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18 May 2015: What can a biscuit tell us about the First World War?

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Teaching Fellow Dr Rachel Duffett from the Department of Sociology has contributed to a stunning new exhibition exploring the relationship between food, creativity and conflict.

The First World War in Biscuits at The Minories in Colchester is inspired by the way ration biscuits were refashioned by frontline troops during the First World War and sent home to friends and family with personal messages.

Rather than being consumed, the biscuits were often creatively transformed into picture frames, postcards and canvases.

As well as being able to see examples of how these biscuits were crafted by soldiers, the exhibition provides an opportunity to hear historians talk about the army biscuit and the significance of food during the war.

Dr Duffett is the author of Stomach for Fighting: Food and Soldiers of the Great War which looks at the significant role food plays during times of conflict and reflects on the ration biscuits displayed in the exhibition.

Other contributors include Andrew Robertshaw, who wrote Feeding Tommy: Battlefield Recipes from the First World which provides an insight into how ration biscuits were used in cooking and David Bitton, author of Reading in the Great War which assesses the contributions biscuit manufacturer Huntley & Palmers made to the war effort.

Dr Duffett, and her Essex colleague Professor Michael Roper, are part of the Everyday Lives in War World War One Engagement Centre – part of a network of centres funded by the AHRC to help mark the War’s centenary.