Red Cross Parcels

Allied prisoners of war opening Red Cross parcels. MUS970727

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The arrival of Red Cross parcels on Mondays was the highlight of the week, as the German prison rations, consisting mainly of bread, potatoes and ‘skilley’ (barley boiled for pig food), were barely enough to sustain them. Bill Smith often writes about Red Cross (‘X’) parcels in his diary, and how crucial they were to the men who received them:

Red X parcels issued at 2pm this afternoon. Everyone is happy again and a different atmosphere about the place entirely. It is terrible when men get hungry. When our potato ration was shared out today at midday there was a terrific argument because one man thought he had less than his share.

– Bill Smith, diary, 12 Jan 1944 1999/195.14aj

Red Cross parcels were made up in different Allied countries, including England, Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, and distributed via Geneva by the International Red Cross. Their contents varied depending on where they were produced, but generally contained food items such as tinned meat, fish, cheese, milk powder, biscuits, butter, and jam, chocolate, dried fruit, sugar, coffee, tea or cocoa, and a bar of soap. A ration of 50 cigarettes per week was issued on top of this. Bill received a mixture of mostly Canadian, English or New Zealand parcels. He describes receiving his first parcel from home in February 1944:

Issued first NZ Red Cross parcel on 21 Feb 1944 – The meat, tomatoes, and especially honey was wonderful. The butter too, tasted like butter and gave me something to talk about. The box was labelled in more than one place with “New Zealand”. I now have my bunk well posted and have drawn a Kiwi to add to the effect. I am called nothing else but Kiwi here. It is handy too, because there are 4 Smiths in this hut…

- Bill Smith, diary, 21 Feb 1944 1999/195.14aj

Prisoners of war became very inventive in the way that they used the contents of their parcels to create meals. Bill describes making a ‘pie’ from mashed potato and tinned herrings, and was justifiably quite proud of his cooking efforts:

If you could only see me cooking I am sure you would have a fit – a small tin here and another there and then a few dixies made out of 2 or 3 tins joined together. However, with these primitive utensils and a Red X parcel and a large pinch of faith I can manage to turn out a meal once a day which keeps me going. My stomach must have shrunk quite a bit, because I feel almost satisfied with one meal a day now whereas at first I was always hungry.

– Bill Smith, diary, 17 Feb 1944 1999/195.14aj

The Red Cross also distributed letter writing paper and postcards, which they posted on prisoners’ behalf. Prisoners could send a maximum of two letters a week, but the difficulties in postage during wartime meant that it could be many months before they reached their destination. Bill did not receive his first letter in Stalag IVB for four months, and it was six months before he received any from his family in New Zealand. When he did, however, it was a huge morale boost.

See below to read some of Bill’s letters to his family.

Next section: Keeping Busy.