By 1945 more than 17 400 women had served with CWAAF, more than 21 500 had joined CWAC, and 7100 had signed up with WRCNS.
As the Army has grown, and as more and more men have gone overseas, the food requirements have grown too. Supply lines are longer, and that means a larger amount of food per soldier must be put into the pipelines. Army purchases of food in 1944 were nearly 80 per cent greater than in 1943. In 1945 the schedule of Army food purchases is 20 per cent above 1944. The fact is that as the year 1945 brings the war to a climax, it also brings food demands to an all-time high. But the Army’s food requirements do not end with supplying its eight million troops. During the soldier’s diet behind the lines, they would have powdered eggs, toast and jam, coffee, powdered milk and sugar for the breakfast. They would have beef and potatoes, bread, rice pudding and tea for the supper. While they were in action, they would have bread, cheese and tea for the immediate supply of food for them.
All the above food are prepared by a ration pack, they are hold by a tin of meat and vegetables, tea, powdered milk, and sugar, tin of coke, gum, and crackers (biscuit) to provide 25 men with food for one day. The foods are portable and easy to carry so that they can move the camp from one place to another place conveniently. In addition, different peoples have different tastes. Methods of living are also affected by environment. That is why the British Army and the United States Army have different types of rations. The British ration is a good ration, but the average American does not like the high levels of tea, bread, potatoes, and mutton, the limited quantity of coffee, and the limited variety of fruits and vegetables. Furthermore, the American is a heavy meat-eater.
For the shoes, shoes are really important in a warfare, because soldiers had to stand up under hard marching, mud, snow, and the various of the weather. Warfare requires a lot of shoes, and it requires strong shoes that will not be broke easily. Soldiers are taught how to keep the shoes for a long time. Mobile repair shops move up behind the fighting fronts. Facilities for completely rebuilding shoes have been set up both in Canada and overseas. As the Army grew to its present strength of 8,300,000 men, the requirements for shoe leather grew, too. As more men went overseas, living and fighting under the harsh conditions of combat areas, Army requirements rose again. As we began re-organized for the one-front war, more than 5,000,000 men were overseas.
Canadian Navy considered the battle for the Atlantic won on May 24, 1943. They involved 3000 men and 11 fighting ships. During the bad weather, the soldiers had to fight the difficulties like the messy decks inside the corvette. Into two compartments about 10 m by 6.7 m at their greatest dimensions, fully fill with some sixty-odd men, each has for his living space ---- eating, sleeping and relaxing.
The new soldier wears new clothes in a new way and they fit. Today, when the incoming soldier appears at the clothing counter of a reception center, his measurements are carefully taken, his proper clothing is drawn to those measurements (sixty-six items in all), and a professional tailor then sets to work to give an almost custom-made trimness to an issue uniform. There are usually sizes on hand to fit most soldiers with little, if any, additional tailoring. Today about 6,000 different sizes of various items of clothing and footwear are stocked and issued by the Quartermaster Corps in ratios arrived at by experience.
During World War II, flying in a British bomber was one of the most dangerous and imaginable jobs. Fifty-five thousands aircrew died in raids over Europe between 1939 and 1945. With this attack, ten thousands of German civilians were killed.
On December 7, 1941, Japan planned to attack U.S fleet at Pearl Harbor as well as Hong Kong for the same date but before attack Britain three months earlier.
After attacked U.S, Americans were shocked and horrified by the surprised attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States immediately declared war on Japan, it is important to fight against fascism and Japanese expansion. For the enormous amounts of money, arms, and personnel, the United States is superior to Canada. That’s why U.S.A was the richest nation in the world because of the world’s largest steel industry and a population ten times larger than Canada’s. Therefore, Canada and the other Allied nations still faced difficulties to fight with Europe and the Far East.
Just a few hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan began its invasion of Hong Kong. More than fifty thousand Japanese soldiers were well equipped by four years of fighting and invaded China in1937. Almost 30 percent of the Canadian soldiers had no experience to crack down to defeat the enemies.
Japan launched its attack on Hong Kong on December 8, 1941. One week later, Canadian troops were firstly destroyed docks, military camp, artillery, and the five old Royal Air Force airplanes on the British airfield by the Japanese air force. The defense forces on the Chinese mainland were not powerful enough to resist the Japanese attack. On December 18, 1941, thousands of Japanese troops began crossing the strait to Hong Kong Island and even captured it. When the invasion ended, every Canadian soldier in Hong Kong had either been killed or captured by the Japanese.
For the war, like on the Dieppe on August 19,1942. The Canadian troops raid on a French port to attack Germans at Dieppe accompanied with British and American troops. As a result, due to the Canadians were lack of experience, it leads to almost have 1000 died, 2000 taken prisoner and more than 500 were wounded.
All in all, the desired characteristics of a field ration are that:
- It should be a completely balanced ration containing sufficient nutrient.
- It should be palatable in accordance with the eating habits of the troops, so that it may be generally acceptable.
- It should be transported without undue difficulty.
- Its components should have keeping quality, so that depots in the theatres of operation can keep on hand sufficient stocks to supply the troops for a predetermined length of time. Methods of use should be readily understandable.
(5) Bulk and weight should be reduced as far as possible to permit simple and ease of transport. Too often the requirements relative to bulk and weight overbalanced other desirable qualities.
