1948 Olympics: Americans arrive with steak and chops

The athletes descending on London for the 2012 Olympic Games are expected to consume over a million meals, and feeding them has been described as 'the biggest catering operation in peacetime' . But the last time London held the Olympics, in 1948, no such facilities were on offer. Britain was still in the grips of rationing, and although athlete's rations had been raised to the level of 'heavy industry workers' - the highest on the rationing scale, equivalent to 3,900 calories a day - the American team was taking no chances on their athletes' diets. The Manchester Guardian had previously reported on the supplies awaiting the Americans arrival, listing 2,400 eggs, 2,000 gallons of ice cream and announcing that 9,000 slices of fresh bread would be flown from New York to London every 48 hours.