Gulaschkanone

WWII German mobile field kitchen LKW AHN

To provide hot meals to Wehrmacht soldiers in the field, company kitchens were set up to prepare meals. Qualified cooks were in charge of these issues, who also used the services of assistants. The cooked food was distributed either directly into soldiers’ pots or into special large thermoses (for delivery to units located at a certain distance from the kitchen).  The Wehrmacht used field kitchens of several types: large kitchens for cooking for the number of soldiers from 125 to 225, or smaller kitchens for 60 to 125 people. They were transported either on a trailer behind cars or by a team of horses. They were also installed in the backs of trucks, such as the French-made AHN trucks in the Wehrmacht’s numerous fleet. Soldiers’ humour gave the field kitchens the name ‘Gulaschkanone’ (‘Goulash Cannon’).