For example, would American soldiers ever smoke hash in North Africa?
Well, alcohol and caffeine are two other obvious answers, but I presume that you want to know of more unusual substances. Benzedrine, an amphetamine, was distributed to American servicemen, particularly pilots, during the war. The British, Germans, and Japanese used amphetamines as well:
The US military also supplied Benzedrine to servicemen during the war, mainly as 5-mg tablets, for routine use in aviation, as a general medical supply, and in emergency kits. The British military also supplied Benzedrine tablets during the war, and the German and Japanese military supplied methamphetamine. Of course, not all amphetamine supplied by the military was ingested by servicemen, nor did users ingest it ad libitum; there were rules limiting the drug’s use. However, these were not well observed. For instance, in a 1945 army survey of fighter pilots, of the 15% (13 of 85) who regularly used amphetamine in combat, the majority “made their own rules” and took Benzedrine whenever they “felt like it” rather than as directed.
hi! you may be interested in these earlier posts