Sarah Sundin's Blog, page 240
November 26, 2017
Today in World War II History—Nov. 26, 1942
USMC Lt. Col. W.W. Stickney preparing to cut a Thanksgiving cake with a captured Japanese sword, Guadalcanal, 26 Nov 1942 (US Marine Corps photo)
75 Years Ago—Nov. 26, 1942: First battle between US & German tanks, at Coxen’s Farm near Chouïgui, Tunisia.
“Battle of Brisbane”: thousands of US and Australian soldiers fight in streets, 1 killed.
Movie premiere of Casablanca, starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, in New York City.
US celebrates Thanksgiving; Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is cancelled for duration of the war to conserve rubber and helium.
November 25, 2017
Today in World War II History—Nov. 25, 1942
Luftwaffe Ju 52 cargo plane approaching Stalingrad during the air lift, late 1942 (Australian War Memorial)
75 Years Ago—Nov. 25, 1942: Luftwaffe begins air lift to German troops surrounded in Stalingrad.
British make deadly failed attempt to take Medjez el Bab, Tunisia.
Greek resistance groups unite in order to sabotage German railroads and bridges.
November 24, 2017
Today in World War II History—Nov. 24, 1942
Crew of M3 Grant medium tank, US 13th Armored Regiment, Souk el Arba, Tunisia, 23 Nov 1942 (US Army Signal Corps photo)
75 Years Ago—Nov. 24, 1942: Hitler orders troops trapped in Stalingrad not to retreat or surrender.
US renews offensive in Tunisia toward Tunis and Bizerte.
News from the Polish underground of mass extermination of Jews is broadcast in the US.
November 23, 2017
Today in World War II History—Nov. 23, 1942
Recruiting poster for the SPARs, the US Coast Guard Women’s Reserve, WWII
75 Years Ago—Nov. 23, 1942: British under Montgomery drive Germans back to defenses at El Agheila, Libya.
Dakar, Senegal comes under Allied control after French governor abandons Vichy ties.
Off mouth of Amazon, U-172 sinks British freighter Benlomond; the sole survivor, Chief Steward Poon Lim, begins a 133-day ordeal in a lifeboat.
US Coast Guard Women’s Reserve is established, the SPARs (“Semper paratus—always ready”)
November 22, 2017
Today in World War II History—Nov. 22, 1942
German troops at Stalingrad, Russia, late 1942 (US National Archives)
75 Years Ago—Nov. 22, 1942: Soviets surround German Sixth Army (250,000 men) in Stalingrad.
Allied and Vichy French forces sign armistice in North Africa.
Sir Stafford Cripps resigns from British War Cabinet and as Leader of the House of Commons; replaced by Sir Anthony Eden.
November 21, 2017
Today in World War II History—Nov. 21, 1942
Patch of the US Ninth Air Force, WWII
75 Years Ago—Nov. 21, 1942: US Ninth Air Force based in Egypt begins attacks on German-occupied port of Tripoli, Libya.
Cartoon character Tweety Bird debuts in “Tale of Two Kitties.”
November 20, 2017
Make It Do – Coffee Rationing in World War II
US poster, 1943
Seventy-five years ago, coffee rationing began in the United States. Although not necessary for survival—though that’s debatable—coffee has been a staple in the American diet since the Boston Tea Party, and coffee rationing was extremely unpopular.
Why Coffee?
During World War II, Latin America produced bumper crops of coffee beans, and those countries were Allies or neutral. However, all coffee came to America by sea, and German U-boats ravaged Allied shipping in the Caribbean and the Eastern Seaboard in 1942.
As Samuel Eliot Morison says in The Battle of the Atlantic, September 1939-May 1943, the first volume in his classic history of the US Navy, “In times of war [these shipping lanes] tap the most important world sources of coffee, cotton, sugar, oil, iron, steel and bauxite. These commodities, with the possible exception of coffee, are essential to a nation engaging in modern warfare; and, although the United States Navy might win a war without coffee, it hopes never to be forced to make the experiment.”
Not only were cargoes of coffee beans lost to the depths of the ocean, but shipping space needed to be diverted to military use. To make sure men in uniform received enough, civilians had to do with less.
U-123 preparing to fire on surface vessel off East Coast, Jan-Feb 1942 (German Federal Archive, Bild 101II-MW-4008-20)
Shortages and Rationing
In April 1942, the US government limited coffee roasting companies to 75 percent of the previous supply, further reduced to 65 percent in September 1942. However, shortages persisted and rationing was instituted.
In preparation for rationing, on November 22, 1942, sales of coffee were halted to prevent hoarding. On November 29, 1942, rationing began. Americans had received War Ration Book One in May 1942 for sugar rationing, so the Office of Price Administration merely adjusted the value of the stamps. Stamps #19-28 were each designated for one pound of coffee during a specified five-week period. When the time period expired, so did the stamp. Coffee stamps could only be redeemed for family members over the age of fifteen.
On February 3, 1943, the ration was reduced to one pound every six weeks.
US rationing books owned by my mother and grandmother, WWII (Photo: Sarah Sundin)
Making Do
One pound every five to six weeks produced less than one cup a day. While some coffee drinkers benefited from the generosity of non-coffee drinking friends or family members, most made do with less. Reusing grounds made a watery beverage dubbed “Roosevelt coffee” in honor of the president. People found if they used less and percolated longer, they could stretch their ration further. Coffee substitutes such as chicory or Postum (wheat bran, wheat, molasses, and maltodextrin) were used grudgingly or mixed with real coffee. Another war victim was the familiar coffee can. Due to a shortage of tin, manufacturers packaged coffee in glass jars.
All Bad Things Come to an End
On July 28, 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt—who had patriotically switched his morning beverage from coffee to milk—announced the end of coffee rationing. Coffee was the first item to come off rationing. However, in September 1944, the Office of Price Administration raised the price of coffee to curtail demand—under the threat of a return to rationing.
What do you think? How would you get by on one cup a day?
Today in World War II History—Nov. 20, 1942
Map of British Eighth Army advances November 1942-February 1943 (US Army map)
75 Years Ago—Nov. 20, 1942: British Eighth Army takes Benghazi, Libya, but finds port destroyed by Germans.
Soviets attack southern flank at Stalingrad.
Gen. Paul von Kleist placed in command of German Army Group A on Eastern Front.
November 19, 2017
Today in World War II History—Nov. 19, 1942
Soviet T-34 tanks and horse-drawn supply sled in southern Russia during flanking operation near Stalingrad, Nov 1942 (public domain via WW2 Database)
75 Years Ago—Nov. 19, 1942: Soviets launch offensive at Stalingrad against weak German northern flank, the high point of German expansion on the Eastern Front.
US troops first fight Germans in Tunisia, at Medjez el Bab.
British commandos fly by glider to raid heavy water plant in Telemark, Norway, glider crashes, survivors are caught by the Germans and executed.
Movie premiere of You Were Never Lovelier, starring Fred Astaire & Rita Hayworth.
November 18, 2017
Today in World War II History—Nov. 18, 1942
US poster urging more P-38 Lightning production, WWII
75 Years Ago—Nov. 18, 1942: In Tunisia, Germans attack French at Medjez el Bab.
Australians take Popendetta, Papua New Guinea.
First P-38 Lightning victories in the Southwest Pacific: 2 US P-38s shoot down 3 Japanese Zeros over Tonolei Harbor in Solomons.
