6 Popular Foods That Came From the Military

Soldiers eating their rations, 1944

War is full of logistical challenges, one of the major concerns — in conflicts both ancient and modern — being how to feed the armies doing the fighting. Whether it’s Roman legionaries, British Redcoats, or modern infantry, soldiers have always needed a reliable supply of food to maintain both their energy levels and morale. As the old saying goes, “An army marches on its stomach.”

Military rations have existed since at least the time of ancient Rome, when soldiers received 2 pounds of bread a day, sometimes with meat, olive oil, and wine. Today, U.S. troops are provided with MREs — “Meals, Ready-to-Eat” — which are carefully tested, formulated, and packaged rations designed to sustain soldiers during training and military operations. These MREs have a shelf life of three years and can survive being dropped from an aircraft. But not every soldier is a fan of these pouches of food, which they sometimes refer to as “Meals, Rarely Edible” or “Meals Rejected by the Enemy.”

While modern MREs don’t often come with glowing reviews, some foods created specifically for soldiers — or adopted and popularized by the military — have become beloved by the civilian population. Here are six foods that managed to find their way from the ration pack to supermarket shelves across America.

Credit: Kristoffer Tripplaar/ Alamy Stock Photo

M&Ms

In the 1930s, Forrest Mars Sr. (the son of Mars founder Franklin Clarence Mars) was traveling in Europe. According to confectionary legend, it was during this time that Forrest Mars observed soldiers eating chocolate pellets surrounded by a sugar shell during the Spanish Civil War. Inspired, he took the concept back to the United States where, in 1941, M&Ms were born.

With World War II already underway, M&Ms were initially made specifically for the U.S. military, providing an ideal way for soldiers to carry energy-rich chocolate in tropical climates without it melting. In 1947, the candy was made available to the public, and its popularity has never waned since.

Cheetos

Cheesy puff snacks and the chaos of warfare may seem diametrically opposed, but it’s the military we must thank for the former’s existence — including the top-selling brand, Cheetos. Their origin can be traced back to the Natick Soldier Systems Center, a U.S. Army research complex responsible for the development of the U.S. military’s food, clothing, and shelters.

One of the items to come out of the research complex was processed and powdered cheese, which was created for military use in World War II. According to Anastacia Marx de Salcedo, author of Combat-Ready Kitchen: How the U.S. Military Shapes the Way You Eat, by the end of the war “a whole little industry had sprung up to support this dehydrated cheese.” And one of the very first products to use the cheesy powder was the now-ubiquitous Cheetos.

Credit: Underwood Archives/ Archive Photos via Getty Images

Instant Coffee

Instant coffee isn’t a modern invention — it was created and patented as a “coffee compound” by an Englishman named John Dring in 1771. It later appeared in cake form during the American Civil War, before being refined by Japanese chemist Satori Kato, whose soluble coffee was introduced to the public at the Pan-American Exposition of 1901.

Instant coffee as we know it today became commonplace during World War I, providing a quick and easy taste of home for soldiers on the front lines. The Department of Defense began buying as much as 37,000 pounds of coffee powder each day, at which point the instant coffee industry skyrocketed. Then, in 1938, Nestlé introduced its new product, Nescafé. With the outbreak of World War II, Nescafé was included in the emergency rations of every U.S. soldier, further cementing the popularity of the instant brew.

Credit: Justin Sullivan via Getty Images News

Minute Maid

In 1942, the U.S. Army offered a lucrative contract to any company that could figure out a process for producing palatable frozen orange juice — deemed necessary for keeping vitamin C levels at acceptable levels among the troops. It wasn’t until 1945 that a viable process was created, at which point the Florida Foods Corporation won the contract to produce 500,000 pounds of orange juice concentrate.

However, the war ended before the product was shipped. Finding itself sitting on a giant mound of oranges, Florida Foods changed its name to the Vacuum Foods Corporation a year later and began selling the nation’s first concentrated frozen orange juice, which it called Minute Maid (in reference to the product’s quick and easy preparation). Despite initially slow sales, Minute Maid eventually took off — with the help of a catchy jingle from Bing Crosby — paving the way for similar frozen products.

Credit: Steven Gottlieb/ Corbis Historical via Getty Images

TV Dinners

The first successful frozen prepackaged meal — what was later dubbed the “TV dinner” — hit supermarket shelves in 1953. Produced by Swanson, it was a Thanksgiving meal of turkey, cornbread stuffing, and peas. But while Swanson took TV dinners to the masses, the concept was originally developed for the military.

In 1945, Maxson Food Systems manufactured the first complete frozen meal — known as “Strato-Plates” — specifically to be reheated for troops and other passengers on long military flights. A typical meal was a basic three-part combo of meat, vegetable, and potato, each housed in its own compartment on a plastic plate. Maxson’s frozen meals never made it to the civilian retail market, but they were the precursors of the TV dinner, despite no TVs being involved.

Spam

Though Spam wasn’t invented specifically for the military, war rations certainly helped popularize it. When Spam was created in 1937 by Hormel Foods Corporation, it was seen as a way to increase sales of unprofitable pork shoulder, which was then considered an undesirable cut. Initially, sales of Spam were poor, partly because people had doubts about canned meat being safe for consumption. Then World War II began, and the U.S. military saw Spam as a perfect addition to its soldiers’ rations, being affordable, filling, easily portable, and shelf stable.

Spam accompanied U.S. troops all over the world, with 100 million cans shipped out to the Pacific theater alone. It became something of a culinary icon during the war, and went on to become an enduring supermarket staple — today, more than 9 million cans of Spam have been sold.

Recommendations For You

5 Military Strategies That Shouldn’t Have Worked But Did

Vercingetorix surrenders to Caesar

History shows us that strategy in warfare can be far more important than superior numbers or technology. Indeed, some ingenious, unconventional, and seemingly foolhardy strategies have produced unexpected victories.

Military doctrine, both ancient and modern, typically emphasizes principles such as concentrating force, securing flanks, and choosing the right terrain and weather conditions for the task at hand. But some of history’s most remarkable successes came from deliberately violating these established rules.

We all know the story of the Trojan horse, in which Greek soldiers took the city of Troy — after a futile 10-year siege — by hiding in a giant horse supposedly left as an offering to the goddess Athena. While this famously left-field strategy is probably a myth, there are other wartime tactics that seemed destined for failure yet managed to achieve unlikely success.

Here, we look at five military strategies that shouldn’t have worked but did — maneuvers that succeeded precisely because they were so unexpected that their opponents had no contingency plans to counter them.

Hannibal’s Alpine Crossing

In 218 BCE, during the Second Punic War, the Carthaginian general Hannibal was determined to take the fight directly to the Roman Republic. Defying all conventional military wisdom, Hannibal decided to make a surprise attack into Northern Italy — but to do so, he would have to march his massive army across the Alps. The plan was near suicidal. Hannibal’s forces included 70,000 men, 20,000 horses, and 37 war elephants, all totally unsuited for crossing one of Europe’s most formidable mountain ranges.

It could have gone down as one of history’s greatest military disasters. Treacherous mountain passes, freezing temperatures, and potential ambushes by local tribes all conspired against Hannibal and his men — hundreds of whom died on the march — and yet the bulk of the force managed to cross the Alps in just 16 days. Rome never expected an attack from the north, and it was the audacity of Hannibal’s strategy that allowed him to establish a foothold in Northern Italy, from which he proceeded to attack the Romans on their own territory for the next 15 years. Hannibal crossing the Alps remains one of the most famous and celebrated achievements of any military force in ancient warfare.

Caesar's Double Fortifications

When Julius Caesar besieged the Gallic fortress of Alesia in 52 BCE, he learned that a massive relief army of Gauls was approaching. Caesar had 10 to 12 Roman legions consisting of around 50,000 legionaries, while the fortified hilltop settlement of Alesia contained some 12,000 horsemen and 80,000 foot soldiers. Caesar had already constructed an encircling line of fortifications, known as a contravallation, around Alesia to keep the Gallic defenders in. But the approaching relief army may have numbered as many as 250,000 soldiers — meaning the overall numbers were certainly not in Caesar’s favor.

Every ounce of conventional wisdom suggested that Caesar should abandon the siege and retreat. Instead, he built a second set of fortifications facing outward — a circumvallation — essentially trapping his own army between two enemy forces. Three days of brutal fighting ensued, with the Romans at times at risk of being overrun. On the third day, Caesar himself led four cohorts and a contingent of cavalry to attack the relief army from behind to turn the tide of battle. The Gauls eventually lost the will to fight and Caesar demanded they lay down their arms, at which point the Gallic leaders surrendered.

Credit: Hilary Morgan/ Alamy Stock Photo

George Washington's Christmas Night Crossing of the Delaware

The American Revolutionary War was going poorly for the Continental Army by August 1776, with British troops occupying New York City and morale plummeting after multiple defeats. George Washington, the commander in chief of the Continental Army, was determined to rectify the situation. He conceived a plan that would have seemed to many like a truly desperate gambit. He decided to lead his men across the ice-choked Delaware River at night, during a winter storm, to launch a surprise attack on a garrison of 1,400 Hessian mercenaries (hired by the British) at Trenton, New Jersey.

Military convention strongly advised against winter campaigns, night operations, and river crossings in bad conditions — but Washington attempted all three simultaneously. At 11 p.m. on Christmas Day, he led 2,400 soldiers across the icy and freezing river, reaching the New Jersey side just before dawn. Two further divisions, consisting of 3,000 troops and crucial field artillery, failed to cross in time. Washington forged on nonetheless, successfully launching a surprise attack and capturing nearly 1,000 Hessians at the cost of four American lives. News of the victory provided a massive morale boost, and Washington’s unusual yet critical strategic decision led to further American victories, including the Battle of Trenton and Battle of Princeton.

The Capture of Tabor Bridge

In 1805, during the Napoleonic Wars, French Marshal Joachim Murat and his forces faced a critical obstacle — the strategically vital Tabor Bridge crossing the Danube River. Their Austrian and Russian opponents had retreated to the other side of the river to regroup, destroying many of the bridges after they had crossed. The bridges near Vienna, including the Tabor (which was actually a series of three bridges) remained standing, but were rigged to detonate should the French try to take them. Knowing that any conventional assault would result in the destruction of the remaining bridges, Murat and Marshal Jean Lannes came up with a seemingly preposterous strategy: They would simply walk up to the Austrians guarding Tabor Bridge and convince them to hand it over.

Leaving precise instructions with their soldiers, Murat and Lannes walked somewhat nonchalantly to the bridge in full dress uniform. They strolled past confused Austrian engineers, who were ready to light the fuses and destroy the bridge. They made it to the middle of the bridge, where they were met by an Austrian colonel who promptly asked why two such notable marshals were walking unarmed across an enemy-held bridge in the midst of a war.

The marshals politely asked to speak with the Austrian commander, whom they convinced that an armistice had been signed — and that there was no need to destroy the bridge as the two sides were no longer at war. In the meantime, the French troops began casually approaching the bridge, with not a shot fired. Within two hours, the Austrians had turned over the bridge to the French, who proceeded to cross the Danube to continue the war. Murat and Lannes had gone against military doctrine by risking their lives in such brazen fashion, but they pulled off the unlikely ruse.

Credit: Pictorial Press Ltd/ Alamy Stock Photo

Operation Mincemeat

Another improbable strategic bluff took place during World War II. As the Allies prepared to invade Sicily in 1943, they faced a serious problem: Sicily was an obvious target and the Germans were well prepared to defend it. So, British intelligence officers devised a plan so outlandish, it seemed more like the stuff of fiction.

They obtained the body of a recently deceased homeless person named Glyndwr Michael, dressed him as a Royal Marines officer, and created an elaborate false identity — “Major William Martin,” complete with personal items including a photograph of his fictitious fiancée, a receipt for an engagement ring, and a theater ticket stub. Crucially, the body also carried secret documents — written in code the British knew the Germans could decipher — which purported to reveal the true targets for the forthcoming invasion: Greece and Sardinia, with Sicily intended as a mere feint.

In April 1943, the body of “Major Martin” was launched into the sea from the British submarine HMS Seraph, just off the southern coast of Spain. It was soon recovered by pro-German locals, and the “secret” documents were passed via Nazi sympathizers to German intelligence officers. Just a couple of weeks later, Adolf Hitler declared that Sicily was not the next landing and that Greece and Sardinia must be reinforced. Operation Mincemeat had been a success — a brilliantly unorthodox strategic deception that paved the way for the invasion of Sicily.

Recommendations For You

5 Astonishing Facts About the Berlin Airlift

Berlin Airlift, 1948

The Berlin Airlift, one of the most remarkable humanitarian and logistical operations in history, was a product of the brewing Cold War tensions in the aftermath of World War II. Germany was divided into four zones of occupation: three controlled by each of the Western Allied powers (the United States, the United Kingdom, and France) and a fourth controlled by the Soviet Union. The German capital city, Berlin, which lay inside the Soviet zone, was itself divided into four zones of occupation between the Western Allies and the Soviets.

It was almost inevitable, then, that war-ravaged Berlin would become a focal point of the burgeoning Cold War. Tensions reached a peak in March 1948, when the Allied powers decided to unite their occupation zones into a single economic unit and introduced a new currency, the Deutsche Mark, in West Germany.

The Soviets were not impressed. Joseph Stalin wanted Germany to remain weak and unthreatening, serving as a buffer between the Soviet Union and the West. He did not want to see the Allies help Germany rebuild its economy, nor did he want the U.S. supplying goods to Germany in what would be a sure sign to the communists that America’s capitalist economy was flourishing.

So, on June 24, the Soviets cut off all land access to West Berlin — which was located far within Soviet-controlled East Germany — in what became known as the Berlin Blockade. In response, the Allies launched the Berlin Airlift, ferrying supplies into the capital city by plane. Here are five facts about that historic feat, from the incredible logistics involved to the heartwarming efforts of the “candy bomber.”

Credit: Roger Goodwin/ Alamy Stock Photo

West Berlin Needed At Least 4,500 Tons of Supplies Daily

With the land blockade in place, the only way the Allies could access Berlin was via three narrow, 20-mile-wide air corridors over East Germany into West Berlin. Allied planners calculated that in order to keep the more than 2 million inhabitants of West Berlin alive, the city required a minimum of 4,500 tons of supplies daily, including 1,534 tons of food and 3,475 tons of coal for electricity and heating. Without supplies, West Berlin only had enough food for 36 days, after which the citizens would begin to starve.

Many people, including the Soviets, thought supplying the city would be an impossible task, forcing the Allies to abandon West Berlin and leave it under communist control. But the Allies were undeterred. The airlift went ahead, and by the autumn of 1948, the Allies were delivering more than 5,000 tons of food, coal, and other supplies every day — a figure that grew to 8,893 tons per day by the end of April 1949.

A Plane Landed Every 30 Seconds at the Height of the Airlift

For 18 months, American and British aircrews flew around-the-clock to supply West Berlin. Through careful coordination and innovative scheduling, they established a continuous stream of aircraft that landed in three-minute slots, 24 hours a day, in all but the very worst weather conditions. At the height of the Berlin Airlift, planes were landing at the city’s Tempelhof Airport as often as every 30 seconds. This was achieved despite the distraction techniques employed by the Soviets, who flew fighter planes in the area to intimidate the Allied pilots and used spotlights to hinder the approaching planes.

Credit: RBM Vintage Images/ Alamy Stock Photo

The “Candy Bomber” Dropped 23 Tons of Sweets on West Berlin

One of the most heartwarming stories of the Berlin Airlift centers around U.S. Air Force pilot Gail Halvorsen. Halvorsen was touched when he met a group of German children at Tempelhof Airport, who, he recalled, said to him, “Don’t give up on us. If we lose our freedom, we’ll never get it back.” He gave the kids two sticks of gum, and after the encounter, he began dropping small parachutes from his plane carrying candy to the children of Berlin. He soon became known as “Uncle Wiggly Wings” among the German kids, because he'd wiggle the wings of his C-47s or C-54s aircraft to signal an imminent drop of chocolate.

As his generous exploits became more widely known, Halvorsen was dubbed the “candy bomber.” His simple act of kindness grew into a powerful symbol of American goodwill toward Germany, helping to transform the image of former enemies into trusted allies. His superiors encouraged Halvorsen and his fellow pilots to continue dropping candy. By the end of the Berlin Airlift, they had dropped more than 250,000 tiny parachutes carrying some 23 tons of candy to the children of West Berlin.

Credit: dpa picture alliance/ Alamy Stock Photo

Nearly 10 Million Work Hours Went Into the Ground Construction Effort

While the air corridors were full of planes flying mission after mission, on the ground the activity was just as furious. It quickly became clear that Tempelhof Airport was not big enough for the task. U.S. Army engineers immediately began building two additional runways at Tempelhof, the first of which was in use within three months. Crews also built the entirely new Tegel Airport, complete with two runways, administrative facilities, a hangar, warehouse, and a control tower. (A 200-foot-tall Soviet radio tower originally stood, somewhat problematically, in the midst of the new airport, but French engineers promptly blew it up.)

According to Major General Norman Delbridge, who served as a U.S. Army engineer during the Berlin Airlift, there were 60,000 people, both Allied and German, working 24 hours a day on the construction project. “We had more women than men that did all of the earth moving,” he recalled, “and they moved the earth by hand.” Records from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimate that more than 9.8 million work hours went into the effort between military personnel and local Germans, with local Germans doing most of the work.

Credit: Trinity Mirror / Mirrorpix/ Alamy Stock Photo

Allied Flights Carried 2.3 Million Tons of Supplies by the End of the Airlift

On May 12, 1949, knowing that the blockade had failed, the Soviets reopened the roads, canals, and railway routes into the western half of Berlin. The Allies, however, continued the airlift until September to stockpile supplies in Berlin just in case the blockade was reinstated. Over the entire course of the blockade, 277,804 Allied flights carried an astonishing 2.3 million tons of supplies by air into Berlin. The Berlin Airlift was a resounding success, keeping Berlin alive in what was — and remains — one of the largest humanitarian aid missions in history.

Recommendations For You

7 Things You Forgot Happened During the Revolutionary War

George Washington, 1776

During the American Revolution, 13 British colonies in North America fought for independence from English rule in what became one of the most defining conflicts in history. Certain moments from the Revolutionary War — which spanned from 1775 to 1783 — have certainly been etched into popular memory. But it was a long, complex conflict, and for every renowned tale such as the Boston Tea Party or Washington crossing the Delaware, there are lesser-known events that don’t always make it into textbooks. Here are some of the most fascinating but often overlooked events that unfolded during America’s fight for independence.

A Woman Disguised Herself as a Man To Fight

Women weren’t permitted to serve in the military during the Revolutionary War, but they were nonetheless instrumental throughout the conflict — whether they were sewing uniforms, tending to the wounded, or even acting as spies. Some, such as Massachusetts weaver and school teacher Deborah Sampson, took an even more direct approach.

In 1782, Sampson disguised herself as a man and joined the Fourth Massachusetts Regiment under the name Robert Shurtliff. She served in the Continental Army for more than a year, fighting in several battles and even tending to her own wounds — including removing a bullet from her leg. (Another bullet, too difficult to remove, remained in her leg for the rest of her life.)

After serving for a year and a half, she fell ill while in Philadelphia in 1783. She was taken to a hospital, where a high fever caused her to lose consciousness, ultimately leading to the discovery of her true identity. Sampson was honorably discharged in 1783, and, after starting a family, petitioned for back pay and a disability pension for injuries sustained on the battlefield.

Smallpox Almost Derailed the War

Gunfire and bayonets weren’t the only threats during the Revolutionary War — smallpox also loomed large. The highly contagious disease had been an epidemic in the colonies at several times throughout the 1700s, and at the outset of the Revolutionary War in 1775, a particularly grim outbreak was taking place in Boston.

General George Washington knew the risks well: Having survived a monthlong battle with the virus as a teenager, he warned that smallpox could be “more destructive than the sword,” and in 1777, made the bold decision to order mass inoculations for his Continental Army. The procedure involved making a small incision in the arm and inserting a dose of the virus. Though it was controversial at the time, it paid off, reducing death rates and helping keep Washington’s army in fighting shape.

Credit: Universal History Archive/ Universal Images Group via Getty Images

An Amateur Spy Ring Helped Win the War

Winning a war against the mighty British military required more than just soldiers — it also took sleuthing and secrets. From 1778 to 1783, the Culper Spy Ring, led by Continental Army Officer Benjamin Tallmadge, relied on informants who were not professional agents but ordinary citizens — shopkeepers, farmers, and merchants — to gather intelligence from British sources in English-occupied New York.

Through code names, cipher messages, invisible ink, and even laundry strategically placed on clotheslines, the Culper Ring provided crucial intelligence to General Washington, including a key report in 1780 that saved French troops in Newport, Rhode Island, from a British attack. Despite the constant danger, none of the Culper Ring’s agents were ever discovered by the British, and their underground work helped win the war not with weapons, but with whispers.

Credit: Smith Collection/Gado/ Archive Photos via Getty Images

British Prison Ships Held Unsung Heroes

While the conflict raged on land, thousands of American soldiers and even civilians faced a different kind of horror during the war: British prison ships. Stationed along the Eastern Seaboard, these makeshift jails were overcrowded, disease-ridden, and notoriously brutal, and could be just as deadly as the battles themselves.

The most infamous was the HMS Jersey; it housed as many as 1,000 prisoners at a time, most of whom suffered from starvation and rampant disease. Captured Americans were given a choice: Switch sides and fight for the British or face the harsh reality of imprisonment on the ship. Many refused to switch sides — historians estimate that only about 8% of prisoners joined the Brits — and instead endured unimaginable conditions. It’s estimated that around 11,000 people died on the ships because they chose not to betray the cause.

George Washington’s Security Helped Plot His Assassination

In 1776, as Washington and his troops prepared for battle in New York, a plot on his life by the Loyalists — American colonists who remained loyal to the British crown — was uncovered. The conspiracy involved members of his own Life Guard, an elite security detail, and was allegedly orchestrated by New York’s Loyalist governor, William Tryon. But the plot was exposed before it could happen: One of the conspirators, Washington’s security guard Thomas Hickey, had been jailed for suspected money counterfeiting and leaked the details to fellow inmates while behind bars.

Ironically, Washington himself wasn’t above similar schemes — he later approved a plan to kidnap Prince William, the son of King George III, as leverage for prisoner exchanges. (The prince remained out of reach and the kidnapping plan fell through.) Hickey, though he pleaded innocent, was found guilty for his role in the plot to assassinate Washington and was executed for treason.

Credit: North Wind Picture Archives/ Alamy Stock Photo

America Hired Pirates

The Continental Navy was no match for Britain’s powerful 18th-century fleet, so the colonies turned to a different maritime strategy during the Revolutionary War: privateering. Privateers were ships owned and manned by private citizens, hired by the government to attack and capture British vessels. It’s estimated that nearly 800 vessels — ranging from whaling boats to schooners and brigantines — were commissioned during the war.

These legal pirates not only disrupted British shipping and supply lines but also took valuable cargo; whatever was seized was usually sold and profits were split with the privateers, while the rest was used to help fund the new nation. Privateers weren’t universally accepted — some colonists saw them as money-hungry opportunists — but they ultimately played a critical role in weakening the Brits. By the war’s end, American privateers had captured or destroyed an estimated 600 British ships.

Credit: MPI/ Archive Photos via Getty Images

The First Submarine Attack Happened

Submarines are a common part of naval fleets around the world today, and the first one ever used in combat debuted during the American Revolution. The Turtle, as it was known, was designed by American inventor David Bushnell. The single-passenger, hand-cranked submersible consisted of two shell-shaped wooden halves that were fastened together with iron bands and covered in a thick waterproof coating. It was built to maneuver under and attach explosives to enemy ships, and on September 6, 1776, the Turtle set out on its first mission.

Deployed to target the British warship HMS Eagle in New York Harbor, the Turtle did successfully make its way under the massive ship, but was ultimately unable to secure the explosive. Though rudimentary by today’s standards and never able to successfully sink an enemy vessel, the Turtle was dubbed “an effort of genius” by Washington and helped lay the groundwork for future naval technology.

Recommendations For You

Why Did They Dig Trenches in World War I?

Soldiers in trench, 1914

The First World War transformed modern battle through the emergence of trench warfare, a defining characteristic that shaped the conflict from its start in 1914 to its end in 1918. This entrenchment was not a planned strategy, but rather a necessary adaptation to the brutal realities of modern warfare and the devastating effectiveness of modern weapons.

By the early 20th century, advances in weaponry meant that previous battlefield tactics had to be scrapped. Infantry could no longer march toward the enemy in formation, cavalry charges were impossible, making the grand maneuvers of past battles obsolete. The war soon became an effective stalemate at the front lines, most famously along the Western Front, with opposing armies digging into increasingly elaborate trench systems. Here’s a closer look at how trench warfare came to define World War I.

Credit: FPG/ Archive Photos via Getty Images

Protection From Artillery

Artillery was the most destructive weapon on the Western Front. Modern artillery shells could devastate troops in open terrain, raining down high-explosive shells, shrapnel, and poison gas. Artillery created zones in which almost nothing could survive in the open, putting an emphasis on defense and the advantage with the defender, as attacking became too risky.

Because of the catastrophic effects of artillery, generals were forced to dig in at the start of the war. Trenches were initially seen as a temporary measure, but they soon became an absolute necessity, providing crucial protection against shell fragments and shock waves from explosions. As artillery quickly became the war’s deadliest weapon — around 60% of battlefield casualties were caused by exploding artillery shells — the depth and complexity of trench systems grew to match this horrific aerial threat.

Defense Against Rifle Fire and Machine Guns

Rifles were by far the most commonly used weapon of World War I. These were sophisticated weapons, with a firing rate much greater than that of their 19th-century predecessors. The standard British rifle, the Short Magazine Lee Enfield (SMLE) Rifle Mk III, had a maximum range of 2,493 yards (with an effective killing range of 600 yards), and a well-trained infantryman could fire 15 aimed rounds a minute. This alone made advancing across No Man's Land — the area between the two opposing front lines of trenches — incredibly perilous, and anyone sticking their head above a trench was an instant target.

Then there were machine guns, which made traditional infantry attacks a near-impossible undertaking. The modern machine gun, invented in 1884 by Hiram Maxim, was used in battle in the late 19th century, in conflicts such as the Boer War and the Spanish American War. The weapon revolutionized battlefield dynamics, as a single machine gun could fire hundreds of rounds per minute, effectively defending against hundreds of attacking troops. Trenches provided essential cover from both rifle fire and the sustained attacks of machine guns, allowing soldiers to move and fight while staying below the enemy’s line of sight.

A Deep Defensive Strategy

As World War I progressed, trenches became far more than just ditches for duck-and-cover protection. They quickly formed part of a sophisticated defensive strategy (much like the layered battlements of a large medieval castle). On the Western Front, the line of trenches stretched from the North Sea all the way down to Switzerland — a distance of about 475 miles.

The classic British trench was about 6 feet deep and 3.5 feet wide, although deeper and more elaborate trenches were built. They were typically constructed in a zigzagging pattern, so that any enemies who managed to infiltrate the trench could not fire along its entire length, and blasts from exploding grenades and artillery shells couldn’t travel far along a single trench.

Behind the front line there could be three or four more lines of trenches, all connected by a system of communications trenches. If attackers captured the front line, they were then faced with additional entrenched positions that could be quickly reinforced. Support trenches housed reserves, supplies, and command posts, creating a defensive depth that meant any major enemy offensive required massive resources, and usually resulted in heavy casualties for minimal gains. These support trenches also allowed soldiers to be rotated in and out of the front line. A soldier might spend four to six days in the frontline trench before being sent to the support or reserve trenches further back for some much-needed rest and recuperation.

The End of Trench Warfare

The trench systems of World War I represented both the pinnacle and the end of static defensive warfare. While trenches were used in later conflicts, they never again dominated warfare as they did from 1914 to 1918.

The stalemate of trench warfare came to an end with the Battle of Amiens and the beginning of what came to be known as the Hundred Days Offensive, a string of Allied offensive successes on the Western Front that led to the collapse of the German army and the end of the war. At Amiens, the Allied forces launched the largest combined arms offensive of the entire war, with thousands of heavy and super-heavy field guns, more than 600 tanks, and 2,000 aircraft. They advanced some 8 miles in three days, along a 15-mile-wide front, a massive achievement in a war characterized by minute gains. The deadlock was broken, and the German trenches were ultimately overrun. In time the trenches dug during the war were reclaimed by nature, or filled in and returned to agricultural land, though unexploded ordnance remained a problem for many years. Others were preserved or turned into monuments, such as the trenches at Vimy near the Vimy Ridge Memorial in France, and Sanctuary Wood in Ypres, Belgium.

Recommendations For You

The U.S. Government’s Strangest Secret Ops

Waving American flag

Throughout history, governments have engaged in secret operations that range from the strategically sublime to the undeniably absurd. The U.S. government, in particular, has taken part in numerous clandestine projects — now declassified — that continue to inspire fascination and incredulity alike.

These operations tend to reflect the tensions (and prejudices) of the times, as well as the eccentricities of military and intelligence strategy. They underscore the lengths to which governments will go to maintain national security or undermine their rivals, while also highlighting a very particular intersection of imagination, fear, and ambition. Here are five of the strangest secret U.S. government operations.

Glowing Foxes

World War II saw an almost endless array of secret ops that ranged greatly in scope and levels of success. One of the most bizarre ideas was a program called Operation Fantasia, which aimed to scare the Japanese people with glowing foxes. It was the brainchild of Ed Salinger, a psychological warfare strategist at the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), who ran an import/export business in Tokyo before the war.

Salinger believed that Japanese morale could be devastated by exposing soldiers and civilians to “real-life” kitsune — fox-shaped, shape-shifting spirits with magical abilities from Japanese folklore, considered tricksters and potential portents of doom. Salinger outlined his idea in a discriminatory memo, arguing that Japanese people were “subject to superstitions, beliefs in evil spirits and unnatural manifestations which can be provoked and stimulated.”

Carrying out this xenophobic plan was another matter altogether. One idea involved launching fox-shaped balloons, which had whistles that simulated fox sounds and released a custom-made fox odor, to fly over Japanese villages. Understandably, this idea was deemed impractical — but the OSS didn’t stop there. They then planned on catching live foxes, spray-painting them with glowing paint, and releasing them throughout Japan. The idea made it to the testing stage, when 30 glowing foxes were released in Washington, D.C.’s Rock Creek Park to gauge the reactions of the locals. The project grew ever more bizarre and unfeasible, until it was eventually abandoned.

Bat Bombs

Developed during World War II, Project X-Ray sought to weaponize bats in the war against Japan. The plan involved attaching tiny, timed incendiary devices to bats, which were then packed into bomb casings. The bombs would be dropped over various Japanese cities just before dawn, releasing the explosive bats to go roost under the eaves of buildings. The timed devices attached to each bat would then explode, causing widespread chaos and setting entire cities on fire — at the time, most Japanese buildings were made of wood, bamboo, and paper.

Extensive tests were carried out, involving thousands of bats and numerous setbacks. Many bats simply escaped after being released, and others steadfastly refused to participate. But after two years and $2 million in research costs, the bat bombs were almost ready for war. At the same time, however, another weapon was being developed: the atomic bomb. This dreadful weapon soon overshadowed all others, including the bat bombs, and the U.S. Navy cancelled Project X-Ray in late 1944.

Nuking the Moon

In the late 1950s, amid the space race and Cold War anxieties, the U.S. Air Force initiated Project A119, a frankly reckless and potentially catastrophic initiative with the aim of detonating a nuclear bomb on the moon. The reasoning behind the bizarre plan was to demonstrate the full force of American military power and technological prowess in order to shock the Soviet Union.

The now-declassified research paper behind the operation, which involved some of America’s top scientists, bore the apparently harmless title “A Study of Lunar Research Flights, Vol 1.” It outlined a mission to detonate a thermonuclear warhead, carried by an intercontinental ballistic missile, on the lunar surface to create a large flash of light that could be observed from Earth — meant to be a potent symbol of American dominance.

Thankfully, calmer heads prevailed. Scientists ultimately deemed the project too risky due to the potential for various unknown effects, including the possible contamination of the lunar surface, the complete alteration of the moon’s orbit, and unforeseen ecological consequences involving Earth-moon interactions.

Credit: CPA Media Pte Ltd/ Alamy Stock Photo

CIA Vampires

In the early 1950s, Philippine insurgents known as the Hukbalahap, or Huks, were a concerning presence for both local government and U.S. intelligence. To deal with the growing threat, a CIA operative, Lieutenant Colonel Edward Lansdale, was installed in the Philippines to get the movement under control. Lansdale began using psychological warfare against the Huks, by weaponizing local superstitions. He ordered a plane to fly over villages, broadcasting warnings in Tagalog that promised curses would befall anyone harboring insurgents, and he had “Eyes of God” painted outside the homes of other potential sympathizers.

While studying the regional folklore, Lansdale’s team also learned of a creature that the locals believed to roam the hills: the aswang. This terrifying, blood-sucking creature was part vampire, part witch, and part werebeast, with a fondness for human blood and organs. Using this to his advantage, Lansdale had his team spread rumors that an aswang was feeding in the area. To ramp things up even further, the CIA operatives killed one of the patrolling Huks and made it look like an aswang attack. Upon discovering the body, and having already heard the rumors, the remaining Huks soon fled.

Credit: Lukasz Pawel Szczepanski/ Shutterstock

The “Gay Bomb”

In 1994, the U.S. Air Force came up with one of the most misguided military research proposals in American history. The secret plan aimed to create what the press later dubbed a “gay bomb,” which, when detonated, would make enemy soldiers “irresistible” to each other, according to government papers. The theoretical bomb would release an aerosolized chemical weapon containing potent aphrodisiacs that would attract enemy soldiers to each other, disrupting their combat effectiveness and incapacitating the enemy in some kind of loved-up miasma. Ultimately, the bizarre project was shelved. The “gay bomb” later received an Ig Nobel award in 2007, a satirical award given for strange and surprising scientific ideas.

Recommendations For You

5 WWII Fighter Planes You Should Know

Supermarine Spitfires, 1943

World War II was an unprecedented time for advancements in aviation technology, and fighter aircraft played a crucial role in the conflict’s outcome. Fighter planes — the so-called “knights of the sky”— were agile, powerful aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat, whether in dramatic dogfights against enemy fighters or while intercepting enemy bombers.

The demands of the war pushed fighter designs to new heights, resulting in planes that were faster, more maneuverable, and more lethal than ever before. And with air superiority often proving pivotal on any given front, from the Battle of Britain to the Battle of Kursk, these machines and their brave pilots helped shape the course of history.

Here we look at five World War II fighter planes — from Britain, the U.S., Germany, Japan, and Russia — that left an indelible mark on aviation history.

Credit: Fox Photos/ Hulton Archive via Getty Images

Supermarine Spitfire

Both the Supermarine Spitfire and the Hawker Hurricane played crucial roles during the Battle of Britain, defending British airspace against wave after wave of German bombers and fighters. The sturdier Hurricane was often tasked with intercepting enemy bombers and engaging in ground attack missions, while the Spitfire, with its superior speed and agility, had the edge when engaging enemy fighters.

Both planes were vital, but the elegant Spitfire is regarded by many as the most iconic fighter aircraft of all time. The Spitfire evolved as the war progressed, from the early Mk I to, finally, the Mk 24. More powerful engines, improved armaments, and enhanced aerodynamics allowed the plane to remain competitive against newer Axis designs. Not only was it an engineering marvel, but the Spitfire also became an enduring symbol of British resistance and ingenuity.

Messerschmitt Bf 109

The Messerschmitt Bf 109 was the primary fighter aircraft of the German Luftwaffe throughout World War II. Designed in the mid-1930s, it was continually developed during the war to increase performance, stability, and firepower. For a time, it largely outmatched its enemies, including during the invasions of Poland and France. It met its first true rivals during the Battle of Britain, when it came up against the Spitfire and the Hurricane.

The Bf 109 was faster in a dive than both the Spitfire and the Hurricane and, in most circumstances, could also outclimb them. But the British fighters, in the hands of a skilled pilot, could outturn the Bf 109, and they also had greater range — a factor that proved crucial during the Battle of Britain. In total, some 34,000 Bf 109s were built, making it the most-produced fighter aircraft in history.

P-51 Mustang

The American P-51 Mustang is widely considered the finest all-around piston-engined fighter of World War II. Originally designed for the British, early models of the Mustang were not good at high altitude. That changed completely with the installation of the British Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, which transformed the aircraft into a world-class fighter. In December 1943, the first P-51B and P-51C Mustangs entered combat in Europe, providing vital long-range, high-altitude escort for the U.S. bombing campaign against Germany. This drastically reduced the previously crippling losses suffered by U.S. bombers.

Credit: Museum of Flight Foundation/ Corbis Historical via Getty Images

Mitsubishi A6M Zero

In 1937, the engineering team at Mitsubishi submitted a design for a lightweight, all-metal, low-wing monoplane that would match any other fighter currently in production. When the fighter went through trials two years later, it exceeded all expectations, demonstrating exceptional maneuverability, range, rate of climb, and acceleration. The Mitsubishi A6M Zero soon became the primary fighter aircraft of the Japanese during World War II.

When it first appeared in combat, the Zero could outmaneuver any plane it encountered. It wasn’t until 1943 that the Allies fielded fighters capable of defeating the Zero in aerial combat. These included new and much faster U.S. fighters such as the F6F Hellcat and F4U Corsair, which began to wrestle back air superiority from the Zero with its almost nonexistent armor. Toward the end of the war, many Zeros were converted into kamikaze aircraft.

Yakovlev Yak-3

The Yakovlev Yak-3 was a single-engine, single-seat Soviet fighter that entered service relatively late in the war, with the first iteration not flying until March 1944. Despite its late arrival, the Yak-3 quickly gained a reputation as one of the war’s finest dogfighters. One of the smallest and lightest fighter aircraft of the entire conflict, it had an impressive power-to-weight ratio, was highly agile, and was easy to maintain, making it popular among pilots and ground crews alike.

In combat, the Yak-3 proved more than a match for the best German fighters, including the Bf 109 and Focke-Wulf Fw 190. During one large dogfight in June 1944, 18 Yak-3s clashed with about 24 German aircraft. The Yaks downed 15 German aircraft while losing only one of their own. Despite seeing less action than some other World War II fighters due to its late introduction, the Yak-3 stands as one of the war’s most effective and influential designs.

Recommendations For You

Why Were They Called the Wars of the Roses?

Battle of Bosworth

For three decades between 1455 and 1487, the House of Lancaster and the House of York vied for control of the English throne. Originating in a period of instability during the reign of King Henry VI, whose struggles with mental illness left the throne vulnerable, this series of civil wars lasted for more than 30 years, though there were only about 15 months of active battle. The country was nonetheless mired in civil strife throughout the Wars of the Roses. The two rival houses were actually branches of the same family, the Plantagenet dynasty, and the power shifted back and forth over the years of fighting.

In 1485, at the Battle at Bosworth, the final battle of the conflict, Henry Tudor — a tenuous descendant of the Lancastrian house through his mother, Margaret Beaufort — defeated Richard III of the House of York. He was crowned King Henry VII, effectively ending the wars and establishing the transformative Tudor dynasty. Centuries later, a romanticized vision of the dynastic struggle continues to influence literature, film, and television, including George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones series and its wildly popular television adaptation, which follows the warring houses of Stark and Lannister (sound familiar?). The question is: How exactly did this tumultuous period in English history come to be named after a beautiful and sweet-smelling flower?

Dueling Roses

Like many of history’s wars, the Wars of the Roses weren’t named until many years after the conflict ended. The moniker refers to the symbols of the two houses: a white rose for the House of York and a red rose for the House of Lancaster, although roses weren’t the only heraldic imagery used at the time of the fighting. Yorkists, for instance, were also known to sport Richard III’s white boar badge before and during his brief reign as king (1483-1485). Lancastrian monarch Henry VI featured an antelope on his royal badge, and when Henry VII won the Battle of Bosworth, he carried a banner featuring the family’s red dragon crest on a white and green background.

While the white rose was just one of many badges used by the Yorks, the red rose may have been absent during the civil wars altogether. Before 1485, red roses appeared only minimally in distant Lancaster heraldic imagery. Historians believe the image was only made a prominent Lancastrian symbol by Henry VII and his advisors after his victory. Seeking to unify the nation — and to strengthen his shaky familial claim to the throne — Henry married a York princess, Edward IV’s daughter Elizabeth, six months after the Wars of the Roses had ended. Manuscripts from this era show that he purposefully resurrected the seldom-used red rose and, in a strategic move, combined it with the Yorkists’ white rose.

Together, the two roses made what came to be known as the Tudor rose, a prominent symbol of the Tudor dynasty. It was not only a powerful piece of political imagery, but also a symbol of unity and reconciliation. The Tudor rose became an enduring emblem and spread throughout England, often incorporated into architecture and decor throughout the country. Today, red and white roses — as well as red dragons — appear in the garden at the Hampton Court Palace, a historical Tudor court.

Credit: National Galleries of Scotland/ Hulton Fine Art Collection via Getty Images

A War by Any Other Name

The Tudor rose was firmly entrenched as a symbol of the English civil wars by the late 1400s, but the conflict’s modern name didn’t become common for another 400 years. Much of its popularity is attributed to the 19th-century writer Walter Scott, who, in his 1829 novel Anne of Geierstein, referred to the civil wars as “the wars of the White and Red Roses.” Scott was a famous novelist at the time, and his work resonated with the wider public and bolstered the Wars of the Roses’ name through the 19th century and beyond. He wasn’t the first to make the literary link, however. In his late-1500s Henry VI trilogy, William Shakespeare famously dramatized a scene in which characters pluck red and white roses to signify their loyalties. Influential Scottish philosopher David Hume also helped cement the connection. In a 1775 version of his bestselling book The History of England, Hume referred to the period as “the quarrel between the two roses.”

Recommendations For You

7 Things You Forgot Happened During World War II

Army tank at Castle Itter

The biggest, most pivotal events of World War II are cemented in the collective memory — the D-Day invasion of Normandy, the Battle of Stalingrad, the devastating deployment of atomic bombs. But beyond these headline-grabbers, there are many forgotten or overlooked events that shaped the course of the war, from a quirky yet panic-inducing mishap to a near-disaster that was narrowly avoided. Here are seven lesser-known moments from the Second World War.

Credit: Nikolai Ignatiev/ Alamy Stock Photo

Germany Was Ambushed by “Night Witches”

Under the cover of night and in airplanes made of plywood and canvas, an all-female Soviet bomber regiment known as the “Night Witches” became an instrumental part of the European theater of World War II. The group, officially named the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, was the brainchild of esteemed Soviet aviator Marina Raskova, sometimes called the “Soviet Amelia Earhart.” Raskova convinced Soviet leaders to allow women in combat roles as the Red Army struggled against the German invasion, and between 1942 and the end of the war in 1945, the Night Witches flew more than 30,000 bombing missions against German forces.

The planes, each crewed by a pilot and a navigator, flew in groups. The leading aircraft acted as decoys, while the last plane would cut its engine and glide in quiet darkness to the target area before firing. This move gave the group its nickname, the “Nachthexen” — German for “Night Witches” — since the approaching planes sounded like whooshing brooms. Their courageous operations and precise skills earned many of the aviators the title Hero of the Soviet Union, the nation’s highest distinction.

Japan Sent Balloon Bombs to the U.S.

World War II was a time of unconventional weaponry experiments. There were attempts at bat bombs and rat bombs, and Japan even deployed explosives to the U.S. via balloons. The operation, known as Fu-Go, started in November 1944, when hydrogen-filled balloons equipped with incendiary bombs were launched from the north end of Japan's Honshu Island. The weapons were meant to travel across the Pacific and, upon landing in the U.S., start fires and cause panic, diverting U.S. military resources. Although more than 9,000 balloons were launched during the campaign, military damage was ultimately minimal, with fewer than 300 incidents reported. Sadly, there were a few casualties — on May 5, 1945, six people were killed while on a picnic in Gearhart Mountain, Oregon, when they unknowingly pulled one of the balloons out of the woods and triggered the explosive.

Credit: ERIC SCHWAB/ AFP via Getty Images

An Unlikely Alliance

It was one of the most unlikely battles of World War II: On May 5, 1945, U.S. and German soldiers joined forces to fight the Waffen-SS, the combat branch of the Nazi secret police. The setting was Castle Itter, an Austrian fortress where Nazis were keeping high-profile French prisoners. As the prisoners sent out messages for help, a group of American soldiers approached. There, they discovered that German Major Josef Gangl, who had turned against the Nazis, was already there with a handful of soldiers, ready to protect the prisoners from the SS. The unlikely allies banded together and managed to hold off the SS until reinforcements arrived. Gangl was killed in the confrontation, but the Battle of Castle Itter, which happened just three days before the official end of the war in Europe, is believed to be the only time that Americans and Germans fought as allies during the war.

Credit: The Picture Art Collection/ Alamy Stock Photo

A Bear Served in Poland’s Military

It’s well known that animals played crucial roles in World War II, but one large creature in particular stands out as an unusual combat companion. In 1942, a Syrian brown bear cub was adopted by Polish soldiers stationed in Iran. The furry friend quickly became a beloved mascot; the soldiers named him Wojtek, meaning "happy warrior" in Polish. As Wojtek grew, he was officially enlisted as a private to ensure he could travel with his unit, and over time, his role evolved from being a morale booster to being an active participant in military operations. His most famous contribution came during 1944’s Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy, where Wojtek helped carry heavy artillery shells and crates of ammunition. The regiment changed its insignia to an image of a bear carrying an artillery shell in his honor, and Wojtek was eventually made a corporal. The heroic animal lived out his veteran days at the Edinburgh Zoo, where fans and former comrades visited him until his passing in 1963.

Credit: Arkivi/ Hulton Archive via Getty Images

The U.S. Navy Almost Accidentally Torpedoed President Franklin D. Roosevelt

In November 1943, the U.S. Navy was responsible for a near-disastrous incident involving President Franklin D. Roosevelt. While en route to the Tehran Conference to meet with Allied leaders, President Roosevelt traveled aboard the USS Iowa battleship. To ensure the president’s safety, his ship was accompanied by a convoy that included the destroyer USS William D. Porter. During a routine drill, the destroyer inadvertently fired a live torpedo directly at Roosevelt’s ship. As the torpedo sped toward the battleship, the destroyer crew frantically signaled the Iowa to move out of the way; Roosevelt, meanwhile, requested to have his wheelchair moved in the midst of the commotion for a better view of the action. The Iowa successfully executed a hard turn, narrowly avoiding the torpedo, which eventually exploded harmlessly in the water.

A Young Woman’s Engineering Feat Helped the Allies Win the War

The name Beatrice “Tilly” Shilling may not be known to many, but she played a pivotal role in helping the Allied forces in World War II. Shilling was a talented engineer who, after being one of only two women to earn an electrical engineering degree from the Victoria University of Manchester, joined Britain’s Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE). It was there that Shilling devised a simple yet pivotal solution for an issue with British fighter planes. During sharp maneuvers, fighter jets such as the Hurricane and Spitfire would often stall out, so Shilling came up with a way to restrict fuel from flooding the engine. Later known as "Miss Shilling's orifice," the invention went on to give Allied pilots a crucial edge in dogfights against the fearsome German Luftwaffe.

A Crossword Puzzle Panic

In the lead-up to the planned June 1944 Allied invasion of Normandy, the British intelligence agency MI5 went into a panic when code words related to the operation began showing up in a British newspaper. Starting in early May 1944, words such as “Utah,” “Omaha,” “Mulberry,” and even “Overlord” — the invasion’s code name — appeared as answers in The Daily Telegraph’s crossword puzzle. MI5 tracked down the puzzle’s writer, Leonard Dawe, a headmaster at the Strand boys’ grammar school, but determined the words were a coincidence. Later, it was suggested that it likely wasn’t exactly a coincidence, but rather due to the fact that Dawe and his students were exposed to U.S. troops passing through Surrey, and inadvertently absorbed their code words.

Recommendations For You

Why Did the British Wear Red Coats?

British soldiers in uniform

In February 1645, during the First English Civil War, the Parliament of England created the New Model Army. This single, standing army consisted of 22,000 regularly paid, well-disciplined, and properly trained men, with promotion gained on merit. To enhance the cohesion of this force, every soldier was supplied with a standardized uniform, which included a red coat.

It wasn’t long before these soldiers were unofficially dubbed “Redcoats,” a name that stuck through many conflicts to come. British soldiers only stopped wearing red when the khaki uniform was introduced during the Second Boer War (1899-1902), but even today, red coats are worn by British soldiers on ceremonial duty.

But why the color red? It may seem strange today, when camouflage is so commonplace in the design of military uniforms, that such a noticeable color was used on the battlefield, rather than green, brown, or khaki. But there were a number of reasons why red was chosen, including battlefield strategies and the simple need for a uniform that could be produced quickly and efficiently.

Credit: Science & Society Picture Library via Getty Images

Red Coats Weren’t Designed To Hide the Blood of Battle

First of all, British soldiers didn’t wear red to hide spilt blood, either their own or that of their enemies. There is no evidence to support this often-repeated explanation, and it doesn’t make much sense anyway. Not knowing that you are bleeding isn’t particularly helpful, and hiding any evidence of injuries from the enemy isn’t of much benefit amid the chaos of the battlefield. Also, a bloodstain on a red uniform would likely appear as black rather than red.

Red Wool Was Commonplace and Cheap

The most prosaic reason for the color of the Redcoats’ iconic jackets was one of simple economics. Supplying a large standing army with uniforms could be a costly business. As it happened, red wool was commonplace, cheap, and durable. While some dyes, such as kermes and cochineal, produced a deep scarlet favored by the wealthy and powerful, the wool used in the standard infantry jacket was colored red with a cheaper, brownish-red dye derived from the root of the madder plant, which had been used by numerous civilizations dating as far back as ancient Egypt.

Credit: Stock Montage/ Archive Photos via Getty Images

Red Uniforms Offered Battlefield Benefits

While camouflage uniforms are standard today, they wouldn’t have served much purpose on the battlefields of old, when infantrymen walked slowly into battle in ordered and obvious columns and lines. Guns were also highly inaccurate, making it difficult to target and hit a particular individual, no matter how easy they were to see. What’s more, having uniforms that blended into the environment would have actually been detrimental. For the generals in command, being able to see exactly where their soldiers were was vital in the smoke and chaos of battle (and also made it easier to spot deserters running from the fight). For the soldiers, meanwhile, red jackets made it easier to tell friend from foe on the battlefield, and in turn avoid friendly fire.

Credit: Epics/ Hulton Archive via Getty Images

Red Signified Prestige and Power

Apart from the more practical reasons for the Redcoats’ distinctive jackets, there was also the issue of British pride to consider. It’s been theorized that red was a preferred choice due to it being one of Britain’s national colors: red, white, and blue. The three colors appear on the Union Jack, and, more specifically, on the St. George’s Cross — the national flag of England — which depicts a red cross on a white background. Eventually, the Redcoats themselves became a symbol of British rule both at home and abroad. The use of red by imperial soldiers over a period of nearly three centuries made the bright and distinctive uniform a powerful symbol of the British Empire.

Recommendations For You

6 Popular Foods That Came From the Military

M&Ms

You may also like

More from our network

How Well Do You Know Your U.S. Geography?

Go Retro With This 1960s Fashion Quiz

6 Tricks Grocery Stores Use To Influence What You Buy

8 Hidden Car Features That Will Change Your Driving Game

Do You Know What the “P” in “P.M.” Stands For?

Cheetos

Instant Coffee

Minute Maid

TV Dinners

Spam

More on War & Military

Author Tony Dunnell

How Many Children Did Each President Have?

Recommendations For You

5 Facts About England’s Elizabethan Era

What Everyday Life Was Like in Ancient Rome

9 World War II Facts Every History Buff Should Know

7 Facts That Reveal the Wonder of the Ancient Maya

5 Military Strategies That Shouldn’t Have Worked But Did

Hannibal’s Alpine Crossing

You may also like

More from our network

How Well Do You Know Your U.S. Geography?

Go Retro With This 1960s Fashion Quiz

6 Tricks Grocery Stores Use To Influence What You Buy

8 Hidden Car Features That Will Change Your Driving Game

Do You Know What the “P” in “P.M.” Stands For?

Caesar's Double Fortifications

George Washington's Christmas Night Crossing of the Delaware

The Capture of Tabor Bridge

Operation Mincemeat

More on War & Military

Author Tony Dunnell