Best and Worst Food

[SOSL]

What is the best and the worst food you have ever eaten at an air force managed or air force related catering facility of any kind.

For me the best would be the trout we had for lunch at 280 SU on Mt Olympus on the day the Command Catering Officer was doing his pre-AOC's inspection. Closely followed by the scotch pies and baked beans served at 4 a.m. at Leuchars during TACEVAL.

The worst - Brown Windsor soup in the studes mess at Cranwell.

I kind of hope to get some input from non-British PPruners on this one.

Rgds SOS

[Pontius Navigator]

The worst is easy:

Steak and Kidney pudding with rhubarb sauce.

It was in the No 2 mess at South Cerney. The food was all laid out and we queued to be served. To a goodly helping of S&K the cooks ladled out the rhubarb sauce.

Someone had mixed up the jugs.

The best?

Most of the meals in the aircrew feeder at Cottesmore.

[thing]

I remember the grub at Oerland was pretty good, as indeed was the accomodation. Under floor heating and the biggest room I ever stayed in.

Most stand out memory for me was walking into the Airmen's Mess at Coningsby one day during the hot summer of '76. There was an outstanding display of salmon and various other cold goodies on a set of tables that the chefs had set aside, it was a really stunning sight and they had obviously pulled out the stops. I wrote a memo to the mess WO to pass on my thanks to his team. Oddly enough a couple of years later I courted his daughter.

Edit: just remembered Watton where I was billeted while on the Bucc Q course at Honington. In the morning the chef used to ask us what we wanted for dinner. There must have been all of 15 of us living in there. Quite excellent. Also Belize, we actually lived on the dispersals in portacabins, not as bad as it sounds as it was away from the pongo main camp and air conditioned. Each dispersal of around 8 guys had it's own cook. That was pretty good too.

Can't really say I had any bad food experiences in the RAF. Other than the appaling white box of despair on trooping flights.

[smujsmith]

The finest food I ever sampled was the "Full English" in the crew feeder at Akrotiri during GW1. It's hard to describe how good a taste of home gets to you when you haven't seen wife, kids or country for three months. The worst was also the crew feeder Akrotiri, on my way back from a route to Malaysia. Long story, so won't diverge, just to say, an 8 hour trip on nothing but water was a bugger for the front end. For comfort food, nothing can be better than "babies heads" on exercise. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you missed a treat.

Smudge

PS, just read "things" post. The "Buttyboxes" served up on Alberts were certainly repulsive to most pax. But I could usually clean up their leftovers !!!!!:ok:

[Courtney Mil]

Ah, Smuj. Babies heads. Outstanding. Good call.

[Melchett01]

The best - the first time I had fresh food in nearly 4 months after living off MREs while on ops. I had to go to a meeting in the ACHQ and had a couple of mates working there whilst I was up in Baghdad and they had the decency to take me out for dinner in downtown Doha. To eat something that actually had a shelf life and not a half life was heavenly and did wonders for morale.

The worst - at the end of that same tour when we had to fly out of Basrah. The Movers were totally unprepared and the only food that was available was a half frozen box of those god-awful sausage rolls. You know the ones - if you sent them off to a lab for testing the results would come back as unidentified. Well not only was there not any food, but no facilities for defrosting the sausage rolls other than turning the barco boilers up to full and propping the sausage rolls up around the outside in the vague hope that you wouldn't shatter a tooth when you bit in to it. They say war is hell, that was the damned worst moment of entire war for me, certainly the one that carried most risk.

[goudie]

The worst mess food I ever experienced was in the airmen's mess at RAF Wahn
back in the mid '50's. They once served up brussel sprouts at breakfast!
The Rock-apes went on strike once, and refused to enter the mess. Sh!it, fan etc. but it didn't improve much. Payday treat was Pork chop mit kartoffel and egg in a local bar, also the Malcolm Club did a roaring trade in egg and chips.
The best food was in the airmen's mess at RAF Tengah in the mid '60's. The Sgt's mess food was pretty average but when on night flying duties everyone ate in the airmens mess... it was a banquet!

Other than the appalling white box of despair on trooping flights.
Amen to that!

Did anyone ever experience fried eggs that tasted of iodine? In Sharjah you would have.

[Ka6crpe]

The best: Hobsonville in New Zealand. It didn't get the name Hotel Hobsonville for nothing.

The worst: Airmans mess in Wigram after an extended days flying, when we discovered the army cooks were doing a stint on the airforce base.

[Baehr]

One one 'Mickey Finn' detachment to RAF Squittering in the late 1970's, the crews were brought home in a 52- seat coach which had been re-fitted with Elsans.

I've no idea what the food they ate tasted like (I was laughing about it from many miles away) but it was probably the worst food ever fed to V-Force Alert crews.

[smujsmith]

Just a second shot, does anyone remember the egg banjos in the NAAFI at Luqa, circa 1975 ? To die for.

Smudge

[Bill4a]

The worst thing I ever ate in the service was the breakfast bacon at Valley, it tasted like kippers, and the best was in Seletar airmens mess in the 60s, spoilt for choice and wonderful grub!
As for boxes of despair, I never had a problem clearing them up, nor the currys made up from the Rat Packs by the Gurkhas, but babies heads ................. drool!

I forgot to mention the egg banjos and Milo served at Pops tent at Kuching!

Feeling old going to bed! :}

[goudie]

does anyone remember the egg banjos

Ah! The ubiquitous egg banjo. Sustained the troops in days of Empire.
So called because, having bitten into it, one adopted a banjo playing stance, wiping the yoke from one's shirt front.
Apologies for 'granny suck eggs' etc.

[Airborne Aircrew]

The absolute worst ever food from a military mess was the Army camp I stayed on for my intelligence course for Pre-NI training on the southeast coast... The name eludes me right now probably due to the trauma, Ashford?... They even managed specks of blackened potato in the mashed potato... We took a taxi to town rather than eat the utter crap being served by the ration assassins...

[smujsmith]

goudie,

Crikey, after 40 something years I've just discovered where the term "egg banjo" comes from. Thanks for that, I will die a wiser man.

Another "super food" I will never forget was the "goulash" served in "Pops" in the corner of heroes square, Limmasol circa 1973/5. After a night of Brandy cokes, sours, etc a visit was mandatory to "settle the innards" before transport back to Akronelli.

Smudge

[Bill4a]

Thanks for that Goudie, it hadn't ocurred to me!

[Yeller_Gait]

The food served in the Canadian mess at Minhad was always good, especially the 'holiday' buffet meals. Had to limit myself to only one Ben and Jerrys per day though. Fortunately there was enough time for fitness that I could get away with eating all the good food.

Best air force in-flight was undoubtedly at Waddington, new menus every 6 months and sandwiches made to order each flight.

Y_G

[TomJoad]

Best - omletes in CHOM during IOT - maybe because we were so hungry we would have eaten a dog.

Worst - everything that followed:E Only joking caterers, never had any complaints about the food.

Tom

[Tashengurt]

Best, anything in the middle of the night during a stint in a sanger during an exercise. Babies heads, jock pies, that stew that every cook must learn at cook school. Loverly.
Worst; All the above at any other time!


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[Delta_Foxtrot]

Worst: any evening meal served in the Combined Mess at RAAF Williams (Laverton), Victoria, Australia since the civilian catering took over. Absolute rubbish.

Best: evening meals cooked to order in the RAAF Glenbrook OM. Amazing what a bit of care and consideration can produce!

[RequestPidgeons]

DF

best view, too!

:ok:

[Barksdale Boy]

The worst was a "Burrito de Luxe" at the Base Cafe, Nellis prior to a Red Flag sortie in 1979 - don't remember much about the trip.

The best was a barracuda steak for dinner in the mess at Masirah in 1973, caught locally that afternoon.

[mr Q]

Anyone remember the Friday Nepalese curry in HMS Tamar in Hong Kong ???

[airborne_artist]

Best:

A mutton hangi (http://www.maori.cl/Hangi.htm) overseen by a Fijian hooligan. It's technically a Maori cooking technique but I think it's used across the South Pacific. Ideal way to enjoy E and E instruction.

[MKIII]

The meals in Lashkar Gah were excellent, given the conditions under which they were produced.

The worst: the steak that I had recently at RAF Odiham, so tough that it was genuinely inedible.

[High_Expect]

Worst - Any of the c**p ISS serve up under this abortion of a contract they call pay as you dine.

Best - the food in the mess at Leuchars when I first arrived when it was full RAF catering. You could literally ask for anything you liked.

[FantomZorbin]

Best: Compo sausages anywhere.

Worst: RAF Northolt OM. At dinner requested the lamb chops from the menu. Presented with a plate with the smallest chop ever seen (lamb must have been only hours old!) and that was it!!! From waiter "Oh, did you want a vegetable with it?"

[Avionker]

All airmens messes,

Best:- Very close call between Kinloss and Brawdy, but Brawdy had a slight edge. Strangely enough the WO i/c the Kinloss mess had been the Flt Sgt in the mess at Brawdy when I was there. Unfortunately his name eludes me but he and his troops kept my stomach happy for many years.

Worst:- Fulton mess at Cosford. Huge queues, crap food and Discips lurking outside trying to ping people for anything they could.

[Wensleydale]

Best... the flying rations on the E-3D provided by Waddington in-flight during the 1990s. Superb quality and very tasty!

Worst... the flying rations on the E-3D provided by the Italian caterers during the detachments to Aviano during the 1990s. (The contract was terminated after a hygene check following several complaints).

[Wander00]

The BEST: Curry with 2/2GR at MPA/RAF Mount Pleasant

Nearly as good: Curry lunch every Wednesday at Worthy Down (well it had been and RAF, and RN, base in the past)

[OKOC]

We seem to have missed RAF Akronelli !!

Always, a great feast whenever the chefs did the evening barbeque outside: squeaky cheese, shish, liver, and the pork chop hewn from a pig related to the woolley mamouth. And washed down with brandy sour and Keo (and that lovely Cypriot red "wine" kokkinelli). Loverly.

[AGS Man]

Best
After a long day setting up Kingsfield airstrip Army Captain dispatched his driver for a bag of egg banjoes for us.
On Detatchment to RAF Hendon the Airmens Mess was superb.
Worst
RAF Swinderby or Sennybridge Barracks, eat out of mess tins then wash in single sink full of grease and scum.

[BEagle]

Worst - Officers' Mess White Waltham 1969-73 civvie catering....:yuk:

Best - Officers' Mess RAF Thorney Island 1970. Last of the 'old' RAF, with the most magnificent luncheon I've ever seen.

Closely followed by fillet steak at the Officers' Mess RAFU Goose Bay when we night stopped with the AOC. But this was before the 'duty free' saga.....:oh:

[4mastacker]

The absolute worst ever food from a military mess was the Army camp I stayed on for my intelligence course for Pre-NI training on the southeast coast... The name eludes me right now probably due to the trauma, Ashford?...

Could it be St Martin's Plain at Folkestone? Spent two days there, tried to eat the unidentified substance that was offered on arrival, then went to the nearby Tesco to get something edible for the rest of my stay.

[NutLoose]

Best

Bruggen. Omelette bar and barbecue and Q

Babies heads, Egg Banjos, compo sausage full English on exercise.

Brize, the sliced lamb kept in a hot like water tray

VC 10 Dulles burgers and meal served on return flight after engine change. Two pax (us) picked out own menu which was provided and even had beer.... Shhh :)


Worst

Odiham free fly eggs on ham salad, In fact most of the stuff they served, the only decent meal they tended to serve was the Christmas Dinner and most of that appeared to end up thrown in the direction of the Staish. Felt sorry for the cooks that had put a lot of time and effort into getting one meal a year right to see it thrown.
Though oddly enough stick them in a field kitchen and they were superb.

St Athans tea urn that was laced with laxative.


Worst ever I can remember a Steak and kidney pudding served with Chocolate sauce and a sponge cake served with Gravy, I kid you not, they couldn't even tell the difference themselves.

..

[goudie]

After the food, that was served up in the Scampton airmen's mess in the late '50's, it was an amazing experience to eat in the mess at Goose Bay... three eggs on steak for breakfast, fresh milk and orange juice. I'd never seen so much excellent food on offer on the servery.

[obnoxio f*ckwit]

Best:
RAF Aldergrove OM
Yeovilton Wardroom Tuesday(?) curry lunch.

Winner: anything produced by MCSU at Prilep in Macedonia in 99. Showed what can be done even on a field kitchen if you take a bit of pride in your work.

Worst:

Swinderby OM
Henlow OM under PAYD

Winner: the cookhouse in the SH site in Basra 04. Unmitigated slop. Spaghetti, on the servery, in its cooking water, for an hour, "to keep it warm Sir". "Coronation chicken" rolls for lunch: one slice of processed chicken slice in a dry stale bun with a dollop of yellowy mayo. Delicious. The Pizza Hut van and the kebab hut at the main site did a roaring trade.

[Pontius Navigator]

half frozen box of those god-awful sausage rolls. You know the ones - if you sent them off to a lab for testing the results would come back as unidentified.

You mean the pre-digested frozen turds?

[Saint Jack]

Absolutely agree with Bill4a (Post #11) the best was the Airman's Mess at West Camp, RAF Seletar - but only West Camp, the East Camp Mess didn't quite match-up. Still think of it often, an equivalent spread at a restaurant today would cost a fortune.

[alisoncc]

One of the best: square sausages (out of can), baked beans and bread toasted over a campfire on one of our regular bundo bashing trips out of RAF Sharjah in '66. Also breakfast in the mess at RAF Finningley after a night on QRA/ORP. The catering guys would really turn it on for us. They would serve us a FULL English breakfast in every meaning of the words, there was nothing lacking.

[A and C]

The best traditional British fish & chips I have ever eaten ( and I have amassed considerable data base ) was served at RAF Larrbruch by the field kitchen during one of the flying club rally's.

The quality of the fish was of the very finest order !

[Wetstart Dryrun]

I think you have to earn food to really enjoy it.

Item 3 on a Harrier field deployment menu...

1. Sausages

2. No sausages

3. All-in-Stew. (may contain sausages)

wets

[Basil]

Following a very good dinner in (one of) the Changi mess we'd take ourselves off to Changi Village for satays/prawn fried rice and beer at Lim's stall.
Hungry little sods we were in our twenties!

Us: "Hey, Lim, why are you eating with a spoon?"
Lim: "Businessman, no time for chopsticks!" :p

Digressing slightly; some of the best food I had in my twenties was in the Merchant Navy (Elders & Fyffes).

[cliver029]

....I will go with that food at Tengah was always good, and further to that I would challenge anyone to serve me a Nasi Goring that would be better that that prepared by the local chefs who covered the weekend detail, I have been trying since the mid sixties to find one and no luck to this date, any offers?:ok:

[Dan Gerous]

Best JR Mess, Kinloss and Wattisham,(and I hated my posting to Wattisham). Also, a very honourable mention to the soup and sandwich kitchen at Stanley 82-83.

Best RAF cooked meals were at the Williamson site in Belize during an exercise in 84. We had the RAF cooks over from the APC mess, and the food was outstanding.

I really didn't like the baby heads or the compo sausages. I would eat the sausages, but I only partially ate a baby's head once, never again!

[500N]

I've seen "baby heads" mentioned a couple of times.

What may I ask are "baby heads" ?

[dagama]

Best: Full fry-up in the middle of the night served up by Mobile catering Sqn at Widiwaki airfield Ascension, prior to 26 to 28-hr flights during Op Corporate. During flt, it was pot noodles and dry rations though Andy did rustle up a steak.

Worst: Boiled chicken with some turmeric added to masquerade it as a curry with boiled rice.Served only once at RAF Hullavington because a teach-in of the kitchen staff was conducted!

[ExRAFRadar]

I think they were the tasty Steak and kidney puddings with soft pastry

I seem to recall Stanmore mess being very good in the middle 80's.

First taste of Venison was from a Scottish chef at Spadeadam who turned a deer we had hit with a sherpa into a nice stew.

[Delta_Foxtrot]

RequestPidgeons, concur re the view, and I had the great fortune to have an identical view from my suite at the other end of the floor. You watch, now the word is out they will sell it! :D :ugh:

[Avionker]

I've seen "baby heads" mentioned a couple of times.

What may I ask are "baby heads" ?

The kidney, in Steak and Kidney pudding. Horrible stuff, straight from Satan's bum in my opinion.

[mad_jock]

Baby's heads came from the old tinned 10 man rat packs and were steak and kidney puddings which when you cooked them the pastry looked like a babys head.

They weren't so bad when they were done in a field kitchen but if you heated them in a mess tin they were barfing.

What I want to know is where all the chicken curry in a tin rat packs went. Menu C?

Never saw one ever.

Did like the fruit cake though. Found a 20 year old tin of it last year and it was still as good as I remembered it.

[Wander00]

Nasi Goreng - I'm OK - Dutch/Indonnesian neighbours. Makes up for not being able to get an "Indian" in our part of France

[NutLoose]

It wasn't pastry as such, it was suet they were wrapped in, Frey Bentos do them in small or large tins and microwave in about 30 seconds.

See

Baxters - Fray Bentos 'Classic' Steak and Kidney Pudding (http://www.baxters.com/product/fray-bentos-classic-steak-and-kidney-pudding)


..

[Wander00]

Cannot get the puddings but local supermarket (Super-U) does FB S&K pies in a tin

[NutLoose]

Did like the fruit cake though. Found a 20 year old tin of it last year and it was still as good as I remembered it.

Ye Gods, it was probably 30 years old before it was issued to you.

[cuefaye]

Pretty good in the RAF Club :)

[MPN11]

Best:
Watton OM (concur with thing in Post #3) … Mr Thurston used to drum up some lovely meals, to order. Especially when the PMC came in from the disused airfield with assorted "fur and feather", and Mr T would drum up a Game Casserole for the tiny living-in community.
And the trays of hot food delivered at around 1830 during Happy Hour, to ensure you could sustain your drinking for another 4 hours of so.

Tengah OM for the Nasi Goreng and an endless variety of delicious meals. And the steak sarnies at lunchtime on the terrace.

Worst:
Uxbridge OM, especially the soup. Monday was Spring Vegetable, and then through the week it was 'augmented' by assorted leftovers. By Thursday you could taste the remains of the week's gravy. And the ability to serve inappropriate vegetables: Plaice fillets with Roast Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts just seemed so wrong. (And the inability to get breakfast orders correct, although the morning rush to MoD did put them under a lot of pressure, so I guess they get a marginal pass on that one).

Honourable Mention
Waddington OM, for baking its own bread and rolls.

[BANANASBANANAS]

Worst would be the Officers Mess for us student pilots at Cranwell in 1981-82. Best is difficult to choose from but Honington, Brize and Farnborough were all superb.

[Genstabler]

My most memorable meal in uniform was in about 1968 on exercise in Germany. We had a covert role which meant we had to carry a weeks rations on us, ie rice and nuts, not even curry powder as the smell could give us away. At ENDEX we were starving and exhausted, moved into a barn and the German farmer's wife sold us one of her chickens which she pot roasted in gravy with potatoes and garlic. Still drool when I think of it.

My father always said his most memorable meal in uniform, sort of, was in Burma in 1944 when they casseroled a Japanese guard's dog in a bucket. Saved his life and he has had a soft spot for Labradors ever since.

[cuefaye]

Not perhaps the best, but certainly very memorable, was my introduction to curry every Sunday lunch in the O/Mess at Khormaksar. A yellow chicken concoction served in a very large bowl and plonked centre-table, with plain rice and peanuts - delicious, and cooked by Somalis I think. Washed down with copious Amstel. Then down to Tarshyne beach club for poon-hunting ---

[Dan Winterland]

Best. Armee de l'Air Officers Mess Istres. Free wine with lunch as well (but no flying after!).

Worst: Army camp somewhere on Salisbury plain. Chefs were infantrymen detailed at short notice. All they had to do was open compo and heat the contents, but they couldn't even manage that.

[Basil]

Did like the fruit cake though. Found a 20 year old tin of it last year and it was still as good as I remembered it.

Around 1959, on TA exercise, we'd a jam roly-poly canned in 1939. Astonishing to have survived the war. Not v good but we were hungry teenagers :}

[cuefaye]

Best. Armee de l'Air Officers Mess Istres. Free wine with lunch as well (but
no flying after!).


Diverted there with my sick navigator who was taken to sick-quarters for treatment whilst I was taken to the Mess for a fine lunch with three or four reds. Low level transit to Deci later that afternoon was a mellow affair.

[NutLoose]

Ahhhh Deci and the evil Deci Red.

[mad_jock]

Ye Gods, it was probably 30 years old before it was issued to you.

That was mentioned post eating it with the phrase from an ex opo

"I hope to :mad: this :mad: doesn't have almonds in it otherwise we are :mad:"

Which did cause quite a bit of concern an ex-recce mech showing that level of general knowledge. We were relieved though to find he still only tied his boots with one lace and when asked what was the next month after June he had to think about it for a bit and use his fingers. So life returned to normal.

There was a can of cheese possessed as well but none of us really wanted to revisit that experience.

[NutLoose]

I still have a tin of marge and sugar lol

[mad_jock]

bet you didn't keep any of that bog paper

[NutLoose]

The only Government white paper worth a shhhhht

What was it. fold in 4, tear off corner, put finger through to scoop, then use torn off corner to clean nail.

..

[Lockstock]

Worst - Any 'Minute Steak' served in messes at weekends, just when you need a good tasty fillet to soak up the previous night's session. You'd be better removing the sole of your post-gym trainers and grilling it.

Best - good call by Smuj.. can't beat the good old Akt feeder breakfasts. As mush as you can eat, served by the lady who wore a little too much make-up.

[dallas]

Best: Herc captain Keith R***** phones me at Goose Bay Ops and asks if I want anything bringing out. I chance my arm and say I'd love an Indian takeaway. Keith very kindly goes to his local, gets a meal, freezes it and next day puts in on the ramp of his C130 for the 7ish hour transit. Was the best Indian I'd ever had and there were some very envious permies in the block that night. I think this was the same Keith who left a slab of beer under my desk at LYE - top bloke :ok:

[langleybaston]

an out-of-[box]body experience whilst roughing it as SMeto 1BR Corps on exercise "somewhere on the German Plain" c. 1975.

Met.shared a box body with Int, and a second one, leapfrogging, was Int sharing with Met. 2 met men, 2 Int.

After a whole night masked up inside the box body, with CS being tossed around by deranged intruders, to emerge foul and blinking at Endex and find:

A MESS TENT WITH CHAIRS AND TABLES, WHITE LINEN, SOME TABLE SILVER, FRESH BAKED BREAD AND ROLLS, AND A FULL ENGLISH.

The army explained that catering on deployment was a necessary skill, which needed to be demonstrated on exercise.

Amen. That's style for you.

[langleybaston]

another good one:

Families' Sunday Lunch RAF Mess JHQ 1990s ...............

Jazz [Trad Jazz!] on the patio with self-serve curries.

Could walk/ weave/ stagger to the Quarter afterwards.

Bikes NOT a good idea, because if done for drink/drive on bike, car driving licence revoked. True. German law apparently.

[ian16th]

Best. Armee de l'Air Officers Mess Istres. Free wine with lunch as well (but no flying after!).We plebs got free wine with both lunch and dinner at Istres!

Where we ate was a sort of Transit Hotel.

I was posted there for my 1st overseas tour, Sept 57, quite an education for a 20 year old :ok:

It was a tough life, but someone had to do it.

[thing]

My father always said his most memorable meal in uniform, sort of, was in Burma in 1944 when they casseroled a Japanese guard's dog in a bucket. Saved his life and he has had a soft spot for Labradors ever since.

:) must be the funniest thing I've ever read on this forum! Genius.

I'd forgotten Harrier deployment meals. And they should remain thus.

[sled dog]

Concur with Basil post # 42 ref Lim`s. Was`nt he at Bedok Corner ? Also RAAF Butterworth early / mid 60s. Steaks etc for breakfast. Cannot really remember any bad feed, but some must have come close.

[sisemen]

The pancakes served for lunch in the Cadets Mess at OCTU Henlow were pretty special.

I was so impressed I asked for the recipe. It started off something along the lines of: Take 50 eggs, 16lbs plain flour.......

[Courtney Mil]

I can offer you the funniest. Preparing to transit 2 x F4 from Conningsby to ASI, junior nav was despatched to the OM to collect the packed meals for the 8-9 hour transit. Returned bearing 4 white boxes, a 2 litre fanta bottle filled with weak orange squash and 4 PLASTIC CUPS!!!! :ugh:

[OldnDaft]

Most welcome grub was when MCSU arrived at Ali Al Salem. After a Bangladeshi diet of curried veg, boiled rice and boiled chicken the first MCSU meal prepared by Wally and his gang was delightful - chicken and mushroom pie, boiled pots and veg. Apple crumble and custard to follow.

Living in at Spadeadam was wonderful too - order daily and it was cooked and served as you walked through the door.

Worst has to be, by a significant distance, Catterick. Regularly served compo rations because the Mess had run out of money again and everything boiled to within an inch of it's life. Disgusting.

[Agaricus bisporus]

Best;

The salad bar in the Junior Gunroom at BRNC

The potmess brought up to our cabins at Seafield Park after 10 whole days on Aircrew Survival Course with just one mars bar and a third of a rabbit to eat.

Compo biscuits with pate and biscuits AB. Oatmeal block. In fact most of the old tinned compo was good when starving and cold.

Second Officer D******'s tits.

Worst?

Bagrats with those "sausage rolls" that coat the roof of your mouth with congealed grease and sandwiches with margarine and rubber cheese.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

Best: RAF 34' yacht moored in Stavanger harbour. Trawler moors up next door - duty 'mother' buys fresh prawns caught 30 mins before & lightly fries them in butter with a hint of garlic for our lunch - washed down with a nice Chablis.

Worst: the fabulous free range breakfast bacon fried, quite deliberately, upwind of us by our Aircrew Survival instructors, for 3 starving days in a row. You utter, utter bastards! :mad:

[wub]

Airmen's Mess at Machrihanish was excellent. Food cooked to order by people who cared.

Combined Mess at Nordhorn was also very good.

OM at Akronelli did great BBQs

Worst was definitely any Brown Job mess. I recall that in contrast to RAF catering, everything the Army served was brown and dished up with a ladle.

Slightly OT but 280 SU Olympus was mentioned, it was a good mess, lots of fresh fruit. On one GOC Annual Inspection of 259 Signals Regt detachment, the GOC asked a Signalman at lunch if he had any complaints, "Yessir" came the reply. Cue embarrassed shuffling by OC mountain Troop and the Staish (H***y W****y). "Well?" Asked GOC, "My greatcoat doesn't fit" came the reply.

[NutLoose]

I forgot to add the Conscripts " Restaurant " at Jever, I use the word Restaurant in a sparing sense, love pickled cabbage and meatballs 24/7 and you had it made, otherwise avoid like the plague.




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[Rosevidney1]

At the aircrew hotel USAF Rein-Main - their incomparable Hoagy (sp?) rolls. Hot roast beef in a long slightly crusty bun. ;)

[Gericault]

Best - The Officers' Mess lunches at Cazaux in France, followed by a cup of coffee walking on the beach by the lake.:cool:
Worst - the canteen underneath the French MOD in Paris - mostly inedible slop, suprisingly.:yuk:

[goudie]

A good catering story was related to me by a work colleague who had been a captain in the army. Stationed, in the '60's, near Ipoh, Malaysia he was in charge of messing for the small unit
During the annual inspection by 'the brass' from Singapore he was asked how he sourced the fresh vegetables. ''Simple'', he replied, ''I give Wong, the Chinese cook 20 dollars, he goes off to market and buys them there.''
''What!'' Cried a staff officer, ''you give army funds to a native?''. ''In future your sergeant is carry out this purchase.''
Next morning the sergeant is duly dispatched to market with 20 dollars and returns with about one third of the quantity of veg Wong would had bought.
Next morning Wong is given 20 dollars....

[smujsmith]

After 6 weeks of 6 days a week Albert operations in GW1, the most beautiful breakfast above the planet, an ACC out of Akrotiri, homeward bound. After weeks of beef bacon etc getting back to a real meal was a bonus. Was an ACC available on all aircraft out of Akrotiri , Lyneham, Brize ?

Smudge

[ExAscoteer]

Worst would be the Officers Mess for us student pilots at Cranwell in 1981-82.

Trenchard Hall Officers' Mess was no better when I went through a few years later. It was run by Living Out Instructors (mainly Stackers) for their own benefit (certainly not for the benefit of the Living In Students)! It was, by far, the worst Mess I ever stayed in bar none.

Apparently it is now the Sgts' Mess at Cranwell.

ISTR that the Mess Manager was done for theft - basically pocketing catering funds and buying in food barely fit for human consumption.

I'll never forget a certain Ulsterman, G******y M*****h (who later went Helos) who used to get wound up over the 'Minute Steaks' (which were so bad you could have soled DMS boots with them). He had repeatedly complained about them in the Messing Suggestions Book and was repeatedly assured by the Messing Member that there was 'No Evidence' as to the in-edibility of said steaks.

One evening we came down to Dinner, the choice was Plaice Meuniere or Steak. I had fish, G ordered the steak. When it arrived he bit into it and almost immediately went bright red, with steam seemingly coming from his ears.

"Right!", he announced in his broad Ulster accent. He then stood up and marched out of the Dining Room with his plate.

We later found out he had stapled the offending steak into the Messing Suggestions Book with the immortal words: "Here's your bloody evidence!"


He ended up with a weeks Orderly Officer but it was worth it if only for the comedy value!


Best Mess for me was undoubtedly Lyneham - Thursdays they did Crepe Suzette flambeed at table.

[TomJoad]

We later found out he had stapled the offending steak into the Messing Suggestions Book with the immortal words: "Here's your bloody evidence!"



Absolutley brilliant - I would like to buy that man a drink:D:D:D:D

[obnoxio f*ckwit]

Ah, Trenchard Hall OM! Bane of baby pilots arriving back at Cranwell.

Returning there after attending Happy Hour in York House Mess to be met by the PMC who wished to know why, as THOM was our mess, why we didn't go to Happy Hour there on a Friday instead. "Can we wear our flying suits?", "Er, no..". "well when we can, we'll come to Happy Hour".

Never did go, unsurprisingly.

Sorry, bit of thread drift there. Food was crap too.

[ExAscoteer]

When I became an Instructor at Cranditz (living in York House Mess), for a laugh a couple of us wandered down to T.H.O.M on a Friday for Happy Hour.

It was just as ****e in the late '90s as it had been in the '80s.

Bloody place should have been bulldozed!

[SOSL]

Some good ones:

Crayfish Thermidor with Caesar salad, at Salalah in 1974. Only thing was you had to catch the crayfish yourself. We used to take a short wheelbase out to Raysut, snorkel and flippers and sharpened curtain rails until we had enough of the beasts to make it worthwhile.

Engineers' chips, Friday lunchtime, 1981/3, at Church Fenton. Proper chips they were.

Episkopi 1983/86 lived in MQ but ate in the mess from time to time, good food but not spectacular. The best was the Souvlakia and salad in pitta, from the stall in Dodge City.

Dining in night (1989) in the wooden Dad's Army mess at Blandford, fantastic grub. For the first and only time in my career I found that I had to ask the PMC to excuse me for a moment. When I returned to the table my chair had been replaced with a milk crate. Spent the rest of the meal with my chin about 1/2 inch above my plate,

Full English breakfast at Bentley Priory was a great experience when I stayed there in 1997.

Breakfast in the RAF Club is also way up there.

On the other hand, in 1970, we were off to stay at the USAF Academy, Colorado Springs, flying from Waddington in a Britannia, we eventually reached New York (Dulles), via Goose Bay, where we were issued with USAF in flight meals to keep us going to Colorado Springs. Words fail me, it wasn't just bad but I didn't have a tin opener with me!

Rgds SOS

[dragartist]

I'm with Gericault. Spent a week at Cazaux doing some stuff. We arrived too late for dinner the first night so headed off to town. Well I just did not believe how many small legs some chickens had. A cross between a chicken and centipede. The rest of the week we ate like Lords in the mess. They put on a special bash for us the last lunch time which went on all afternoon.

The worst has got to have been some kind of Pie in the mess at Wyton. never did find out what was in it.

Lyenham was good. I lived in at Brize for a year. Cold Beef and chips with HP source did me at lunchtime back in 90s. I tried same a few year back it was bloody awful. Mac the knife had sliced the beef at some supermarket. The source was some terrible sachet.

[Always a Sapper]

Ahh, Baby's Heads...

Best from the 'larger' can as found in the 4 or 10 man rat packs (you got a much smaller one in the 24hr rat pack).

Place can (sealed) on it's end in a mess tin of boiling water, heat until the end 'pops' out. Then remove from the water, point in a safe direction (normally towards some poor unsuspecting victim) and pierce with a tool of choice... the marlin spike on a jacknife RE was pretty good...

Allow pressure to vent and then remove both ends of the tin. Now push the mess in the tin halfway out and using the end of the tin as a guide neatly slice in half and place it on the plate, open end up, push the remaining half out and place on plate in a similar manner. Dress it appropriately with ketchup.

It looks just like a sliced open baby's head, even better with ketchup dripping down the side ;) hence the name.


Also good was the stewed steak, I used to make a brill cottage pie with it when out sailing, served up piping hot at midnight, kept the cold out and the duty watch awake.

[smujsmith]

Ahh Sapper,

Obviously a chef of High caliber. I wish I'd been in service with you !!!!

Smudge:ok:

[Sandy Parts]

Tops - Bacon (with hint of fish 'cos that is what the pigs were fed on!) and Halloumi cheese roll in Lady Ell's, Akrotiri. Great for the hangover. The lunchtime salad buffet in the OM there was also a treat (while it was under RAF catering supervision that is). Plus of course any food from the Inflight supplies after hours of chucking buoys into launchers while the nav attempted to empty them just as fast!

[KG86]

GW1, Saudi Arabia:

Christmas Day, 1990, after planning solidly for 3 weeks, decide we will have a 'run ashore' for a Christmas Lunch. Drove 40 miles to the nearest town, Dammam, to find it closed! Eventually find the only cafe open in town, a taxi-driver's greasy spoon. With very low expectations, we went in.

My Army colleague, in his best Arabic, ordered 4 cokes and 4 kebabs. While waiting, we noted the less-than-clean taxi drivers wolfing down their food, throwing chicken bones over their shoulders. Expectations lowered further.

The meal arrived over the next hour. A starter of soup (some sort of delicious broth), main course of a large roast chicken with lashing of vegetables each, unlimited glasses of coke, finished off with home-made biscuits and sweet tea. All superb. The bill came to the equivalent of £6.

A most unusual, but surprisingly good, Christmas Lunch, and a welcome change from the appalling MREs we normally had.

[SOSL]

Hi guys and gals. I've just had a brain burp about stuff I must have forgotten years ago but now comes to mind (that's what PPrune does to you).

Leuchars - 1976. I worked in the mechanical engineering and supply centre (MESC) along with my supply oppos and the rigger Flight Sgt and the Rolls Royce rep (Br*** E****) .

I wonder what they call the MESC now (the building is still there on Google Earth).

OC SCAF had an office just down the corridor, he had a place in Guardbridge and invited me and my fiancée for dinner.

It was the best Italian meal cooked by an Englishman that I can remember. Very simple; tomatoes, onion, garlic (and more garlic), oregano, veal meat balls, fresh pasta (fusilli IIRC, from a deli in St Andrews) and then Tiramisu (I Know Tiramisu is old hat these days but in 1976 in Scotland it was cutting edge and it was delicious).

But later, in late spring the boys and girls from the Survival Equipment Section organized a barbecue. There was a clearing by the Tentsmuir sands and we had to transport ourselves and all the gear (including disco kit) through the Tentsmuir forest to the clearing by the beach.

Set everything up and got on with the party. 37 years later, I still remember that evening - the food was fantastic the camaraderie was intense and mucking about on the beach was so much fun.

Rgds SOS

[L J R]

Red Flag - Nellis 'Killer' Burrito for breakfast between brief and 'step'...You can figure whether it was the best or worst feed!...it is all a function of what time you retired on the night prior and whether there was food involved in the preceding 12 hours!

[Saintsman]

On exercise when we had no milk. Catering made their own by diluting a can of evap with water. :uhoh:

I also recall at Leuchars in the mid 70s, a huge menu made up of sausage. Grilled sausage, fried, braised, toad in the hole etc. You couldn't complain that we weren't given a choice.

But a mess curry, always something to be enjoyed.

[MPN11]

Saintsman ... At Stanley in 83, the ATCOs established a relationship with the officers on the floating fridge (the Blue Star refrigerated supply ship) and were able to acquire slabs of long-life milk which were technically time-expired and thus untouchable by the caterers. Accordingly, ATC had perfectly serviceable milk, whilst others used Compo.

Quite stimulating climbing the Jacobs Ladder down the side of a bloody great ship with a 24-pint slab tucked under your arm, before getting into an RM fast-thing back to the jetty!!

[mad_jock]

When I joined the green lot us youngsters had a full cream milk allowance.

And one camp we got to talking in the pub with a local farmer about it and the fact that we never got it, next day he turned up with 200ltrs of chilled unpasteurised milk. Which tasted lovely.

As he did every day for 4 weeks. We were drinking a pint of it with every meal youngster or not.

We thought this was particularly nice of the bloke until one of the farming lads just laughed and said its spring he will be saving himself a fortune in over quota fines.

To be honest anything they fed us that camp was the best food ever. Its amazing how many fussy eaters (myself included) changed what they would and wouldn't eat getting up at 5am every day and not stopping moving until 6pm you could have told me we were eating horse meat and brussel sprout stew and I would have turned up with my mess tin lined with bread and eaten the lot and kept my eye out for seconds.

[ian16th]

When the 16th Entry of Boy Entrants were inducted, 22 May 1952, we handed in our Ration Books!

It took some time to accept the size of the meals that we received.

Then there was the matter that in the NAAFI we could buy sweets and chocolates without coupons!

Thing was, on 10/- a week, we couldn't afford any :bored:

[langleybaston]

I might have recalled this before, but its worth another iteration.

Met Office Leeming and also Topcliffe, 0500 hours, autumn routine, mid 1960s.

Observer, having sent off the 0500 ob. carts off over the airfield and returns with great bag of 1 minute old mushrooms. Perfunctory rinse.

Meanwhile LB has frying pan on, and coffee brewing.
Fried egg, bacon, tomato, mushrooms , buttered toast and coffee for two in SMetO's office at 0515. No tablecloth and candles but ................. !

Brief weathership/ duty pilot c. 0600, him probably subsisting on tea and toast or indeed fresh air.

I got the impression my audience was somewhat distracted.

[Busta]

The aircrew feeders at Scampton and Waddington were brilliant.
The pilots kitchen at Jever provided exactly what we needed.
The small Q shed kitchen at Wattisham was particularly good on the mornings when the firecrews kindly left us freshly gathered field mushrooms.

Nothing matters very much, most things don't matter at all.

[MPN11]

The small Q shed kitchen at Wattisham was particularly good on the mornings when the firecrews kindly left us freshly gathered field mushrooms.

Danny42C may recall directing the Fire Crew by radio at Strubby in the 60s to collect mushrooms the size of dinner plates. We did, a few years later. :)

[Burnie5204]

Its a bit of a toss up for me amd I cant decide

Cranwell Sgts Breakfasts
Coningsby Airmans Steaks
Waddington Sgts Steak and Kidney Pie
Halton Main Airmans Chow Mein

[NutLoose]

Quite stimulating climbing the Jacobs Ladder down the side of a bloody great ship with a 24-pint slab tucked under your arm, before getting into an RM fast-thing back to the jetty!!

Still better than GW an old long lost friend, who clambered down the said ladder and then stepped off the Atlantic Conveyor into the sea to go for a paddle, made even more incredulous by the fact he couldn't swim a stroke.



..

[MG]

A few years ago, I used to go twice a year on exercise at St Mawgan.
Worst food - any meal in the Mess there.
Best food - the food in the mobile kitchen in the HAS site just up the road that had been set up for the troops.

We used to try any opportunity or excuse to eat in the HAS but were firmly told 'you're living in the Mess, you're eating in the Mess!'.

[smujsmith]

I remember doing a trip with some "bits" that needed servicing at Alamagordo, and we night stopped Albuquerque. Breakfast in the early morning at the Mall accross the car park from the hotel (at Co pilots recommendation) was two of the biggest Chilli dogs I have ever sat in front of, with what seemed a bucket of Coke. Hot, damn hot, and a change from the usual fare of a Brit. ISTR that about two hours outbound I committed the GEs greatest sin. I used the elsan, "el ringus stingus" was painfully in evidence. Never had the urge for such a breakfast since then.

Smudge :ok:

[Always a Sapper]

Leuchars, mid 90's

Main mess, did a good line in trays of exceedingly nice hand made cakes that never got involved in any form of 'work order' upgrade negotiations that might have taken place when a routine work order may have become a priority or even a gold plated urgent work order thingy when head slop may have mentioned blackfriars... :E

Same place, same time... The feeder out on the 111 Has Site, the chef used to raid the main mess for spices and other cheffy type goodies and really knew how to use them. Did a nice line in things chicken, amazing in fact just what he could do with a chicken... :E

Same place, same time... The feeder on the 43 Has Site, somehow chicken just wasnt the same in there.... :suspect:



On scheme, picture... It's wet... your cold... the snow has changed from snowstorm to f*k me it's a blizzard proportions and to cap it all everyones very tired having been up 3 days solid doing bridge gallops and chucking in the odd tactical minefield for good measure...

You return from the days activities to find the 'chef' (Section 432 Driver in his day job) has done a full service on the pack and managed to make dinner from a 10 man rat pack all at the same time...

The rat pack got opened and tipped into a steel washing bowl (everything less the tea bags, coffee and sweets) enough water was then chucked in to make it sloppy and give a sort of stew effect and the whole sorry mess then boiled up for 1/2 an hour while being stirred with spanner/ladle/screwdriver (in fact, whatever comes to hand tbh)...

Amazingly, it tastes brill and was the way the RE's cooked as a section/troop when in the field

[dmussen]

cliver029,
Tis indeed a small world. There was a cook at Church Fenton in 1971 who had been posted back to the old country from Tengah (when 74 Packed up I think). His Nasi Goring was to die for. Many of we students ordered it fresh on a daily basis. Had to be the same guy. I have never tasted a better one.:ok:

My worst was in the "Greasy Spoon" at Valley a few years later.
It was called "steak". It was black and could not be cut with a steak knife.
I didn't actually taste it for fear of losing teeth.:uhoh:

[Wensleydale]

The Heritage Centre at Waddington has recently laid hands upon the Messing Suggestions Book from 1960! The staff have not had much time to digest most of the information, but a quick glance through revealed that one of the complaints was about the standard and paucity of the breakfast cereals... the reply apologised and gave a long standing strike at the Kelloggs factory as an excuse.

[boswell bear]

Worst:

Anything at Linton on Ouse at the moment, though the lunchtime reheating of the unused breakfast bacon/sausage on a Pizza is pretty rank!

Best:

Now let me think . . . . .

[mad_jock]

Sapper you forgot to mention that the steel bowl was placed on an engine block or exhaust to cook it with the engine running.

Initially I thought I was having my leg pulled with the engine cooking storys.

Until I was I saw a foden chicken dinner being cooked during a 6 hour convoy to exercise. It was brilliant. And certainly proved the phrase anyone can be uncomfortable in the field. But with a bit of effort and skill it can be pleasant.

They even had different spots to cook different things on the foden.

Only time things got a bit out of hand was when one BDO got a bit of a strop on about cooking things on the steam generator contraption. But I reckon that was more to do with the fish starter than the rabbit. Either that or she was a vegie.

[Rocket2]

For me the best was a close call between the vegetable curry served on the Nimrod or the wonderful food served in the contractors mess at ASI where I used to eat as a part time contractor when off shift during the late 80's airbridge.
By far the worst was the (airmans) mess at ASI, true the chefs did the best they could with what was supplied by most meals still tasted $@*!.

[Always a Sapper]

Sapper you forgot to mention that the steel bowl was placed on an engine block or exhaust to cook it with the engine running.

That would be the metal ammo box's windlassed to the exhaust pipe then. Simply chuck the compo tins in (un-opened of course) just before leaving the harbour area and dig them out on arrival.... Sadly if the convoy got lost or delayed then not all the tins made it :eek:

The tin would go off with a bang followed by a couple of bodies popping out the mortar hatch collect the surving tins before they followed...

[Lou Scannon]

Back in the 70's, one of us Transporters feeling cheated because the V force got steaks and we didn't, wrote:

"Why don't we get steaks like the V force?" in the Luqa Officers' transit mess suggestions book.

The next day one of the said steaks was found stapled into the book with the words:

"If you can eat this one, you are welcome to it!"

The V force member was invited to purchase a new book without gravy stains.

[Duplo]

the worst: any food at the IJC Kabul mess halls Dec 11 - May 12. Christmas Day fare was just simply binned by the brits.

the best: BBQ RC West Feb 12 with wine. BBQ RC East Mar 12 not with wine!!

And any meal down at Bastion when able..!

[cargosales]

By far the worst I ever experienced was the 'soup of the day' at Machrihanish which changed colour and taste only very slightly each day, depending on what had not been eaten the night before, and unsurprisingly whose ingredients were never precisely specified.

With only 2 regular livers-in, the arrival of our mob for a month and the adjustment to the catering arrangements must have seemed like heaven to those poor souls.

CS

[dkh51250]

Wensleydale, what a shame you don't have the book from 1970 when the food strike occurred. The arrival of the late WO Paddy Shannon soon retrieved that situation. Waddo then became "the place" to dine for the JRs. The subsequent SIB investigation failed to uncover the ringleaders of the strike. Other notable chefs in my life, the late Neil Chinnery at Church Fenton, with his Field Catering Unit (before MCSU) who worked absolute miracles with a few quid and loadsa waffle. Finally M****n E*****h at Wegberg and Marham, due to his lack of height,known as "The Gastronome". A man who took the greatest of pride in his craft and ensured his customers were the absolute top of his priorities.

[NutLoose]

What as in everyone refused to eat in the mess? Lol cannot see what you could charge them with.

[dkh51250]

I am sure those chappies from RAF Newton would have cooked up something to justify their existence.

[dkh51250]

Not so much a strike, more a boycott. However, it did have the desired effect.

[wayoutwest]

hi all.the best was the airmans mess raaf point cook.and the australian defence force academy both small messes and better than eating out:ok:.the worst has to be anything the army has cooked really awful not helped by seeing a a corporal drop a large tray of food scrape it all of the floor and putting it in the bay marie.

[Genstabler]

Bush tucker?

[Wetstart Dryrun]

In 1974, after the jungle survival course, I ate devilled crab at 'Fatties', Albert St. - the best Chinese in the world. It was delicious with crabmeat hanging from bits of shell.

A few years ago, I ate devilled crab from 'Fatties', the best Chinese in the world, and it was a plate of shrapnel, pottery shards, and razor blades and not much crab.

...that's me, not 'fatties'

..and Sergeant Mingang's monkey was also ****e.

wets

[Blacksheep]

The worst RAF food I ever ate was in the Airmens' Mess at RAF Waddington in 1968, just before we had the food mutiny. [the best Airmen's Mess I ever ate in was RAF Changi]. The best food of all was RAF Northolt Sergeants' Mess.

[SOSL]

Most RAF PPruners will have heard of the Waddington food strike. Can anyone tell me what actually happened?

Rgds SOS

[November4]

Worst food - on a course at Odiham and accommodated in the Para Training barracks (2 x SACs....hundreds of baby Paras!) Aldershot. The food was so bad we ate all meals at Odiham.

As an aside, remember the messing comment book at Odiham contained a comment along the lines of

"Could OC Catering settle an argument between SAC Blogs and me. I said the mess food was not fit for pigs....Blogs said it was." OC Catering had replied with a polite request for the author to pay him a visit.

Best food - Lyneham for any midnight supper.

[NutLoose]

November, Odihams accommodation in the Seventies wasn't a lot better, large room divided up with wardrobes and partitions, a wardrobe door opened acting as a door to the two man bed space , with a central walkway down the backs of the wardrobes about 26 to a room, someone wrote into farmers weekly stating I have a well ventilated, illuminated and heated room XYZ dimensions, how many pigs can I house, answer was something like 14, copies of the article soon appeared in all the blocks on the notice boards.... SWO blew a fuse.

Back to thread..

[dkh51250]

Hi SOSL, Blacksheep may have a better memory than mine. I thought the food strike was about 1970. The date is irrelevant, food being served up in the airmans mess was worse than atrocious at that particular time. Remember that the place was open around the clock seven days a week and firing on all four cylinders, even after the handover to Polaris. Food being one of the elements of maintaining morale, morale was very low. The strike cum boycott seemed to be the only way to rectify the situation, as it appeared OC Catering had lost the ability to read the comments book in the mess, or at least react to the comments.

I do remember that it took place on a Monday and it only took one meal, lunchtime, to retrieve the situation. To the best of my recollection there were only a few civvies, MPBW etc, and a few visitors who ate in the mess that lunchtime. When we arrived to get fed at 17.00 a total transformation had occurred, all the cooks, they hadn't become chefs at that time, were in crisp clean whites and the servery was a joy to behold. All of this was attributable to the man mentioned in my previous post, who, a couple of hours earlier had been at RAF Newton.

It came to light that the staff in the ration store had been exceedingly generous with food that should have found its way into the mess. One particular Sergeant was allegedly burying frozen chickens in his garden when the SIB arrived. Wensleydale could be spot on with the year, because this individual had been court martialled in Aden and reduced in rank from Flt Sgt. One of the butchers, remember them, was also caught up in all of this.

The saddest part was an LAC MT driver who unwittingly admitted to the SIB that he had received some food from the ration store, "Because everyone on the ration run did". He was up in front of Groupie and received 28 days detention. He had been married less than a year and had a newborn, plus, his wife, who was German, spoke not a word of English. On release he was posted to North Luffenham and died in a vehicle smash shortly afterwards.

Fortunately I did not work for the newly arrived Warrant Officer, being a different trade. He would appear in the mess at any hour of the day or night to carry out quality checks on the servery. It was not unknown to have entire trays of food thrown the length of the servery because they did not meet his exacting standards, leaving the duty cook to both clean up and provide replacement meals. The reason i thought it was 1970 was because I arrived in Masirah in 1971 as we were doing the Pakistan evacuation, and the self same Warrant Officer was photographed feeding a baby cradled in his arms.

The SIB never did find the organisers. I just hope there is a statute of limitations on this sort of thing.

[SOSL]

Thanks for that dkhnumbers. A sad recollection of the LAC MT driver. I know it's a bit of a thread drift but as the OP I can authorise that. Can't I? Anyone else got any insight into the Waddington food strike what lead up to it and what was the aftermath? I'm interested to find out more about it.

Rgds SOS

[dkh51250]

We all lived happily ever after.

[Union Jack]

It came to light that the staff in the ration store had been exceedingly generous with food that should have found its way into the mess. One particular Sergeant was allegedly burying frozen chickens in his garden when the SIB arrived. Wensleydale could be spot on with the year, because this individual had been court martialled in Aden and reduced in rank from Flt Sgt. One of the butchers, remember them, was also caught up in all of this.

Reminds me of the time when the Chief Petty Officer Cook (CPO CK) in a Major RN training establishment came under suspicion on similar grounds. Arrangements were duly made for his car to be searched by the Regulating Staff (Snowdrop/MP equivalents) as he left the establishment late one evening and, having duly been stopped at the main gate, the CPO CK threw his car into reverse and departed at high speed back towards the Main Galley.

When the Reggies arrived in hot pursuit a few minutes later, the CPO CK blithely informed them that he had suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to switch off the vitally important main power switch in the galley, as well as the "last out chit", and of course there was absolutely no sign of any contradictory evidence so "No case to answer"!:hmm::suspect:

Jack

[ricardian]

When at RAF Northolt in the early 60s one of the cooks was charged with theft of a complete leg of ham found in the pannier of his bicycle. His excuse was "it had just been cooked and he was cycling around to cool it down".

[GGR]

Best

RAF Upavon (AM) in the early 70's. Great thought for the many shift workers from the genuine artisan cooks.

RAF Bishops Court (AM) also excellent. Fresh mushrooms picked from Killard Point after night watch then hat full to the mess and its waiting frying pans. Have not tasted better since.

Worst

RAF North Luffenham (AM) thankfully just a short area radar course.

GGR

[taxydual]

Mushrooms and Airfields.

Finningley 1975. 'Flaps' Picken (SATCO) loved his mushrooms. Every morning (in season) he would collect, cook and eat them for breakfast.

One day he was late and 'his' mushrooms had been picked and purloined by 'persons unknown'.

He promulgated, through Station Routine Orders, a ban on personnel picking mushrooms on 'his' airfield.

Three weeks later, a large, bulky transit envelope arrived in the internal mail. In it was a collection of three week old, very slimy, very smelly mushrooms together with a note that read "Here's your bloody mushrooms, hope you enjoy them".

[SOSL]

Thanks taxydual.

I was there at the time but being on Eng Wg, didn't get near the mushrooms until, in the few days before Battle of Britain Day, I was sent out to check on the old Beverly (it used to jump about a bit when the wind got up).

Found the mushrooms, fried them in butter - yummy.

Rgds SOS

[goudie]

Mushrooms were in abundance on the airfield at Bicester, and when I was gliding there we'd have a fry-up, with bacon, in the old crew coach. As you say SOSL...yummy!

[arni1072]

Has to be the best:-
Egg Banjos cooked during the climb out of St Mawgan or Kinloss by the duty cook on a SAR scramble. Followed by 'Honkers Stew' some hours later. Mmmm
(Look out for the sliced Mars Bar in the stew!!)

[NutLoose]

We used to pick them when guarding the aircraft parked out on Upavon and cooked them in butter on one of the old paraffin tent heaters whilst watching the sun rise over the plain...... Superb

Someone else mentioned the Mess at Upavon, fond memories of their and a young lass called Ruth that used to work their as a cook.

[thing]

Mushrooms and Airfields.

Anyone remember the flight safety film with the snowdrop picking mushrooms who sees a Dom taxiing past with a loose panel?

[SOSL]

Yep.

Rgds SOS

[Broadsword***]

RAF Leuchars COC during TACEVAL circa 1987:

Chef: "There's no milk Sir, just powder."

Sqn Ldr (Nav): "Am I to tell the Station Commander he can't have milk in his coffee?"

Sqn Ldr (RAF Regt): "Yes, you pompous f*****g pr**k."

[SOSL]

It's an old thread but I'm still keen to learn about good and bad food.


Rgds SOS

[Danny42C]

I'm loth to recommend any eating place to friends, for the chef you had when you last ate there may have left, and the successor may be, well, just not in the same league.

But I know where to find bad food. Try a spell in Hospital ! :(

D.

[27mm]

Falklands 1984 on Phandet. Walked up into the hills to visit the army mates; they made us tea and gave us toasted teacakes. Where the teacakes came from is anyone's guess, but they were the best ever and we were truly touched by British Army hospitality.
My best Xmas dinner was also in the Falklands, at Stanley; great times....

Worst had to be a Coningsby OM dining-in night in the early 90s. We had just finished the prawn cocktail starter, which tasted a little weird and so the Memsahib and I barely touched it. Within 10 min folk were dashing for the loos, closely followed by us. Spent the weekend on Kaolin and morphine as the RAF's new secret weapon, the Chocolate Laser......