Just look at all of those extra vitamins
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Just look at all of those extra vitamins
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I was once served a ham and egg salad at Odiham in the 70's, nothing wrong with that until you realise the eggs were on the ham and there were hundreds of the blighters on the underside, they rapidly removed the ham salad off the servery when I pointed it out the the WO in charge...... They could produce stunning food in the field in those days, sadly it never carried over into the mess.
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Dining-in night at Coningsby in the 90s; shortly after the prawn cocktail, people started rushing for the loo. Aĺl told, about 20 casualties, laid up for several days with puking and squits. Apologies from the OM? Not likely.
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At least you got fed!! one weekend at wyton there was NO food in the airmans mess apart from boiled veg.
I was led to believe there were a couple of CM's for that one.
I was led to believe there were a couple of CM's for that one.
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My abiding memory of Mess catering was in the OM at Uxbridge, where the week started with "Spring Vegetable Soup". During the week the description changed, as did the flavour, as any left-over gravy or whatever was added to the mix*. By Friday it was more like a bowl of stew than soup.
* Yes, you could taste the previous night's meal.
* Yes, you could taste the previous night's meal.
The food was pretty poor when I joined the RAF but generally very good by the time I left (late 80s). I was once confronted by a Flt Sgt cook asking why I'd left food on my plate. He was genuinely concerned that something was wrong and wanted to know how to improve it.
Never had the same experience when I had to eat at Army or Naval bases though.
I do remember a toilet at one place where written on the trap wall was "Please flush twice - the mess is a long way from here"...
Never had the same experience when I had to eat at Army or Naval bases though.
I do remember a toilet at one place where written on the trap wall was "Please flush twice - the mess is a long way from here"...
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Bruggen and Brize in the 80's were the best In my opinion.
Dining-in night at Coningsby in the 90s; shortly after the prawn cocktail, people started rushing for the loo. Aĺl told, about 20 casualties, laid up for several days with puking and squits. Apologies from the OM? Not likely.
At Tern Hill I could draw the keys to the Airman's Mess because we 'Lineys' started work well before the Cooks. I cook what I wanted and left the keys on the Servery.
When working late we would order our (cold) meals and find them nicely wrapped up on our beds when we got back to the block.
When working late we would order our (cold) meals and find them nicely wrapped up on our beds when we got back to the block.
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Down South, 1984.
Went fishing on the San Carlos River.
One magnificent 10 lb Sea Trout resulted.
On return to accomodation, the Sea Trout was passed to the duty 'chef'. Army.
"Please cook it and join us for dinner" we said,
He battered it, deep fried it and served it with chips.
We cried
Went fishing on the San Carlos River.
One magnificent 10 lb Sea Trout resulted.
On return to accomodation, the Sea Trout was passed to the duty 'chef'. Army.
"Please cook it and join us for dinner" we said,
He battered it, deep fried it and served it with chips.
We cried
Rigga
......following on from Rigga's comment about late night eating.
late 60's, as duty NCO at Marham you could get invited by the RAF police to join them after midnight for a cooked meal in the airmens mess, they had a key (well maybe a screwdriver, crittall windows were always easy to open!).
As for army cooks, they were the best with field kitchens, when going up the Asahan ranges we would beg for army cooks, we ate so much better up there with them in charge.
late 60's, as duty NCO at Marham you could get invited by the RAF police to join them after midnight for a cooked meal in the airmens mess, they had a key (well maybe a screwdriver, crittall windows were always easy to open!).
As for army cooks, they were the best with field kitchens, when going up the Asahan ranges we would beg for army cooks, we ate so much better up there with them in charge.
Not sure how true, but did remember hearing a tale a good few years back of a Tonka crew being given Pot Noodles or something similar when on a long transit. Probably apocryphal, but not surprising if it did happen - I remember doing a long trip on a Herc only to find the butty boxes covered in yoghurt which seemed to have exploded at altitude.
And for all it's faults, I remember being the Army HQ Duty Officer (always an interesting one for an RAF officer) over a couple of weekends and when I went into the Mess for lunch was generally greeted in person by the chef with a cheery 'what would you like? The steak's good' before getting a freshly cooked slab of steak and the world's largest portion of fries and veg. Almost made it worth the nause of doing the duty.
And for all it's faults, I remember being the Army HQ Duty Officer (always an interesting one for an RAF officer) over a couple of weekends and when I went into the Mess for lunch was generally greeted in person by the chef with a cheery 'what would you like? The steak's good' before getting a freshly cooked slab of steak and the world's largest portion of fries and veg. Almost made it worth the nause of doing the duty.
RAF Summer Camp Colerne late 1960s
Self as Cadet Warrant Officer swapped contents of sugar bowl for Andrews Liver Salts. Fellow Cadet ladles into tea cup which does a passable imitation of a volcano. "You should complain about that tea " I suggested. Cadet duly approaches RAF catering NCO (no contractors in those days). Caterer's head dives into tea urn and gives a puzzled look. Meanwhile I replaced the sugar.
Happy days
Self as Cadet Warrant Officer swapped contents of sugar bowl for Andrews Liver Salts. Fellow Cadet ladles into tea cup which does a passable imitation of a volcano. "You should complain about that tea " I suggested. Cadet duly approaches RAF catering NCO (no contractors in those days). Caterer's head dives into tea urn and gives a puzzled look. Meanwhile I replaced the sugar.
Happy days
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We ( as in our course ) added laxatives to the tea urn in the mess at Saints, sh*t happens.. you might not be able to beat the cr*p out of some people, but you can certainly help it on its way... 
Mt Pleasant about April 86. Having lived with the contactors for about 8 weeks, with plenty of fresh fruit, veg, eggs, salad the military caterers took over - first instruction was "return duvets", not scaled (got that reversed), then fruit and fresh salad disappeared -"you only need one piece of fruit a month to stay "regular" ". ISTR that got changed fairly quickly too. However, there was the ISO of eggs that got hit by a massive wave on the way down - biggest (uncooked) omelette I have ever seen
Not sure how true, but did remember hearing a tale a good few years back of a Tonka crew being given Pot Noodles or something similar when on a long transit. Probably apocryphal, but not surprising if it did happen - I remember doing a long trip on a Herc only to find the butty boxes covered in yoghurt which seemed to have exploded at altitude.
although some co-pilots seemed to love them ... no accounting for taste ... 
Last edited by OmegaV6; 24th Mar 2016 at 13:27.