Och hello there… Sir Sidney McSprocket here!

My parrot Polly is still in the Victory Vault.  It’s my latest invention, a totally tremendous time machine that can take us to explore incredible inventions. 

I’d set the parameters to explore the dark years of the 1940s when we were at war.  Come on, we better go and find her!

Scanning Location:

More to click...

• Jeeps
• Ball Point Pens and Super Glue
• Computers

• Southern England. 
• Date – January 1945. 
• Invention Detected – Freeze dried coffee.

NAAFI

Welcome to the NAAFI – the ‘Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes.’

It was set up by the government in 1920 to look after the lads and lasses in uniform, which ever service they’re in – army, army or air force. And they always want to make everyone feel at home at the NAAFI.  

They were the place for a bit of entertainment, as well as selling a few home comforts, like a nice cuppa or something sweet.

Instant coffee

Now, as for coffee, you might think it’s a modern fancy, but instant coffee’s been about for donkey’s years – since the 18th century or so… though it wasn’t much to shout about back then. 

It got a right boost during the Great War when soldiers needed something quick and easy to brew up.

By the 1930s, the coffee producers started fiddling with ways to save their surplus crops and Nestlé came up with Nescafé. It was a game-changer! Powdered coffee, light as a feather, easy to pack and it lasted ages. Perfect for the military.

The American troops would drink A LOT of coffee – over 1 million cases was sent over! 

Ration packs

Little cardboard boxes packed with everything a soldier needs for a day, all wrapped up in wax paper to keep them dry and safe, even in the muck and rain.

They’re chock-full of energy to keep the soldiers going. Those packs and instant coffee are a lifeline out there.

Freeze dried coffee

Instant coffee was very important during the war but the chronograph said the invention was something to do with freezing? What’s freezing about a lovely piping hot cup of coffee?!

Freeze drying is a engineering process that’s been around in some form for centuries – the Incas even used a similar process to preserve potatoes. During World War 2, the process was refined to preserve vital supplies of the antibiotic penicillin so it could be stored for longer and transported without going off. After the war, the technology was extended to many medicines and food – from meals when camping to astronauts in space!

…and coffee too! 

Amazing how one engineering breakthrough can lead to others. 

Freeze-drying coffee involves brewing a concentrated coffee solution and freezing it into a solid state. It’s then placed in a vacuum chamber where a process called sublimation removes water by turning the ice into vapour, leaving behind dry coffee granules.

Incredible innovation indeed!

Oh… Polly.  She’s still in the Victory Vault.  I better follow her… but maybe after a wee cuppa tee!  Tatty bye for now!

YOUR GO… Ration Pack Recipe

Plan a power-packed meal for a World War Two soldier! Put yourself in the boots of a wartime soldier and design a day’s worth of meals using preserved and dried food. Discover how freeze-drying made food lighter and lasted longer – even for space explorers years later! What would you pack for the front line?

Get started here!

And why not listen to all of Sir Sidney’s programmes…

SIR SIDNEY MCSPROCKET AND THE VICTORY VAULT. Created with support from The Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851.