beef, what do I do? Slice it and heat in a skillet, like Spam? Does it need anything in the skillet not to stick, or is there enough fat in the meat? I'd probably be buying the Libby's brand. It comes from Brazil.

Is it used right from the can in sandwiches, or heated?

I've also seen corned beef hash in cans. I guess it's just heated as one would expect.

I know this stuff isn't rocket science. I just don't want to mess up a skillet or ruin a can of beef.

therevjay · May 8, 2013

slfree said:
"If in fact the British soldier was eating mainly this in battle, it really makes you appreciate US rations!"
I will never appreciate US rations. Survive, yes, appreciate, never.
I served in the days of "C" rations. At least they included cigarettes and matches. Got to sample MRE's after Hurricane Ike. At least the MRE was easy to warm

I must be weird. I liked C-Rats. MRE's too.

MarineSgtjimh · May 8, 2013

The old C rations came in two varieties. Real good, (pound cake, beans and weeners, peaches), and everything else. Ham and Lima beans is not fit food for human consumption. I ate c's that were packed just after WWII. They were older than me and still good.

Semper Fi

BearBio · May 8, 2013

Texas Star said:
So, if I buy a can of corned beef, what do I do? Slice it and heat in a skillet, like Spam? Does it need anything in the skillet not to stick, or is there enough fat in the meat? I'd probably be buying the Libby's brand. It comes from Brazil.

Is it used right from the can in sandwiches, or heated?

I've also seen corned beef hash in cans. I guess it's just heated as one would expect.

I know this stuff isn't rocket science. I just don't want to mess up a skillet or ruin a can of beef.

I make sandwiches by just slicing it right out of the can and some sourdough, mustard and dill pickle.

Hash: I just fry the meat up (it's pretty fatty), with some onions, then add the hash browns (cubed ones), a little water and cover. a little olive oil will change the flavor (sometimes it's better, sometimes not--just my mood) and will crisp it up, if you want.

Regarding C-rats: The spaghetti ain't bad if you can heat it up. I only had them while pulling aggressor detail at Ft Ord. I had pneumonia, so I stayed inside the Orderly Room. Permanent staff made a chicken=rabbit soup. I just thew my c-rat into the soup to warm up. Of course, I opened the carton, so I got first pick.

shouldazagged · May 8, 2013

Texas Star said:
Had what was probably PTSD after fighting the Japs in Burma. Said the war sucked emotion from him. Some of his books became movies. One was, "Bhowani Junction."

After reading The Road Past Mandalay I think it would be amazing if he didn't suffer from PTSD. The horror of the conditions, and the outrageous way higher command squandered those fine troops, would burn anyone's spirit. He loved those wonderful Gurkha soldiers.

Stevens · May 8, 2013

I have always liked Bully Beef in hash brown potatos same for chipped beef in cream sauce (SOS) on toast
Steve W

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