# Did British soldiers in WWII drink tea or coffee? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 12, 2026, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-british-soldiers-in-wwii-drink-tea-or-coffee/1033018 "2026-09-12T17:31:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2026, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-british-soldiers-in-wwii-drink-tea-or-coffee/1033018/21 "2026-09-14T09:20:04Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Once you have boiled the water, the coffee takes, what, five minutes to brew? I do not think there is much risk of ending up with a pot of half-brewed coffee; if anything, the opposite. Sure. After you’ve found firewood, and built and started a fire. And found water. And ground the coffee beans… It took a while, out in the field. ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2026, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-british-soldiers-in-wwii-drink-tea-or-coffee/1033018/22 "2026-09-14T10:47:30Z")
Tea was so important to the British that in 1943 the UK made a serious and largely successful effort to buy at source the entire global supply. This was just a much larger programme by the Ministry of Food to ensure that - for the psychological welfare of the nation - tea was available to the military and civilian alike. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2026, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-british-soldiers-in-wwii-drink-tea-or-coffee/1033018/23 "2026-09-14T17:25:36Z")
There’s a good article on Coffee during the American civil war, it was a huge deal. The rebels were blockaded right away, and Coffee became a distant memory in much of the south. That’s how ersatz substitutes like roasted acorns and chicory became a thing. Apparently it was very common for soldier’s letters to home to mention Coffee. Informal trading networks started with Coffee and Tobacco between the opposing forces. Breakfast of Champions, and all. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2026, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-british-soldiers-in-wwii-drink-tea-or-coffee/1033018/24 "2026-09-14T17:27:57Z")
> [@Common\_Tater](#): > > There’s a good article on Coffee during the American civil war, it was a huge deal. Share a link with us to this good article? ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2026, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-british-soldiers-in-wwii-drink-tea-or-coffee/1033018/25 "2026-09-14T17:54:03Z")
I’m looking, I’m looking, because I knew right away otherwise I shouldn’t have mentioned it. The confederate soldiers were always gratified when they routed Union troops because that often meant the supply wagons were abandoned, along with the precious sacks of Coffee beans and other unobtanium. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2026, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-british-soldiers-in-wwii-drink-tea-or-coffee/1033018/26 "2026-09-17T20:44:48Z")
or make coffee the cowboy way with whole beans ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2026, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-british-soldiers-in-wwii-drink-tea-or-coffee/1033018/27 "2026-09-18T08:44:50Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Share a link with us to this good article? If a YouTube video is any substitute, Max Miller covers a lot of this in the always interesting Tasting History. But Ihave no idea how to post a link to it. Anyone have clue? ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2026, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-british-soldiers-in-wwii-drink-tea-or-coffee/1033018/28 "2026-09-18T10:14:50Z")
Let’s try this Nope not working ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2026, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-british-soldiers-in-wwii-drink-tea-or-coffee/1033018/29 "2026-09-19T19:31:10Z")
> [@fedman1](#): > > or make coffee the cowboy way with whole beans AFAIK, the beans were kinda sorta ground before making the brew- There area good number of vidoes showing how to make it. > [@Common\_Tater](#): > > There’s a good article on Coffee during the American civil war, it was a huge deal. Here is one, > **[Coffee and the Civil War Soldier](https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/coffee-and-civil-war-soldier)** > > Coffee, a staple before the Civil War in most households, became a luxury, and a beverage soldiers craved. It was what bolstered and also refueled them,... Also the book- _Hardtack and Coffee: Or, The Unwritten Story of Army Life._ ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2026, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-british-soldiers-in-wwii-drink-tea-or-coffee/1033018/30 "2026-09-20T05:55:20Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@fedman1](#): > > > > or make coffee the cowboy way with whole beans > > AFAIK, the beans were kinda sorta ground before making the brew- There area good number of vidoes showing how to make it. It should be very coarsely ground, but I have never heard of making coffee without grinding anything at all. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2026, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-british-soldiers-in-wwii-drink-tea-or-coffee/1033018/31 "2026-09-20T18:40:04Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > It should be very coarsely ground, but I have never heard of making coffee without grinding anything at all. I concur. Ground with a hammer, maybe, but whole beans??? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2026, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-british-soldiers-in-wwii-drink-tea-or-coffee/1033018/32 "2026-09-20T20:49:40Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@WotNot](#): > > > > This is a complaint I’ve seen from US troops in a number of accounts, and it’s based on a misunderstanding: British troops would never halt just to make tea – but if required to halt for any reason, they _would_ make tea. In the same way that GIs, in a similar situation, would make coffee. > > Makes sense, but the point is not that they stopped- it is that they made tea. > > > [@f.coli](#): > > > > In the movie, the British tankers said that they had no infantry support for a move on Arnhem. > > I have just finished reading the book. Ambrose. Also in his Citizen Soldiers. I think that’s been pretty heavily refuted. There were just a couple of British tanks that made it across the bridge and were on the north side of the river. They were engaged in sporadic fighting throughout the night, not making tea. The movie made it seem like a large contingent of XXX Corps made it across the bridge. In reality it was 2 tanks later joined by a 3rd. Hardly enough to push on to Arnhem. Their orders were to establish a bridgehead and hold off any counterattacks. Nijmegen and Lent were not completely secured and that was a reasonable fear. I’m not sure which book you were reading. Cornelius Ryan wrote A Bridge Too Far not Ambrose. This video breaks things down pretty well. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/U9aRXctgCT4/maxresdefault.jpg "Did the British stop for tea at Nijmegen bridge? | The Nijmegen Controversy | September 1944") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9aRXctgCT4) ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2026, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-british-soldiers-in-wwii-drink-tea-or-coffee/1033018/33 "2026-09-20T20:56:04Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > Not quite what you’re looking for but. > > The “Vessel Boiling Electric” or “BV” was an innovation at the very end of [World War II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II "World War II"), when the [Centurion tank](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centurion_tank "Centurion tank") was introduced with the device fitted inside the turret.[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_vessel#cite_note-2)[[3]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_vessel#cite_note-3) Previously, British tank crews had disembarked when they wanted to “brew-up” (make [tea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea "Tea")), using a [petrol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrol "Petrol") cooker improvised from empty fuel cans[[4]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_vessel#cite_note-4) called a “[Benghazi burner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benghazi_burner "Benghazi burner")”.[[5]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_vessel#cite_note-5) Use of the BV enabled the crew to stay safely inside the tank and reduced the time taken for breaks. From Wiki. > > So the Brits did have petrol cookers. All British armored vehicles from then until now are equipped with BVs (now called CVs cooking vessels). They are more than tea makers. They are also used to heat rations so crews don’t have to dismount to eat. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-british-soldiers-in-wwii-drink-tea-or-coffee/1033018/34 "2026-09-21T03:40:47Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I’m not sure which book you were reading. Cornelius Ryan wrote A Bridge Too Far not Ambrose. _Citizen Soldiers: The U S Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge_ _Book by Stephen E. Ambrose_ > [@Loach](#): > > This video breaks things down pretty well. Entirely from the British perspective and side. This may not fit the Op, so we can continue this elsewhere, however, this is not something i care deeply about. That is what i read, but I am not backing it. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-british-soldiers-in-wwii-drink-tea-or-coffee/1033018/35 "2026-09-21T04:41:00Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Entirely from the British perspective and side. Logic and the official record are on the British side. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-british-soldiers-in-wwii-drink-tea-or-coffee/1033018/36 "2026-09-21T08:17:24Z")
As usual. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-british-soldiers-in-wwii-drink-tea-or-coffee/1033018/37 "2026-09-21T09:36:33Z")
Interesting and irrelevant fact; the captain in charge of the three or four tanks that managed to cross the Nijmegen bridge recieved the Military Cross for his actions; later he became Lord Carrington (a hereditary peer) and acted as UK Defence Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Secretary General of NATO. Perhaps he could have pushed on with his three or four tanks and got the Victoria Cross instead; probably postumously. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-british-soldiers-in-wwii-drink-tea-or-coffee/1033018/38 "2026-09-21T10:13:24Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > later he became Lord Carrington (a hereditary peer) and acted as UK Defence Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Secretary General of NATO. I met him! He was chancellor of my university and awarded me my degree (c. 1993). My parents proudly displayed a picture of me in my gown/mortar board shaking his hand. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-british-soldiers-in-wwii-drink-tea-or-coffee/1033018/39 "2026-09-21T10:44:50Z")
You can try wargaming the [computer version](https://store.steampowered.com/app/524176/Command_Ops_2_Highway_to_the_Reich_Vol_1/) and… it is not so easy. Perhaps I should give it another couple of tries. Nothing in there about tea and coffee supplies, though if you click on the Equipment and Supplies tab (where you can see how much weapons and ammo a unit has) I presume it is included under “Basic” supplies. > [@eburacum45](#): > > Perhaps he could have pushed on with his three or four tanks and got the Victoria Cross instead; probably postumously. Do you get the Victoria Cross for disobeying orders and suicidally sacrificing yourself and the men under your command? ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-british-soldiers-in-wwii-drink-tea-or-coffee/1033018/40 "2026-09-21T10:59:33Z")
Sometimes, yes. My uncle got the VC postumously for attacking several machine gun posts off his own back; probably because his own brother had just been killed. On the other hand, the only person he put in danger was himself. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-british-soldiers-in-wwii-drink-tea-or-coffee/1033018.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-british-soldiers-in-wwii-drink-tea-or-coffee/1033018.md?page=3)