Red Cross parcel refers to packages containing mostly food, tobacco and personal hygiene items sent by the International Association of the Red Cross to prisoners of war (POWs) during the First and Second World Wars, as well as at other times. It can also refer to medical parcels and so-called "release parcels" provided during the Second World War.
The Red Cross arranged them in accordance with the provisions of the Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War (1929). During the Second World War these packages augmented the often-meagre and deficient diets in the prisoner-of-war camps, contributing greatly to prisoner survival and an increase in morale. Modern Red Cross food parcels provide basic food and sanitary needs for persons affected by natural disasters, wars, political upheavals or similar events.
More recent catastrophes involving delivery of Red Cross parcels include events in Georgia, Thailand and Great Britain.
First World War
The Australian Red Cross reported dispatching a total of 395,695 food parcels and 36,339 clothing parcels to Allied POWs in Germany and Turkey during the course of the First World War. Food parcels were also sent to needy civilians in Belgium and France.
British PoWs during the First World War were supplied with food parcels by the British Central Prisoners of War Committee of the Joint War Organisation, the combined Red Cross and Order of St John. When the Central Powers refused to allow food to be sent to prisoners of war by the British government, the British Red Cross had stepped forward. Packages containing food and conveniences were sent fortnightly to POWs. Donations collected from the public for these parcels reached £674,908 19s 1d. A total of £5,145,458 16s 9d was spent. By the end of the war, some 9,000,000 food parcels and 800,000 clothing parcels had been despatched by various organisations to British prisoners abroad.
French POWs were required to pay for parcels sent to them through a French commission; these packages included potted chicken, various pâtés, and even bottled wine. Indigent French POWs could receive parcels with lower-quality food for free, from the "Vetement du Prisonnier" which liaised actively with the Croix-Rouge française.
New Zealand
New Zealand relatives had to buy parcels and were given a choice:
A - 4 shillings
1 Alp milk chocolate
1 condensed milk
1 cheese
1 block chocolate
2 packets tobacco
2 packets citrol
1 tin Liebig
Handkerchiefs or towel or sewing kit
B - 4 shillings
tea
1 condensed milk
sugar
1 jam
biscuits
1 block chocolate
6 Maggi soups
1 packet tobacco
1 pack cigarettes
C - 6 shillings
1 day shirt
1 vest
1 under drawers
1 pair socks
1 towel
2 handkerchiefs
1 toothbrush
1 toothpowder
1 washrag
1 soap
D - For invalids - 6 shillings
1 pound (450 g) condensed milk
1 pound (450 g) cocoa
1/2 pound (225 g) sugar
1 pound (450 g) Quaker Oats
1 pound (450 g) cod liver capsules
1 box extract of malt, Ovomaltine or "Mellins Food"
Relatives could send a specific parcel or a package made up of A & C or B & C
American
The American Red Cross commenced delivery of food parcels to American PoWs in German camps in November 1917. The first parcel received by a POW included the following items:
One pound (450 g) tin of corned beef
One pound (450 g) tin of roast beef
One pound (450 g) tin of salmon
Two pounds (900 g) of hash
One pound (450 g) of jam
One bar of soap
Four packages of tobacco
One overshirt
One undershirt
Two cans of pork and beans
One can each of tomatoes, corn and peas
One pair of drawers
Two pairs of socks
Three handkerchiefs
Two towels
One tube of toothpaste
Two pounds (900 g) of hard bread
of evaporated milk
One pound (450 g) of sugar
One-half (225 g) pound of coffee
One toothbrush, comb, shaving brush and "housewife" kit (sewing kit), plus shaving soap.