Animals in the trenches...........

[ph0ebus]

Two stories spring to mind:

H Hesketh-Prichard in his book "Sniping in France" tells the story of a cat which regularly sunned itself around lunchtime on the parapet of some German trenches. British snipers spotted it and logged it in their regular reports. The battalion intelligence officer told a visiting staff officer from Corps about it; he arranged an aerial reconnaissance which identified newly constructed dugouts, on a fairly large scale, in what had been thought to be empty trenches; and the gunners were told to deal with it. As the torrent of shells rained down, the cat was observed making towards Martinpuich at high speed.

Somewhere on the Loos front a man was lying wounded in no man's land, when a cat came and sat on his chest. This kept kim warm until the stretcher bearers found him, and it probably saved his life.

Ron

Thanks for sharing these. That latter cat story just made my day.

-Daniel

[Ken S.]

During Britain's Industrial Revolution (late 18th to early 19th century), the Livestock Journal and Fancier's Gazette published and article called "Eating Cats in West Bromwich" (a West Midlands town close to Birmingham). Cat has also been eaten in Britain. During wartime rationing, cats found their way into "rabbit" stews/pies and hence earned themselves the nickname "roof-rabbit". With so many city strays and pets abandoned by bombed out families, cats were a substitute for rabbit. A former colleague whose father was in the butchery trade during that time told me that butchers sometimes kept cats as ratters; the cat later ended up being sold as "rabbit". The rationale was simple - a surplus of homeless cats living off of vermin, plus the fact that the supply of wild rabbit from the countryside had been suspended. The following rhyme summed up the keeping of cats in peace-time and the eating of them in times of hardship.

Oh kittens, in our hours of ease

Uncertain toys and full of fleas,

When pain and anguish hang o’er men,

We turn you into sausage then.

Today, pet cats in the UK are apparently stolen to satisfy the continental fur trade; the skinned carcasses have sometimes offered to butchers as "wild rabbit". A former colleague who controlled rabbits on local farms supplied wild rabbit to a local butcher. In 1993, the butcher asked him to leave the head and feet on the carcass because he had been offered skinned cat by other shooters and wanted to be sure of the true identity of the meat. Once the paws, head and tail are removed, the only way to distinguish cat from rabbit or hare is by looking at the processus hamatus of the scapula. In the cat, this should have a processus suprahamatus.

http://www.messybeast.com/eat-cats.htm

[At Home Dad]

I don't think cat meat was sold over the counter. It is the only reason why butchers leave

the identifiable head on a rabbit when displayed in the shop: so that you know it isn't a cat.

That's how common eating cat was.

Cat meat was most often sold as a fraud of other meats. Or else it was eaten in hard times.

Or, if you were raised that way, you kept your own, like a farmer keeps chickens.

You appear to have moved my suggestion of perhaps more than a few men eating cat

into a world of 'cat farms' behind the lines and feline culls. That's far from my point.

Anyway

Surely a 'happy cat' would give the best flavour meat? It's in the consumers interest to

keep the cat happy and well fed. Perhaps some cats were fed on prized food as a sort

of internal marinade. A stressed out cat no doubt produces stringy unpalatable meat.

Besides, when so many soldiers were so often being photographed with cats, the censors were not very likely to caption it with

"Here Tommy decides on the best gravy to go with this tabby. And he'll have some extra warmth in his gloves this winter too!"

They're more likely to promote the general idea of 'Englishman as animal lover' , 'even in war, he humbly cares for the cat...'

So I'm now even more inclined to think of the 'cat loving trench' as a pure propaganda myth and to

think that perhaps more than a few men enjoyed eating cat as an addition to the available foods.

And not eaten as a starvation ration of desperation. Eaten as a delicacy, a sentimental reminder of 'normality' back home

The fact that it hasn't been widely spoken of is no proof (to me) yet that it didn't occur.

It would, of course, be of great interest should a forgotten mention of it turn up somewhere

very best regards

I have come across a "purveyor of cat meat" advertising in the local (Oxfordshire) press around a century ago. From the context I'm sure this was not meat from cats, but meat for cats. As to the origin of this meat, there's quite a big clue in the man's main job: he was a horse slaughterer. I'm not sure about this idea that there was some sort of cat farming going on in the trenches. Having known a few cats in my time, I think it more likely that it was the cats who were exploiting the soldiers, not the other way round. If the cats had been unhappy, they would have moved out.

[At Home Dad]

How about taking another look, through a different perspective, at one of those propaganda stories from the time?

From the link in Caryls post number 6:

"Cats are often to be found in the trenches. Some even penetrate into' the fire trenches. They are curiously unafraid of shell fire,

and love to bask in the sun on the edge of the parapets, and decline to be kept under cover.

One great, orange- coloured cat apparently led for a time a charmed life, for he hunted mice and birds among the wire entanglements

of No Man's Land, and frequently walked along the parapet to enjoy a scrap with the tabby oat next door. These two never met without

an exchange of opinions that would have done credit to a suburban back yard. When the scrap was over both cats retired to their own

portion of the trenches, each evidently considering that he had conquered the "foe." Neither of the two paid the least attention to the

sputter and whine of shell and bullet, but would sit and wash their faces and clean their fur with scrupulous care. If, however, a bullet

struck the parapet close at hand, and showered mud or sand over them, their indignation was extreme, and both would retreat into the

trench expressing their feelings by spitting fiercely and waving huge fluffy tails.

Alas, one day the great orange cat ventured too tar across No Man's Land, and a German bullet wounded him seriously. The poor cat

could not get back to his anxious friends in the trench, and lay out among the entanglements mewing sadly for help. When night came

a Tommy crawled out and brought in the wounded animal. A vet among the soldiers bound up the wounds and the orange cat was

nursed back to health and strength, in a tiny dug-out made specially for him, by the Tommies.

Strange to say his ancient enemy, the tabby cat next door, apparently missing the orange cart, came along the parapet to investigate,

and sat and cleaned himself on the orange cat's special sandbag. Now, the Tommies are wondering what will happen when the

orange cat recovers sufficiently to take an interest in life once more. They are expecting a terrific encounter between the two and

are already betting upon the result."

You can read much from that.

The "great, orange- coloured cat" was clearly very well fed - perhaps overfed?

It was wandering around No Man's Land. It must have been a 'quiet' time for it to go out there.

But, it is clearly such a coveted food prize, such a plump cat, that a German sniper cant resist

such a target and has a pop shot at it.

It was such a great food prize, perhaps intended to be eaten on a specific date, that a soldier

risked his life to bring back 'dinner'. The cat was pampered back to health, as 'happy cats are

tasty cats'.

The propaganda typically tells us that the Germans shoot cats while the English rescue them.

I'm suggesting that perhaps some men on both sides knowingly ate cats.

Even as the last line informs us: they loved betting on cat fights. They may even have been organised.

Clearly, not every soldier was happy stroking cats and some found better uses for them.

[CarylW]

Wasn't going to even bother to reply any more to the 'keeping cats in trenches' in order to eat them theory because to me it is just too ludicrous but I would just like to say this

Until you provide one scrap of proof for this, I remain totally unconvinced.

Where are your sources? I'm not talking about the repeated posting of facts and statistics relating to how common cat eating was throughout history or across cultures.

I would like to see evidence that British soldiers kept cats in trenches in order to eat them please

I'm not suggesting that British soldiers had never eaten a cat, at any time throughout their life, at home or elsewhere, it is the continued posting of this theory of keeping cats in trenches in order to eat them that I find hard to believe

I am not as widely read as some members here but I have read books, journals, letters, diaries, first hand accounts and histories both old and recent about life in the trenches and on the battelfields but not once have I ever come across one mention of this practise amongst British soldiers, have you?

If it happened why would it not be mentioned or documented when many other details that make disturbing reading are written about? Evidence please

Caryl

[At Home Dad]

Hallo Caryl

I'm not trying to convince you of anything, I'm merely suggesting some men did eat cat.

You have provided the first potential proof yourself: images of so many cats in the trenches.

Were there really quite so many sentimentalist soldiers in need of affection out there?

As for sources (or even sauces), I'd like to see some too! At the moment there is some

potential for evidence in the fact that the widespread appearance of cats in the trenches

was 'airbrushed' by the propaganda myth of the animal loving Englishman.

I would have thought there would be upcry and outrage by cat lovers back home at the time, who

would think it terrible that poor homeless cats are left on the battlefields to fend for themselves.

They would, however, be more than happy to know that the cats give 'great comfort' to the soldiers

and so the myth was perpetuated.

If you're happy to believe that some men ate cat at home, why are you vehementally against

the idea that they would equally eat cat in the trenches, to remind them of home?

As for references to eating cat in the trenches, who knows? Perhaps 'Roof Rabbit' was called

by another euphemism that we aren't as yet aware of? Perhaps it was so very widespread that

no one felt to talk about it much, so as not to upset 'the ladies'...

Lots of 'perhaps' to my suggestion, I'll happily admit, but I'm not prepared to simply believe

the obvious propaganda of the time. That would be ludicrous

Very best regards

[CarylW]

I'm not trying to convince you of anything, I'm merely suggesting some men did eat cat.

Oh no? then why repeatedly make posts that are trying to convince me? As I said, I remain unconvinced that British soldiers kept cats in trenches in order to eat them

You wrote.

Were there really quite so many sentimentalist soldiers in need of affection out there?"

Yes One only has to read letters and postcards home and articles asked for to realise how sentimental many were and how many missed the comforts of home

You wrote" As for sources (or even sauces), I'd like to see some too! At the moment there is some

potential for evidence in the fact that the widespread appearance of cats in the trenches

was 'airbrushed' by the propaganda myth of the animal loving Englishman"

Of course a lot were propaganda, I asked about this in my first post

You wrote

"If you're happy to believe that some men ate cat at home, why are you vehementally against

the idea that they would equally eat cat in the trenches, to remind them of home? "

Happy to believe? what I actually said was "I'm not suggesting that British soldiers had never eaten a cat, at any time throughout their life, at home or elsewhere. It is the continued posting of this theory of keeping cats in trenches in order to eat them that I find hard to believe" and I also posted

"Until you provide one scrap of proof for this, I remain totally unconvinced".

I'm not vehemently against anything. Something I say a lot is "you learn something new every day", I'm always willing to learn.

Provide me with evidence that British soldiers kept cats in trenches in order to eat them because without it your continued posting of this theory is ludicrous.

I started this thread not believng that some cats were indifferent to shell fire. One by one members offered proof that some cats were, so now I do believe that. It really is that simple, although I doubt very much that you will find proof of your theory

I've no doubt you will have to have the last word. Do carry on, I'm not

Edit: Sorry I am not responding to any more of this total and utter bollox!

Caryl

[janecavell]

I suspect that At Home Dad may be trying to wind up the cat lovers. If so, that is a very mean thing to do!

Now let us examine possible reasons why the ginger cat was fat:

We already have one suggestion, that hungry soldiers were fattening him up so that they could eat him later (but if they had a ready supply of high-calorie food for feeding to cats, why not eat it themselves?)

Here are some other equally plausible hypotheses:

• he had a metabolic disorder
  
• he didn't get enough exercise
  
• he was greedy and very good at persuading everyone he met that he hadn't had a meal for hours
  

Unfortunately we can't test any of these scientifically so who knows what is the right answer?

[dfaulder]

I suspect that At Home Dad may be trying to wind up the cat lovers. If so, that is a very mean thing to do!

Now let us examine possible reasons why the ginger cat was fat:

We already have one suggestion, that hungry soldiers were fattening him up so that they could eat him later (but if they had a ready supply of high-calorie food for feeding to cats, why not eat it themselves?)

Here are some other equally plausible hypotheses:

• he had a metabolic disorder
• he didn't get enough exercise
• he was greedy and very good at persuading everyone he met that he hadn't had a meal for hours

Unfortunately we can't test any of these scientifically so who knows what is the right answer?

What about the trenches having a good supply of rats and mice for the cat to eat? I thought that was the staple diet of agricultural cats (with a few stray birds). If I was in a rat or mouse infested trench, a good moggy would be very welcome - provided I did not think it was stealing rats from my impoverished cooking pot!

David

[At Home Dad]

Hallo Caryl

<< One only has to read letters and postcards home and articles asked for to realise how sentimental many were and how many missed the comforts of home

>> And so, by the theory of 'creature comforts' I'd expect to see just as many photographs of men with dogs than with cats.

I would suggest dogs were more popular than cats, even back then. But dogs weren't historically known as being regularly eaten.

They were not really considered (in Western Europe) as typical food because they're more useful to Man.

Yet, who has time for pets in War anyway? Even a cat! A mascot I can understand it, as shown

in your uniformed examples, but as a pet? Too much palava in a war zone, surely?

There does appear to be more photographs of men in the trenches with cats, they are far more prevalent

although perhaps not for the reason originally given in the propaganda and believed in the myths of time.

<< What I actually said was "I'm not suggesting that British soldiers had never eaten a cat, at any time throughout their life, at home or elsewhere.

>> So you (unhappily) accept that men, women and children ate cats in the UK before the 1st War and up until

after the 2nd War. I dont see why you'd presume they'd stop eating cat from 1914-1918. Was it a truce or amnesty?

<< Until you provide one scrap of proof for this, I remain totally unconvinced.

>> I think they said the same about gravity... Anyway, some men ate some cats. Not all men ate all cats.

Some cats were eaten by men in the trenches, some were kept as 'pet comforters'. Doesn't seem to

be so hard to believe, given the history of cat eating. I'm merely suggesting that more cats were kept

as nosh than as pets. There were no (as yet) known 'Cat Concentration Camps'. There may even be a

misunderstood euphemism out there, wrongly regarded to mean one thing when it in fact means quoffing

catmeat. Who knows. It's interesting, though!

<< I'm not vehemently against anything. Something I say a lot is "you learn something new every day", I'm always willing to learn.

>> Well, today you also learned about organised betting on cat fights in the trenches by English soldiers

<< Provide me with evidence that British soldiers kept cats in trenches in order to eat them because without it your continued posting of this theory is ludicrous

>> Within the particular battalion of my area of research, I would say that it's a fair judgement that more than half

the men wouldn't bat an eyelid to the eating of cat and, if regularily deprived of fresh chicken etc, would more than

likely happily tuck in. That's entirely down to where they came from and about how poor they were. On the balance

of probabilities that, to me, says some of them probably did keep cats for eating.

Perhaps there was a specific Kings Regulation prohibiting the eating of cat? That would put the mockers on the whole shebang!

Equally, you could assist in our research by simply altering the subject line of the thread.

There may be some members out there who are ignoring this thread, thinking all that it

contains are images of monkeys in Service Dress and the like.

If you changed it to "Cats In The Trenches... eaten or not?" we both might find

that once thrown open to a wider readership the anecdotes come thick and fast.

very best to you

[centurion]

In general, and many of these posts bear this out, cats got eaten when there wasn't anything else available (sieges, prisons, famines and extreme poverty). Whatever you may say about Haig (please don't) he did keep the army as well fed as possible.

[At Home Dad]

Hallo Centurion

The Ministry of Food equally kept the citizens as well fed as possible

in the 2nd War but people still had the taste for some roof rabbit pie...

all the best

[centurion]

Hallo Centurion

The Ministry of Food equally kept the citizens as well fed as possible

in the 2nd War but people still had the taste for some roof rabbit pie...

all the best

Which wasn't very well fed at all - meat was very hard to come by (unless you lived out in the country) - I rest my case.

[At Home Dad]

Hallo Centurion

I was under the impression that meat could never be truly guaranteed in the Front line trench,

nor the condition it arrived in.

Obviously, my case is based on the notion that men may have had to 'make their own provision'

for rations when cut off and in cases where they couldn't be reached by resupply, which is the

'emergency meat ration' aspect, while some other men may have actually savoured the taste

and therefore sought out cat meat as a delicacy. I'm uncertain which case you're resting.

Very best to you

[Ken S.]

You might want to start providing first-hand accounts to substantiate your claims. Many things worse than eating cat meat were documented by men who served in the trenches, so it goes without saying that the--to the best of my knowledge--dearth of reminiscences about eating cat would seem to suggest that it wasn't happening.

[centurion]

Hallo Centurion

I was under the impression that meat could never be truly guaranteed in the Front line trench,

nor the condition it arrived in.

Obviously, my case is based on the notion that men may have had to 'make their own provision'

for rations when cut off and in cases where they couldn't be reached by resupply, which is the

'emergency meat ration' aspect, while some other men may have actually savoured the taste

and therefore sought out cat meat as a delicacy. I'm uncertain which case you're resting.

Very best to you

As the meat came up tinned its condition was not a problem (except for the Americans and thats another story.A big problem on active sectors was cooking anything without drawing fire (and men ate cold bully and biscuit) - so unless men were eating raw cat .......

[At Home Dad]

Hallo Ken

It's my 'suggestion' and now perhaps I am seeking first hand accounts.

I gave an example of how a propaganda piece is equally as plausible

when it is looked at from a culinary rather than cuteness angle.

Going by my own intuition I know I would happily eat cooked catmeat

before considering eating anything much worse than cooked catmeat.

all the best

Hallo Centurion

"As the meat came up tinned its condition was not a problem. A big problem on active sectors was cooking anything without drawing fire (and men ate cold bully and biscuit) - so unless men were eating raw cat ......."

So cooking a cat wouldn't be inplausible in a quiet sector and the risk perhaps worth it when faced with the choice of

'yet another can of old bully' or some fresh and hot 'it tastes like chicken, just dont ask what it is' meat, pan fried with garlic.

'Quieter Sectors of the Front' are presumably where the majority of the posed publicity photographs with cats were taken?

Very best to you

[Kate Wills]

[quote name='At Home Dad' date='20 July 2010 - 02:16 PM' timestamp='1279631774' post='1444189'

I'm merely suggesting that more cats were kept as nosh than as pets. There were no (as yet) known 'Cat Concentration Camps'. There may even be a misunderstood euphemism out there, wrongly regarded to mean one thing when it in fact means quoffing catmeat. Who knows. It's interesting, though!

>> Within the particular battalion of my area of research, I would say that it's a fair judgement that more than half

the men wouldn't bat an eyelid to the eating of cat and, if regularily deprived of fresh chicken etc, would more than

likely happily tuck in. That's entirely down to where they came from and about how poor they were.

Equally, you could assist in our research by simply altering the subject line of the thread.

There may be some members out there who are ignoring this thread, thinking all that it

contains are images of monkeys in Service Dress and the like.

If you changed it to "Cats In The Trenches... eaten or not?" we both might find

that once thrown open to a wider readership the anecdotes come thick and fast.

Why should the thread title be changed?

I know threads take some interesting turns, but I doubt the starter envisaged the drift into theorising on matters culinary. Why not start your own thread on this subject, and perhaps we can discuss "supplies of fresh chicken". I'd be interested to hear how much fresh chicken was available in general, and to your battalion on active service. Chicken has only become an everyday meat in recent years. It was a feast food before WW2, and for a good while after.

However, that's a point for a new thread.

[Ken S.]

I gave an example of how a propaganda piece is equally as plausible

when it is looked at from a culinary rather than cuteness angle.

You're not seriously saying that the artist was subtly trying to convey that the soldiers on the front line were dining on cats? The whole point of the work was to give the general public a false and idealized representation of life in the trenches to assure them that all was okay. I'm sure that there are a number of different "plausible" explanations, but that doesn't necessarily make them correct--or sane for that matter. Just because you insist that it is "plausible" doesn't make it true.

Going by my own intuition I know I would happily eat cooked catmeat

before considering eating anything much worse than cooked catmeat.

Completely irrelevant.

[27thBN]

How about taking another look, through a different perspective, at one of those propaganda stories from the time?

From the link in Caryls post number 6:

"Cats are often to be found in the trenches. Some even penetrate into' the fire trenches. They are curiously unafraid of shell fire,

and love to bask in the sun on the edge of the parapets, and decline to be kept under cover.

One great, orange- coloured cat apparently led for a time a charmed life, for he hunted mice and birds among the wire entanglements

of No Man's Land, and frequently walked along the parapet to enjoy a scrap with the tabby oat next door. These two never met without

an exchange of opinions that would have done credit to a suburban back yard. When the scrap was over both cats retired to their own

portion of the trenches, each evidently considering that he had conquered the "foe." Neither of the two paid the least attention to the

sputter and whine of shell and bullet, but would sit and wash their faces and clean their fur with scrupulous care. If, however, a bullet

struck the parapet close at hand, and showered mud or sand over them, their indignation was extreme, and both would retreat into the

trench expressing their feelings by spitting fiercely and waving huge fluffy tails.

Alas, one day the great orange cat ventured too tar across No Man's Land, and a German bullet wounded him seriously. The poor cat

could not get back to his anxious friends in the trench, and lay out among the entanglements mewing sadly for help. When night came

a Tommy crawled out and brought in the wounded animal. A vet among the soldiers bound up the wounds and the orange cat was

nursed back to health and strength, in a tiny dug-out made specially for him, by the Tommies.

Strange to say his ancient enemy, the tabby cat next door, apparently missing the orange cart, came along the parapet to investigate,

and sat and cleaned himself on the orange cat's special sandbag. Now, the Tommies are wondering what will happen when the

orange cat recovers sufficiently to take an interest in life once more. They are expecting a terrific encounter between the two and

are already betting upon the result."

You can read much from that.

The "great, orange- coloured cat" was clearly very well fed - perhaps overfed?

It was wandering around No Man's Land. It must have been a 'quiet' time for it to go out there.

But, it is clearly such a coveted food prize, such a plump cat, that a German sniper cant resist

such a target and has a pop shot at it.

It was such a great food prize, perhaps intended to be eaten on a specific date, that a soldier

risked his life to bring back 'dinner'. The cat was pampered back to health, as 'happy cats are

tasty cats'.

The propaganda typically tells us that the Germans shoot cats while the English rescue them.

I'm suggesting that perhaps some men on both sides knowingly ate cats.

Even as the last line informs us: they loved betting on cat fights. They may even have been organised.

Clearly, not every soldier was happy stroking cats and some found better uses for them.

Well i liked the story very much ,the tommy going out to rescue him

Tony

[At Home Dad]

Hallo Kate

The secondary thread title change suggestion was only to make it more relevant.

I think 'Cats In The Trenches' is a great cover all, for all things 'cat', otherwise it

would have been better titled 'pets in the trenches'. I was merely suggesting a

slightly more accurate thread description.

as far as I'm aware, in my limited knowledge, fresh chicken and other fresh meats

were hard to come by in the trenches. That could be seen to add a 'plus point' to

the idea that some men had no problem with eating a cat.

Regarding the battalion of my research, I dont have any fresh chicken stories.

I do have a story of a 'fresh' cold turkey being sent to one of my Officers straight

from his fathers farm in Essex. It arrived and was laid as Christmas Dinner, 1917.

Unfortunately, the dugout was hit in shelling and the turkey was destroyed. Fortunately,

the Officer and his guests were away at the moment of impact.

If members would prefer to talk about this subject on a specific thread, I am more than

happy to do so if I am in some way preventing people from posting images of 'Cats in Hats'

on this thread. It would however be the third 'cats' thread this week.

Very best to you

Why should the thread title be changed?

I know threads take some interesting turns, but I doubt the starter envisaged the drift into theorising on matters culinary. Why not start your own thread on this subject, and perhaps we can discuss "supplies of fresh chicken". I'd be interested to hear how much fresh chicken was available in general, and to your battalion on active service. Chicken has only become an everyday meat in recent years. It was a feast food before WW2, and for a good while after.

However, that's a point for a new thread.

[At Home Dad]

Hallo Ken

If you're so sure that "there are a number of different "plausible" explanations" of

what the artist was conveying please be kind enough to propose them. It should

be simple enough.

Sadly, the story only fits in two scenarios: the fat ginger cat was either The Pet or The Nosh.

Both could be deemed worthy of a man risking his life for. Food is obviously the most likely,

especially when it's a delicious treat. I'd be interested to hear your different plausible explanations.

"The whole point of the work was to give the general public a false and idealized representation of life in the trenches to assure them that all was okay"

and to be sure they never knew that some men were happy to eat cat (as there was hardly any chicken or other hot fried fillets available).

My other response may well be "completely irrelevant", but I was actually responding directly

to a point you had previously made. The fact that you would presumably rather eat things 'worse

than cat' before you ever considered actually eating cat appears a bit silly.

Very best to you

You're not seriously saying that the artist was subtly trying to convey that the soldiers on the front line were dining on cats? The whole point of the work was to give the general public a false and idealized representation of life in the trenches to assure them that all was okay. I'm sure that there are a number of different "plausible" explanations, but that doesn't necessarily make them correct--or sane for that matter. Just because you insist that it is "plausible" doesn't make it true.

[janecavell]

the fat ginger cat was either The Pet or The Nosh. Both could be deemed worthy of a man risking his life for. Food is obviously the most likely, especially when it's a delicious treat.

A starving man would of course do anything for food. But we aren't talking about starving men. I can't see how anyone would risk their life for a 'delicious treat' (I love chocolate, but I wouldn't run across the M25 even for my favourite ones). That would just be crazy. It seems to me a much more likely explanation that the man was a compassionate one, moved by the cries of a wounded animal.

If, on the other hand, the ginger cat had been destined for the pot, why bother to nurse it back to health before eating it?

P.S. I would be interested to read about what was eaten in the trenches rather than what might have been eaten in the trenches. I have some info from a diary about what one man was eating 'somewhere in France'. I shall see if I can find one of those earlier threads to revive. Otherwise I'll start a new one.

[centurion]

"As the meat came up tinned its condition was not a problem. A big problem on active sectors was cooking anything without drawing fire (and men ate cold bully and biscuit) - so unless men were eating raw cat ......."

So cooking a cat wouldn't be inplausible in a quiet sector and the risk perhaps worth it when faced with the choice of

'yet another can of old bully' or some fresh and hot 'it tastes like chicken, just dont ask what it is' meat, pan fried with garlic.

'Quieter Sectors of the Front' are presumably where the majority of the posed publicity photographs with cats were taken?

This is getting silly. You have produced no evidence whatsoever that cats were eaten in the trenches in any scale. On the other hand there is plenty of historical evidence that cats when eaten anywhere were only done so in extreme situations. so show us your evidence not silly supposition in common terms put up or shut up

[At Home Dad]

quote name='poppy3'

<< I can't see how anyone would risk their life for a 'delicious treat' (I love chocolate, but I wouldn't

run across the M25 even for my favourite ones). That would just be crazy.

>> You're not in a War, missing the tatste of home, missing the smell of freshly fried meat,

nor born in a time when eating cat was quite acceptable in certain places to certain people.

I've seen quite a few 'crazy' things described done by some men in some trenches. Others speak of

how empty life was on the battlefields. If my life was full of blood, guts, artillery bombardments, friends

taken left and right without any rhyme or reason other than the fact that 'ces't la guerre', then I might

find myself doing something crazy - For example, if there was a single chance that a German was

about to pilfer my one opportunity of 'tasting' home. I might commit blatant murder if I'd been especially

looking forward to it for weeks and invested my own rations in it.

<< It seems to me a much more likely explanation that the man was a compassionate one, moved by the cries of a wounded animal.

>> Hearing the mews over a bombardment? Dodging known sniper activity? It's actually a more likely explanation

that the cat was a Champion Fighter in the organised cat fighting the soldier describes and that huge bets were

placed on him for an upcoming tournamount

Anyway

Not a very 'compassionate' man if he himself gets wounded, forcing his friends

to then come rescue him under fire for no reason other than 'that bloody cat'.

"What were you doing out there?"

"Rescuing a cat, Sir"

"Why?"

"It's a good friend to me"

"You compassionate fool, you're responsible for the deaths of two men"

<< If, on the other hand, the ginger cat had been destined for the pot, why bother to nurse it back to health before eating it?

"What were you doing out there?"

"Rescuing a cat, Sir"

"Why?"

"I've been internally flavouring it with rum, Sir and we had planned on

cooking it and the other cats for Sunday noshup. I wasn't going to let

the bloody Hun get my dinner, Sir"

"That's quite understandable. Shame about the men. Is the cat alright now?"

"Yes, Sir. We're nursing him back to health so as to keep the meat tender"

"Jolly good show. Save me a leg, wont you"

Very best regards