Red Cross parcel
Encyclopedia
Red Cross parcel usually refers to packages containing mostly food
Food
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...

, tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...

 and personal hygiene
Hygiene
Hygiene refers to the set of practices perceived by a community to be associated with the preservation of health and healthy living. While in modern medical sciences there is a set of standards of hygiene recommended for different situations, what is considered hygienic or not can vary between...

 items sent by the International Association of the Red Cross to prisoners of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...

 during the First
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 and Second World Wars
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, as well as at other times. It can also refer to medical parcels and so-called "release parcels" provided during World War II. The Red Cross arranged them in accordance with the provisions of the third Geneva convention of 1929. During World War II these packages augmented the often-meager and deficient diets in the PoW camps
Prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp is a site for the containment of combatants captured by their enemy in time of war, and is similar to an internment camp which is used for civilian populations. A prisoner of war is generally a soldier, sailor, or airman who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or...

, contributing greatly to prisoner survival and an increase in morale. Modern Red Cross food parcels provide basic food and sanitary needs for persons affected by natural disasters, wars, political upheavals or similar events.

More recent catastrophes involving delivery of Red Cross parcels include events in Georgia, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

 and Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

.

World War I

The Australian Red Cross reported dispatching a total of 395,695 food parcels and 36,339 clothing parcels to Allied PoWs in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 and Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 during the course of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

.

British PoWs during World War I were supplied with food parcels by the Central Prisoners of War Committee in London. French PoWs were required to pay for parcels sent to them through a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 commission; these packages included potted chicken, various pâté
Pâté
Pâté is a mixture of ground meat and fat minced into a spreadable paste. Common additions include vegetables, herbs, spices, and either wine or cognac, armagnac or brandy...

s, and even bottled wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...

. Neither the British nor the French committees had any connection with the Red Cross. Indigent French PoWs could receive parcels with lower-quality food for free, from other organizations also not affiliated with the Red Cross.

The American Red Cross commenced delivery of food parcels to American PoWs in German camps in November 1917. The first parcel received by a PoW included the following items:
  • One pound tin of corned beef
  • One pound tin of roast beef
  • One pound tin of salmon
  • Two pounds of hash
  • One pound of jam
  • One bar of soap
  • Four packages of tobacco
  • One overshirt
  • One undershirt
  • Two cans of pork and beans
  • One can each of tomatoes, corn and peas
  • One pair of drawers
  • Two pairs of socks
  • Three handkerchiefs
  • Two towels
  • One tube of toothpaste
  • Two pounds of hard bread
  • One pint of evaporated milk
  • One pound of sugar
  • One-half pound of coffee
  • One toothbrush, comb, shaving brush and "housewife" (sewing kit), plus shaving soap.


Thereafter, further parcels were sent once per week. These were rotated on a four-week schedule between packages labeled "A", "B", "C" and "D". Each parcel contained meat, fish, vegetable, bread and fruit items, together with eighty cigarette
Cigarette
A cigarette is a small roll of finely cut tobacco leaves wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder; its smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in some cases a cigarette holder may be used as well...

s or other tobacco products. Items of clothing
Clothing
Clothing refers to any covering for the human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of nearly all human societies...

 were also provided for American PoWs through the American Red Cross. Toward the end of the war, German camp guards and other personnel would sometimes steal the contents of these packages, often leaving only bread for the helpless prisoner. In such events, American camp representatives attempted to make up the loss through stores kept for this purpose in the PoW camps.

A special agreement between the YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...

 and the American Red Cross resulted in the YMCA providing athletic equipment, books and games for American prisoners in German PoW camps.

World War II

Red Cross food parcels during World War II were mostly provided from Great Britain, the United States (after 1941) and Canada. An Allied PoW might receive any of these packages at any one given time, regardless of his or her own nationality. This was because all such packages were sent from their country of origin to central collection points, where they were subsequently distributed to Axis PoW camps by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

British food parcels

During World War II, The British Joint War Organisation sent standard food parcels, invalid food parcels, medical supplies, educational books and recreational materials to prisoners of war worldwide. During the conflict, over 20 million standard food parcels were sent. Typical contents of such a parcel included:
  • 1/4 lb packet of tea
  • Tin of cocoa powder
  • Bar of milk or plain chocolate (often Cadbury's nut and fruit chocolate, or something similar)
  • Tinned pudding
  • Tin of meat roll
  • Tin of processed cheese
  • Tin of condensed milk (Klim—a Canadian instant milk beverage—or else Carnation or Nestle brand)
  • Tin of dried eggs
  • Tin of sardines or herrings
  • Tin of preserve
  • Tin of margarine
  • Tin of sugar
  • Tin of vegetables
  • Tin of biscuits
  • Bar of soap
  • Tin of 50 cigarettes or tobacco (sent separately—usually Player's brand cigarettes, or Digger flake pipe tobacco).


Approximately 163,000 such parcels were made up each week during World War II; after being assembled, they were shipped on special ships to Lisbon, Portugal or Marseilles, France, where they were loaded onto railway cars and shipped to Geneva, Switzerland. Here, the International Committee of the Red Cross arranged for their shipment to PoW camps and other detention centers throughout Europe.

Sometimes, due to the shortage of parcels, two or even four prisoners would be compelled to share the contents of one Red Cross parcel.

American food parcels

Another source lists the contents of a typical Red Cross parcel received by an American airman held prisoner in Stalag Luft I
Stalag Luft I
Stalag Luft I was a German World War II prisoner-of-war camp near Barth, Western Pomerania, Germany, for captured Allied airmen. The presence of the prison camp is said to have shielded the town of Barth from Allied bombing...

 near Barth, Germany on the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

:
  • One pound can of powdered milk
  • One pound can of oleo margarine
  • Half-pound package of cube sugar
  • Half-pound package of Kraft
    Kraft Foods
    Kraft Foods Inc. is an American confectionery, food and beverage conglomerate. It markets many brands in more than 170 countries. 12 of its brands annually earn more than $1 billion worldwide: Cadbury, Jacobs, Kraft, LU, Maxwell House, Milka, Nabisco, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia, Trident, Tang...

     cheese
  • Six-ounce package of K-ration
    K-ration
    The K-ration was an individual daily combat food ration which was introduced by the United States Army during World War II. It was originally intended as an individually packaged daily ration for issue to airborne troops, tank corps, motorcycle couriers, and other mobile forces for short durations...

     biscuits
  • Four-ounce can of coffee
  • Two D-ration chocolate bars
  • Six-ounce can of jam or peanut butter
  • Twelve-ounce can of salmon or tuna
  • One-pound can of Spam
    Spam (food)
    Spam is a canned precooked meat product made by the Hormel Foods Corporation, first introduced in 1937. The labeled ingredients in the classic variety of Spam are chopped pork shoulder meat, with ham meat added, salt, water, modified potato starch as a binder, and sodium nitrite as a preservative...

     or corned beef
  • One-pound package of raisins or prunes
  • Five packages of cigarettes
  • Seven Vitamin-C tablets
  • Two bars of soap
  • Twelve ounces of C-ration
    C-ration
    The C-Ration, or Type C ration, was an individual canned, pre-cooked, or prepared wet ration intended to be issued to U.S. military land forces when fresh food or packaged unprepared food prepared in mess halls or field kitchens was impractical or not available, and when a survival ration was...

     vegetable soup concentrate.


According to this airman, recipients of these parcels were permitted to keep only the cigarettes and chocolate bars; the remainder of the parcel was turned over to the camp cook, who combined them with the contents of other parcels and German PoW rations (usually bread, barley, potatoes, cabbage and horse meat) to create daily meals for the prisoners.

Cigarettes in the parcels became the preferred medium of exchange
Money
Money is any object or record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context. The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value; and, occasionally in the past,...

 within the camp, with each individual cigarette valued at 27 cents within Stalag Luft I. Similar practices were followed in other PoW camps, as well. Cigarettes were also used to bribe German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 guards to provide the prisoners with outside items that would otherwise have been unavailable to them. Tins of coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...

, which was hard to come by in Germany late in the war, served this same purpose in many camps. Contents of these packages were sometimes pilfered by German guards or other camp personnel, especially toward the end of the war.

Canadian food parcels

The Canadian Red Cross reported assembling and shipping nearly 16,500,000 food parcels during the Second World War, at a cost of $47,529,000. Contents of the Canadian parcel included:
  • Sixteen ounces of milk powder
  • Sixteen ounces of butter
  • Four ounces of cheese
  • Twelve ounces of corned beef
  • Ten ounces of pork luncheon meat
  • Eight ounces of salmon
  • Four ounces of sardines or kippers
  • Eight ounces of dried apples
  • Eight ounces of dried prunes or raisins
  • Eight ounces of sugar
  • Sixteen ounces of jam or honey
  • Sixteen ounces of pilot biscuits
  • Eight ounces of chocolate
  • One ounce of salt and pepper (mustard, onion powder and other condiments were also sometimes enclosed)
  • Four ounces of tea or coffee
  • Two ounces of soap.


Unlike the American and British parcels, Canadian Red Cross parcels did not include cigarettes or tobacco.

Food parcels in the Pacific theater

The Japanese government in August 1942 announced that no neutral ship, even a Red Cross ship, would be allowed to enter Japanese waters. Red Cross parcels intended for Allied PoWs in Japan were accordingly stockpiled in Vladivostok, Russia, and a single ship was ultimately permitted to transport some of these to Japan in November 1944. How many of these actually reached the PoWs is not known, and the sinking of the Red Cross ship prevented any future shipments from being made.

Food parcels in the German Concentration Camps

In November 1943, the Red Cross received permission from Nazi German authorities to send Red Cross parcels to inmates of concentration camps whose names and specific locations were known. About 1,112,000 parcels containing 4,500 tons of food were ultimately sent to the camps, including those at Dachau
Dachau
Dachau is a town in Upper Bavaria, in the southern part of Germany. It is a major district town—a Große Kreisstadt—of the administrative region of Upper Bavaria, about 20 km north-west of Munich. It is now a popular residential area for people working in Munich with roughly 40,000 inhabitants...

, Buchenwald, Ravensbrück, Sachsenhausen
Sachsenhausen
Sachsenhausen may refer to:* Sachsenhausen , a quarter of Oranienburg, Germany* Sachsenhausen concentration camp, a detention and extermination facility established there in 1936...

, Theresienstadt and Auschwitz. In addition to food, these parcels also contained clothing and pharmaceutical items.

German PoWs after World War II

Three months after the German surrender in May 1945, General Dwight Eisenhower issued an order classifying all surrendered soldiers within the American Zone of Occupation as "Disarmed Enemy Forces", rather than Prisoners of War. Accordingly, the Red Cross was denied the right to visit German PoWs in American prison camps, and delivery of Red Cross parcels to them was forbidden.

Postwar study on Red Cross parcels and Canadian PoWs

The Canadian government conducted a detailed study of the effect of the Red Cross parcels on the health and morale of Canadian PoWs shortly after the end of World War II. Over 5,000 former PoWs were interviewed, and Canadian authorities determined that a significant number of soldiers did not get the intended one parcel per man per week; most had to make do with one-half of a parcel per week, or even less on some occasions. Soldiers were asked to state their preferences with regard to specific contents of the parcels: the most popular item turned out to be the biscuits, with butter a close second, followed (in order) by meat, milk (powdered and other), chocolate, cigarettes, tea, jam, cereals, cheese and coffee. The Canadian parcel was preferred to British, American or New Zealand-issued parcels, claiming that the Canadian parcels had "greater bulk", "lasted longer", and/or had "more food".

With regard to especially disliked foods, the Canadian respondents (over 4,200 of the interviewed PoWs) expressed the greatest distaste for the vegetables and fish enclosed in the food parcels (about fifteen percent of the total number of respondents), followed (in order) by condiments, egg powder, cereals, fat, cheese, deserts, sweets, beverages, jams, biscuits and milk. However, except for the first two items on that list, all of these were named by only a minuscule percentage of the total number of respondents.

American

A second type of parcel delivered through the Red Cross during World War II was the Red Cross Prisoner of War First Aid Safety Kit, which was supplied by the American Red Cross for distribution through the International Committee. Such parcels generally held the following items:
  • A twelve-page booklet with instructions for use of the enclosed medical supplies, printed in English, French, German, Polish and Yugoslav
  • Ten packages of sterilized gauze, in two different sizes
  • One package containing 500 laxative pills
  • Two packages containing 500 aspirin tablets each
  • Twelve gauze bandages
  • Two cans of insecticide powder
  • Four tubes of boric acid antiseptic ointment
  • Two packages containing 500 sodium bicarbonate tablets each
  • Two tubes of Salicylic ointment (for treatment of athlete's foot and similar fungal diseases)
  • Two tubes of Mercuric antiseptic ointment
  • Four tubes of sulphur ointment (for treatment of skin diseases)
  • One box containing 100 band-aids
  • Two rolls of adhesive tape
  • Two one-ounce packages of absorbent cotton
  • Safety pins, forceps, soap, disinfectants and scissors.


Other kits issued to some PoWs through the American Red Cross contained a few differences in contents, but were still generally similar to the above.

British

The British Red Cross also supplied Medical Parcels to Allied PoWs during the war. Prior to 15 June 1942 these kits generally consisted of:
  • A general parcel containing cotton wool, safety pins, soap, aspirin tablets and ointment
  • A disinfectant parcel
  • Special parcels containing thermometers and dressing scissors.


After 15 June 1942 the British kits were changed. The new kits contained:
  • An invalid food unit consisting of two parcels – milk and food
  • A medical stores unit consisting of four parcels:
"Medical 1" contained soap and disinfectants
"Medical 2" contained soda bicarbonate, Dover's powders, lung balsam, ferri sulphate, zinc ointment, cascara, zinc oxide powder, formalin throat tablets, ammoniated mercury ointment, flexoplast, lint, cotton wool, gauze, ascorbic acid tablets, pile ointment, sulphapyridine tablets, magnesium trisilicate, and oxide plaster
"Medical 3 and 4" contained additional quantities of the supplies found in "Medical 2", adding to them kaoline poultice, A and D Oleum Vitamins, TCP burns, aspirin, Bemax, sulphanilamide and toilet paper.


In addition, German and Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 authorities sometimes permitted British prisoner hospitals to procure equipment from England via the Red Cross, including microscope
Microscope
A microscope is an instrument used to see objects that are too small for the naked eye. The science of investigating small objects using such an instrument is called microscopy...

s, sterilizers, material for manufacturing artificial limbs, medical instruments, vaccine
Vaccine
A vaccine is a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism, and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe or its toxins...

s, drugs and even games and other recreational materials.

Release parcels

The American Red Cross provided a special "release parcel" to some Allied PoWs upon their initial release from enemy captivity. These parcels included:
  • Razor
  • Razor blades
  • Shaving cream
  • Toothbrush
  • Toothpaste
  • Pencil
  • Comb
  • Socks
  • Cigarettes
  • Handkerchiefs
  • Playing cards
  • Stationery
  • Book
  • Hard candy
  • Chewing gum
  • Face cloth
  • Cigarette case with the American Red Cross emblem imprinted on it.


These kits were distributed as follows: 71,400 to France; 10,000 to the Soviet Union; 9,500 to Italy; 5,000 to Egypt; and 4,000 to the Philippines.

Modern Red Cross parcels

Following the collapse of the former Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

, many pensioners in the newly independent Republic of Georgia were left destitute by the resulting collapse of the Georgian economy and the inability of their meager pensions to keep up with inflation
Inflation
In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...

. The Red Cross, with the financial support of the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 government, assisted approximately 500,000 of these mostly elderly people with food parcels over a seven-year period during the 1990s. As of 2001, more than 12,000 were still dependent upon Red Cross food assistance.

Food parcels were also distributed by the Red Cross of Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

 during the recent Red Shirt Movement disturbances in Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...

, and to British victims of flooding in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....

in 2007. The British package contained:
  • Five tins of canned fruit
  • One loaf of longlife bread
  • Two packets of rye crackers
  • Three cartons of long-life milk
  • One jar of savoury spread
  • Three packets of plain biscuits
  • Three tins of fish
  • Three tins of meat
  • Five tins of potatoes
  • Two jars of sandwich spread
  • Two packs of cereal bars
  • One flashlight, batteries, toilet paper, and one tube of sanitiser hand gel.

External links

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