- ID
- cx155
- Title
- Back to Methusaleh on a Beefsteak
- Genre
- Essay
- Page Count
- 2
- Word Count
- 800
- Publisher
- Royal Air Force Journal
- Publication Year
- 1942
- Document Types
- Full-text Online
- Eads, Additions to
- Letters
A response to an article in the Royal Air Force Journal (August 22, 1942, pp. 1-2, attached) by George Bernard Shaw called "To Tokyo on Buttermilk."
Concerned about the diet of the bomber boys on the their long journeys to Germany, the RAF wanted to find a way to encourage them to eat more greens. Hector Bolitho, editor of the Royal Air Force Journal, asked George Bernard Shaw, a well know vegetarian, for his advice. Shaw advised the men to eat redcurrant jam sandwiches and buttermilk. Bolitho, who had been friends with H.E. for many years, asked him for a response. H.E.'s declares himself to be a 'beefsteak, onions and gravy man', and neither writer mention a single green vegetable.
The article by Bolitho appeared in the Texas Quarterly (11.1, 1968, pp. 100-112).
In the Royal Air Force Journal (September 19, 1942, p. 35, attached).