NAAFI to go...
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What, and he put up with it / being spoken to like that ???????
Christ, I know WO's (albeit Army) who would have at least given her the biggest bollocking she had ever had if not pulled her through the opening if they spoke to them like that.
Christ, I know WO's (albeit Army) who would have at least given her the biggest bollocking she had ever had if not pulled her through the opening if they spoke to them like that.
He replied something like 'what was that? You mind your bloody NAAFI lip my girl or you'll be in trouble' (can't remember the exact words but I think it caught him on the hop, if that's possible with an SWO)
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No more NAAFI? Yet another reduction in the station bike fleet.....
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NAAFI positive memories
I can think of one; the manager who stepped up from normal duties to assist gun crews engage inbound raid during the Falklands... But that's about it 
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The NAAFI departed from RAF Waddington a few years ago but perhaps it is appropriate to remember the 7 NAAFI girls who were killed along with 4 servicemen when Waddington NAAFI was bombed on 9th May 1941. The dead included the Manageress of the NAAFI, Mrs Constance Raven: the Waddington NAAFI Club was named the Raven Club in her memory and the club still bears her name under new ownership. The photograph shows the damage to the NAAFI after the raid - the Ravens club is still housed in this building which it now shares with the Waddington Heritage Centre.
A plaque in the Ravens commemorates the event - the photograph next to it is of Renee (Irene) Woods who was killed at the age of 22.
A plaque in the Ravens commemorates the event - the photograph next to it is of Renee (Irene) Woods who was killed at the age of 22.
Last edited by Wensleydale; 9th Jun 2014 at 08:16.
goudie:-
I suspect it might be a question of degree. An MRT Squadron in the 60's would have had perhaps some 180 aircrew (manning was approx 5 crews per aircraft, 6 man crews, 6 aircraft). I don't know how many groundcrew would have been on strength, perhaps as many again? That was why it was a business for a contractor rather than a DIY job in the boss's view. Mind you we did have a Coca Cola fridge upstairs that dispensed cold bottles of the stuff for so much a go. I remember that as I had to keep the damned thing replenished!
With regard to a trading monopoly, every Sqdn I served on had it's own coffee bar and refreshments 24/7.
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Well whatever the service and competitiveness of the UK-based operation, I can confirm that it offers a much-coveted service to those serving in far flung places, particularly those with local restrictions on goods that entitled UK personnel can source only from the Naafi...
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Back in the Late 60's & Early 70's I recall a Big Yellow 7.5 Tonner with NAAFI on the side. This was one of three Mobile shops that came round to the Milltown Caravan Sites at Lossiemouth. As a young kid of 7 I remember thinking this Van was of supermarket proportions! Remember it had a set of steps on the back which the driver used to lower when he got to the site and keep lowered when driiving around the narrow lanes of the site. Many a happy time was spent riding those steps and many a thick ear was dispatched by Mum/ Dad & NAAFI Driver for doing so. 
I'm Sure David Parry remembers this too.
I'm Sure David Parry remembers this too.
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No love lost with NAAFI who at very short notice withdrew from the Other Ranks club on a secret Wiltshire base with lots of tunnels, leaving us completely in the lurch. Then 6 months after withdrawing they asked to attend the various sites on the 'campus' to give presentations on their financial services offerings. Guess the response 
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Notwithstanding their in-it-together NAAFI Wagon image from WW2, which suited the era, they were due to go. While they were wrongly compared to American facilities - which are subsidised - they were never dynamic despite an often captive audience, and preferred instead to rely on their heritage, and monopoly with a typically unenthusiastic and complacent staff.
When I was at Leeming their response to the popular all ranks bar threatening their market was to toady off to the hierarchy and have the all ranks bars' hours restricted, as opposed to actually making an effort to attract punters. Saw a similar pattern elsewhere over the years.
When I was at Leeming their response to the popular all ranks bar threatening their market was to toady off to the hierarchy and have the all ranks bars' hours restricted, as opposed to actually making an effort to attract punters. Saw a similar pattern elsewhere over the years.
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The NAAFI came a poor second to the Malcolm Clubs, they were very popular in Germany and the Far East.
Interesting debate in The House of Lords here, re. closing them down in Germany thereby giving NAAFI a monoply. This was in 1958!
CLOSURE OF MALCOLM CLUBS (Hansard, 18 December 1958)
Interesting debate in The House of Lords here, re. closing them down in Germany thereby giving NAAFI a monoply. This was in 1958!
CLOSURE OF MALCOLM CLUBS (Hansard, 18 December 1958)
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No great loss
Sorry but the alternative model was there all across the province in the 70s, and elsewhere all over the world where the British Army happened to be...the Choggie shop.
24/7 service and I mean 24/7 service. You could rouse the fella up on Xmas Day after coming back from patrol. Didn't mind living in **. Braved the troubles driving back and forth for his supplies. If you wanted something that wasn't stocked, no problems. Next shopping run it would be there.
1 guy doing everything - no leave, no sickness, no privileges, no gripes.
Egg banjo, dripping in oil ..no worries. Cup of chai or coffee ..no problem. An ordinary cuppa with that condensed milk out of a can served straight up. None of this fancy skinny skimmed latte frappuchino costing half your pay packet.
Items on tick - no problem - into his little book it went. Hair cutting - yes sir. Tailoring..yep do that as well.
Dangerous hotspots round the world - no problem. He'd often be set up and serving before the spearhead lead elements had come in!
But then Naafi came in and kicked the Choggie out, Terms & Conditions came in, and prices went up.
Hurrah for the Choggie!😜
24/7 service and I mean 24/7 service. You could rouse the fella up on Xmas Day after coming back from patrol. Didn't mind living in **. Braved the troubles driving back and forth for his supplies. If you wanted something that wasn't stocked, no problems. Next shopping run it would be there.
1 guy doing everything - no leave, no sickness, no privileges, no gripes.
Egg banjo, dripping in oil ..no worries. Cup of chai or coffee ..no problem. An ordinary cuppa with that condensed milk out of a can served straight up. None of this fancy skinny skimmed latte frappuchino costing half your pay packet.
Items on tick - no problem - into his little book it went. Hair cutting - yes sir. Tailoring..yep do that as well.
Dangerous hotspots round the world - no problem. He'd often be set up and serving before the spearhead lead elements had come in!
But then Naafi came in and kicked the Choggie out, Terms & Conditions came in, and prices went up.
Hurrah for the Choggie!😜
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Just like y'all, I've been in many a terrible NAAFI, some good ones, but the time that gave me a different perspective was after 10 years service as a single man & boy, 'living in' at home and abroad.
Getting married, posted to Akrotiri and living out in Limassol, all in quick succession, my new wife and I appreciated the NAAFI Family Shop. And it wasn't just for the duty free booze.
I never had the opportunity to sample the delights offered to our colonial cousins from the west, but I did spend a year with the Armée de l'air and they had nothing to compare with NAAFI.
Getting married, posted to Akrotiri and living out in Limassol, all in quick succession, my new wife and I appreciated the NAAFI Family Shop. And it wasn't just for the duty free booze.
I never had the opportunity to sample the delights offered to our colonial cousins from the west, but I did spend a year with the Armée de l'air and they had nothing to compare with NAAFI.
And who doesn't recall the traditional greeting barked at you from the NAAFI shop check-out: "Stamps or discount?"
On-base NAAFI shops were very handy; however, if there was a town or even somewhere like Carterton nearby, perhaps they were rather less successful...
Shame to see them go - who runs the shop at MPA these days?
On-base NAAFI shops were very handy; however, if there was a town or even somewhere like Carterton nearby, perhaps they were rather less successful...
Shame to see them go - who runs the shop at MPA these days?
My experiences of NAAFI over the years would suggest that the international futures market for date-expired crisps will take a nosedive.
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The_1
I didn’t know these as Choggie shops, but I did notice their presence on the few occasions we Wessex chaps spent time in some of the more up-country army outposts in the Province. All of them seemed to have a South Asian shop keeper, often using the space beneath his counter as a bedroom, and thus available 24/7.
Once at a dinner or reception with the senior Army bod in NI, Gen Sir Harry Tuzo, we chatted about the presence of the Choggies. He said that he was glad of their services to his troops, even although his family had been instrumental in starting the NAAFI.
I know it wasn’t MADE by NAAFI, but I still have a fridge in full working order which I bought from the NAAFI in Sungai Patani in Northern Malaysia in 1968. It's my beer cooler.
I didn’t know these as Choggie shops, but I did notice their presence on the few occasions we Wessex chaps spent time in some of the more up-country army outposts in the Province. All of them seemed to have a South Asian shop keeper, often using the space beneath his counter as a bedroom, and thus available 24/7.
Once at a dinner or reception with the senior Army bod in NI, Gen Sir Harry Tuzo, we chatted about the presence of the Choggies. He said that he was glad of their services to his troops, even although his family had been instrumental in starting the NAAFI.
I know it wasn’t MADE by NAAFI, but I still have a fridge in full working order which I bought from the NAAFI in Sungai Patani in Northern Malaysia in 1968. It's my beer cooler.