The Germans believed in feeding their soldiers well and did so when supplies could get through. By OKH regulation the average German soldier was entitled to a minimum of 3.74 pounds or 4500 calories a day broken up into three meals, a small breakfast, a heavy lunch and a light dinner.
Rations were broken up into classes with Ration Class 1 designed for front line troops. As with most militaries of the day, Navy and Air Force men were served better food and as the war ground on the men who deserted first were those transferred to the Army from other services and the reasons they often gave was the food.
Unlike men in other armies the German front line soldier received first food priority. During the second half of 1944 there were rear-echelon men who volunteered for combat just to get better food. Sacrifices were being made in the rear to support the men at the front. Soldiers at the front were served by a field kitchen, usually horse drawn, that could cook hundreds of loaves of bread a day or make enough stew for a company. The kitchen was often nicknamed the “field cannon” because of the smoke stack. The Germans began the move towards gasoline powered kitchen trucks but this was uneven and did not catch on as gas became harder to get, so the horse drawn kitchen wagon never really disappearred. Stew was called “one pot” and served for lunch, hot, every day. Men who could not be rotated back for hot food were brought hot food in insulated containers.
German soldiers were also allowed beer or wine when it was available - and they had to return the beer bottles for deposit. Coffee and sugar were added supplementally and the German soldier was alotted seven cigarettes per day as part of his rations.
Breakfast typically consisted of 2 slices of bread with jam or some kind of animal fat mixed with onions. Enlisted men received one cup of ersatz coffee usually made from chicory nuts or acorns or whatever nut was available to be ground up and boiled locally. Officers had greater access to real coffee, but real coffee was a luxury.
Lunch was proscribed by OKG down to the gram/calorie level and was required to include so much mean, potatoes, vegetables and so on, all cooked in a pot and provided with bread and coffee.
Dinner was bread, cheese, milk and pudding.
The Germans also had a thing called “Iron Rations” which were similar to American K Rations but these could only be eaten in an emergency or with the permission of a commander. They usually consisted of enough food to last from one to three days but a soldier could easily eat it all in one day. Iron rations consisted of crackers in wax paper; canned meats; canned soup; erstatz coffee; salt; sugar and chocolat, usually in the form of a thing called “Shoka-Cola” which was a tasty, thick piece of chocolate jacked with sugar and caffeine and very popular.
The German soldier on the front was usually provided with food and it wasn’t until late 1944 that the food delivery system began to break down. Nevertheless, the Germans provided the necessary food right up til the end, though the quality and flavor suffered. They still provided the necessary calories and bulk for men to fight, particularly in the West. Only in the beginning, on the East, and in extreme situations, did the German Army suffer in the East. As they pulled back they were able to bring their kitchens with them and their supply lines shortened and food was provided. In the book “The Forgotten Soldier” Guy Sajer tells of how the desperate quartermasters would deliver unpackaged food in bulk to each soldier and it was up to them to mix and match. For example, Sajer received 5 pounds of butter and had to mix with other soldiers who got something else and trade, but this was at Memel near the end when everything was coming apart. But even the German 9th Armee trapped in Halbe reported that they had sufficient food and the 12th Armee surrendering to the Americans brought all their food and field kitchens with them. And when they were stuck the Germans slaughtered their horses. The Germans also drove herds of cattle, sheep, goats and even chickens with them when they moved into combat. One head of cattle made rendered 1000 rations; a horse only rendered 700. Sheep and goats and chickens much less and when time when on these disappeared because it was too much work to butcher them.
Source: Quora
