brewskies

[Bern]

Good day Gents,
I usually haunt the Wehrmacht related section of this forum, but thought I'd pose an inquiry relating to a Commonwealth item. I've had in my files for quite some time, an image of a Luftwaffe reconnaissance pilot drinking from a bottle, but didn't know what he was drinking until the other day when I rotated the image by 90 degrees. I study the rations that would have been provided to all military forces and noticed that he was drinking from a 22 oz bottle of Black Horse Ale, which was brewed in Montreal, Canada. After further research I discovered that over 20,000,000 gallons of beer was supplied to Canada's fighting forces during WW2. I've personally never come across an image of a front line Canuck or Brit drinking from a 22 oz bottle. So, my question is, where might this German pilot have picked up a 22 oz bottle of Canadian brewed ale, at a rest station, supply depot???? Oh, one further point, the German pilot appears to be wearing a tropical tunic, so I'm guessing Italy, since there were no Canadian forces stationed in North Africa during the war, that is, to my understanding. Any further information that you may be able to provide would be greatly appreciated.
Regards
Bern

[ROBB]

Well you know what you have to do dont you, the one thing everyone is going to ask you to do . Rob

[Bern]

Thanks Robb, I kind of figured that. : )
I hope posting this link is within forum policies.
The pilot with peaked cap and goggles around his neck.
Regards
Bern

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/554576141601288646/

[Jean-Loup]

There may not have been any Canadians (though there were Newfoudlanders) in North Africa, but lots of Canadian beer bottles were sent there.

JL

[Bern]

There may not have been any Canadians (though there were Newfoudlanders) in North Africa, but lots of Canadian beer bottles were sent there.

JL

Ahhh, thanks Jean-loup, that makes perfect sense. Black Horse ale was a favorite of Newfoundlanders and they didn't technically become part of Canada until 1949.
So the Luftwaffe pilot may have "liberated" it in North Africa.
Regards
Bern

[byterock]

Beer was one of the few things that was not rationed durning the war.

Unlike the US forces CW forces where never dry.

Shall we say it flowed quite freely in most CW units and all of HMCS had a daily tot and an daily beer allotmet on the larger ship.

It was only 'rationed' in the meaning of they had a fixed allotment per man.

Many Canadian unit had thier own brands. Talk to any Royal to this day and 'Blue' is still thier brand.

The brewing companies where a big part of this as this 1950s photo shows



Check out some of the work by Matthew J. Bellamy he is the suds historian at Carleton U
Could of been liberated from ship as well.

[Jean-Loup]

"Black Horse ale was a favorite of Newfoundlanders and they didn't technically become part of Canada until 1949."

I have seen large numbers broken WWII bottles in the desert in Egypt, and the ones marked "Made in Canada" on the bottom are amongst the most common. So quite clearly Canada was supplying the British with their beer as well.

JL

[Hundestaffel]

Interesting thread.....

Without going into full detail of the complete photo that this was cropped from, would anyone be able to identify the thirst quencher that this Wehrmacht soldier is holding ??? (I have reason to believe that this brew - whatever it is (Beer ?? Wine ??) - was Commonwealth produced).

[peter monahan]

It may or may not have a bearing on the beer, but 1 RCAF squadron and a number of RCN vessels and landing craft plus 3,000 sailors supported the British efforts in NA.

[Jean-Loup]

I invite you guys to take a look at the "El Alamein broken bottles" section towards the bottom of this page: http://battlefieldarchaeology.blogspot.com/
Note two "Made in Canada" specimens on the photos.

JL