Historical information

These biscuits were supposedly issued to Jacob Perry when he served in the Boer War in South Africa in 1899. Jacob Perry was a member of an early family in Orbost and these biscuits were donated by George Perry.
Hard tack biscuits were part of a soldier's individual ration in the Boer War and were so hard that they were often soaked in water before consumption if this was possible. Made of 13 parts flour to one part of water, the biscuits were slowly dried in the baking process, rendering them so hard that they deterred attacks from weevil pests and allowing them to be transported with little breakage.

Significance

Hard ration biscuits were a staple of soldier's diets. This item is an example of an early ration supplied to soldiers serving overseas.

Physical description

Three dry biscuits, hard tack, roughly rectangular shape and with 6 prick holes.