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By the end of May 1944, Southern England was a massive military base, housing nearly two million troops preparing for the invasion. Among them, 54,000 personnel worked solely on feeding and supplying soldiers, with around 4,500 dedicated entirely to cooking. This strategic focus on sustenance shifted the food quality dramatically. Accounts from soldiers reveal a stark contrast to the famously unappetizing meals of dry sandwiches and poor-quality ingredients they encountered prior. Instead, they indulged in well-cooked meals with steak, pork chops, and desserts like lemon meringue pie.
Troops experienced these luxuries behind barbed wire to ensure secrecy before the invasion, showcasing the importance of morale in the lead-up to D-Day.