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Modern infantry here. The salt was probably added to compensate for salt lost through sweat. We do that now.

The high salt content probably tasted great to soldiers.  When you're battling all day and maybe all night, you're going to be burning electrolytes like crazy.

Scrounging is not thievery, it is the Strategic Transfer of Equipment to an Alternate Location.

Former infantryman - 1980s. I had the utmost respect for the cooks attached to our unit in the field. They did a great job, and in one especially trying time for me, my gratitude. Years later, I met a guy who was a cook in the Army Reserve, and he said he was embarrassed to tell people he was “just a cook”. I told him my story about those cooks who earned my gratitude and that we loved seeing those guys. No matter what your job in the military, there are people counting on you. Don’t ever think your job isn’t important.

every time you say hard tack and you flash back to the clip of you hitting them together cracks me up every time

This is the first of your military food videos that I've watched since my Pacific Theater and Korea combat veteran father passed. He loved your show, especially the war food episodes, and would always have me bring it up on his TV. He never grasped the on demand nature of YouTube, and would say: "Turn on the television and see if that little cookin' boy is on."
Just wanted you to know that you brought an old war dog a bit of enjoyment in his final years. You have my most sincere thanks.

The last time I was this early, Franz Ferdinand was still alive.

13:00 more about that goat, his name was "Sergeant Bill" named so by the soldiers, and he actually saved two soldiers by pushing them into a trench and out of the way of an artillery shell. Sergeant Bill sustained many wounds in the war, but did not flee. And made all the way to the end. A true Canadian hero!

One of my great, great grandfathers was a cook in WWI with the Gordon Highlanders.  When former soldiers started having reunions he was too embarrassed to go because he hadn't fought on the front lines and didn't feel he'd done anything.  My grandmother eventually convinced him to go to one in the late 60s or early 70s and he received the greatest welcome of his life - so many of the soldiers saw the cooks as their saviours during incredibly hard days.

My grandfather fought in the Canadian army during WW1. It put him off corn beef for the remainder of his life, it clearly brought back painful memories.

My Grandpa was a cook in WW1. He was only 18 when he was conscripted to the Austrian army. He was sent to the front kitchen because he was a trained baker. Of course, Grandpa never cooked any corned beef pie but he learned to make great goulash and after the war, when he married and had kids, he used to make it for his family 🙂

Former cook in a residential care home here. I used to make this from time to time for the residents, with a couple of tweaks, and it's really delicious. I would add baked beans between the corner beef and the mashed potato layer, as this would help to moisten it all a little and grated cheese on the top of the mashed potato for flavour. I'd also add in any vegetables like leeks or cabbage into the mashed potato too to get a few more vitamins and minerals in there. It's really great for the cold months, quite comforting, but it's also quite dense; like a heavy cottage pie. Still make it from time to time. Never knew it was a WW1 dish.

0:10 sees hardtack in background and gets excited for the clack-clack... Don't judge me!

I dont care how many times I've seen it used over these last few years, but the hardtack "clack clack" never fails to make me smile.

Fun fact about the field kitchen: In Germany, we call these things 'Gulaschkanonen' – 'Goulash cannons'
It was called a cannon because the stove pipe was hinged and could be folded down for transportation. This made the vehicle look like a cannon, and the field kitchen was given the name goulash cannon during the First World War. The soldiers cooked goulash from the meat of horses killed in the war, but also from the meat of goats, donkeys or draught oxen.

17:17 I did some research into this guy, his full name was John Henry Bailey. He was promoted from Gunner to a corporal, but was killed in action in 1915. His letter would’ve been written only months before his death. May he and all the soldiers before and after him rest in peace. This just shows how in war, every person has their own unique story, and that maybe just one day we can move past senseless, destructive war as a society.

0:37 HARDTACK MENTION WOOOOOOOOO 🎉

I have three relatives buried in WW1 graves, all three killed in the trenches.  Those poor men went through absolute Hell.  One in particular was wounded, came home, and the story goes he was sat in his family parlor crying whilst lacing his boots.  He knew what he was returning to.  We will remember them.

My great grandfather’s WW1 metal hat still showed signs of being used for cooking when we found it in 1972. He had fashioned a wrapped cloth head band inside and when opened had a flint piece of stone and some dried twigs he probably used to make a fire.
Your video is a reminder of ingenuity and resilience of soldiers regardless of who they were fighting for. After all it was Royal cousins fighting and everyone else just got swept up and spit out.