Men, some local civilians, some probably members of the Army Service Corps, stand beside the big wooden stretchers full of loaves they have just taken from the ovens in the background.
After January 1917, when rations had to be reduced because of the U-boat menace, each soldier received 1 lb of bread or 10 oz of biscuit as part of his daily ration.
This is one of a series of photographs about the food supplies for the troops, possibly intended to reassure their families at home. In fact the bread when it reached the Front was often stale or dirty.
Original reads: ‘OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT. How Tommy is fed. Showing one of the ovens with trays of newly baked bread.’
Original URL: http://digital.nls.uk/first-world-war-official-photographs/pageturner.cfm?id=74547480
Resource Type : image
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