Why did the British buy out all black tea during World War II

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

During the Second World War, which lasted six long years, more than 60 million people died, most of them ordinary civilians. 80% of the world's population was involved in the war, the largest states were thinking about how to get out of the conflict with minimal losses and win … It would seem, why in such a harsh time to buy out the world's tea reserves? However, the UK had its own reasons.

The decision to bulk purchase black tea was made by the British government in 1942. There were several reasons for this. First, purely practical: water was delivered to the front in barrels, which were often used to store gasoline or oil, and therefore the specific taste of water was, to put it mildly, unpleasant. However, it was impossible to allow the soldiers not to drink water, and therefore it was decided to mask the impurity with the taste (and color) of strong black tea.

Second, the caffeine in black tea allowed the soldiers to stay on their feet longer and acted like an energy drink. Unlike coffee, tea was cheaper and lighter, given the volume of transport.

The third reason was the morale of the military. Every day they had to face death. This greatly undermined the spirit of the people, many suffered from post-traumatic syndrome, nervous breakdowns. The soldiers needed something that could give them a sense of stability, faith in the future, something that would remind them of home, in a word, something that could preserve their morale. And tea was such a remedy.

In complete chaos, British soldiers did not deny themselves the opportunity to brew a pot of tea and slowly sip their mug, chatting with their colleagues. This may seem like a secondary reason, but it didn't seem that way to soldiers at the time. Sometimes some battalions could use about 100 gallons (450 liters) of fuel just to make tea for themselves. In an interview, a British employee even said that the morale of the soldiers at the time was strongly associated with the availability of tea. "Tea became like a drug for us," he recalls.

In order not to ignite an open fire that could betray the location of the military, the so-called Benghazi burner was invented. It consisted of two containers, one of which served as a kind of teapot, and the second, in fact, a burner. Usually, cans were used for this, in which food was supplied. Half of the sand was poured into the jar, it was poured with fuel so that it saturates the sand, and several holes were made in the upper half of the jar for air circulation. After that, it remained to set fire to the sand and put a container of water on top of the can.

For large volumes, four-gallon (18 liters) drums were used, which were adapted for the Benghazi burner. Such burners quickly flared up, did not make noise and made it possible to quickly prepare tea. The popularity of tea among the British troops was so high that at some point the British government decided to buy out the entire supply of tea throughout Europe. And judging by the feedback from the veterans, it was a very correct decision.

You can read about how this invigorating drink got from the Middle Kingdom to Russia in our article. "Would you like a cup of tea?"