Catering Tales
During the squabble between Mintoff and Carrington in the early 70's about the Nimrods using Luqa airfield. my crew were the first to fly out of Malta and land at Sigonella. Several days ensued whilst a commcen was established at Sigonella (initially using the aeroplane and then in a big green tent) and we were billeted in the Central Palace in Catania. Natural curiosity led to familiarity with the P3 crews based in Sig and quite a few of the Americans were keen to find out what the inside of the Nimrod was really capable of. This preamble has a catering angle - our brass had made arrangements for lunch boxes from Alitalia in Catania Fontanarossa and these were duly delivered to Sig. Witnness - one thin turkey crustless dried out sandwich, and angel cake (similarly dessicated) a strange italian biscuit and a small bottle of cheapo vino.
For a nine hour sortie ? Really.
Luckily the knockers and our newly found american friends who were coming on the first Nimrod flight with Sig as a base had a pre flight breakfast meal in the Flight Diner followed by a post flight Steak and anything else you wanted. The cost : Free for enlisted men and after further enquiries one dollar each for Officers. We had a really good crew so I told the officers on our crew (only)about this facility. Unfortunately the facility was slightly spoiled when the word got out and people came to work in the morning at Sig bringing their overalls and pretending they were going to the Pre Flight Diner and operating that day, even though they were not flying that week.
The Italian Lunch boxes did continue for a week or so until the bills arrived, I think they were the equivalent of £18 per box and if you wanted tea or instant coffee it was extra.
For a nine hour sortie ? Really.
Luckily the knockers and our newly found american friends who were coming on the first Nimrod flight with Sig as a base had a pre flight breakfast meal in the Flight Diner followed by a post flight Steak and anything else you wanted. The cost : Free for enlisted men and after further enquiries one dollar each for Officers. We had a really good crew so I told the officers on our crew (only)about this facility. Unfortunately the facility was slightly spoiled when the word got out and people came to work in the morning at Sig bringing their overalls and pretending they were going to the Pre Flight Diner and operating that day, even though they were not flying that week.
The Italian Lunch boxes did continue for a week or so until the bills arrived, I think they were the equivalent of £18 per box and if you wanted tea or instant coffee it was extra.
Last edited by 5aday; 24th Sep 2018 at 11:21.
I can't speak for Maritime Shacks - but there was nothing on the AEW Shack that could remotely be described as a 'wardroom'. While I was there ('74-'81), the crews were all officer, save for the Flight Engineer position which was filled either by an officer or, more usually, a Master or an NCO.
I saw the galley on the Sunderland at the RAF Museum and beliive me, the designer of the Nimrod Galley still had a lot to
learn. Whenever we carried flyaway ground crew, the only place to sit was in the 4 place galley or on the extra Dinghy over the spar.
so if you were part of the operating crew, when your meal was ready, you ate it at your position. One flight out of Masirah, the ground crew tried to
help by dishing out the starters, (Crayfish Salad) and there were boxes of crayfish, boxes of salad, and boxes of tubs of dressing. The six boxes of crayfish were devoured by the groundcrew, and the rest of us had salad and dressing. On another escapade, one of the groundcrew put some tins of soup in the oven.
Unopened. Don't ever let them near the Rima Grill. The next thing you would have was an underfloor fire / smoke warning.
learn. Whenever we carried flyaway ground crew, the only place to sit was in the 4 place galley or on the extra Dinghy over the spar.
so if you were part of the operating crew, when your meal was ready, you ate it at your position. One flight out of Masirah, the ground crew tried to
help by dishing out the starters, (Crayfish Salad) and there were boxes of crayfish, boxes of salad, and boxes of tubs of dressing. The six boxes of crayfish were devoured by the groundcrew, and the rest of us had salad and dressing. On another escapade, one of the groundcrew put some tins of soup in the oven.
Unopened. Don't ever let them near the Rima Grill. The next thing you would have was an underfloor fire / smoke warning.
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One flight out of Masirah, the ground crew tried to
help by dishing out the starters, (Crayfish Salad) and there were boxes of crayfish, boxes of salad, and boxes of tubs of dressing. The six boxes of crayfish were devoured by the groundcrew and the rest of us had salad and dressing.
help by dishing out the starters, (Crayfish Salad) and there were boxes of crayfish, boxes of salad, and boxes of tubs of dressing. The six boxes of crayfish were devoured by the groundcrew and the rest of us had salad and dressing.
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
I can't speak for Maritime Shacks - but there was nothing on the AEW Shack that could remotely be described as a 'wardroom'. While I was there ('74-'81), the crews were all officer, save for the Flight Engineer position which was filled either by an officer or, more usually, a Master or an NCO.
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Going back to the Sunderland, I was told by the late Gp Capt Jasper Coates, who during the war had commanded 120 Sqn and the Sunderland Operational Training Unit at Alness, that many Sunderland air gunners failed the course because they couldn't cook.
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Deci, Sqn arrives and promptly struck down by the squirts... Turns out a lump of roast chicken was found festering under the water bottle in the block when it was changed. Sqn leaving suspected, but 17 shall remain nameless....ohhh err.
Gets up needing a drink of water at gawd knows what time, bimbles down the hall in the dark, takes cup and fills it, downs in one to quench my thirst, and nearly throws it back up as someone has emptied the bottle and filled it with Deci Red to keep it chilled.
Gets up needing a drink of water at gawd knows what time, bimbles down the hall in the dark, takes cup and fills it, downs in one to quench my thirst, and nearly throws it back up as someone has emptied the bottle and filled it with Deci Red to keep it chilled.
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Pre RAF this one... School cruise around the Med, 1st meal at sea, Steak and kidney pie, roasties and peas, covered with lashings of thick gravy....... takes a mouthful to discover the gravy is chocolate sauce, look forlornly at my lovely sponge cake covered in chocolate sauce and our worst fears are realised.
Perhaps Wensleydale could throw his £0.02-worth in.. (no stranger to the galley he!)
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
Nutty, South Cerney, lunch food served, we all filed past the serving line collecting spud, veg and steak & pigmy, topped of with a ladle of rhubarb sauce.
Operation Deny Flight saw half of 101 Sqn deploy to Sigonella, the other half of the Squadron was already deployed to either Incirlik or Bahrain. The Sqn Cdr obtained a very good rate for the detachment at the Sheraton Catania with everybody on Daily Messing Rates. After about a week a team from Command Accounts arrived to assess the situation. They negotiated "cheaper" rates at other hotels, which would have split the Det, with all the Comms and Transport problems that entailed. Until it was pointed out that we were paying less than that anyway!
They then organised that all 3 meals would be taken in the hotel, so no need to pay DMR, saving money. Only problem was that the Det was working irregular hours over a 24 hr period and hotel working normal hours. Day shift left the hotel several hours ahead of normal Breakfast time and hotel could make no provision. They were then reimbursed for the cost of Breakfast at the McDonalds on base. The night shift returned well before Breakfast time, so "relaxed" in their rooms until arriving at Breakfast in a very "relaxed" state to the chagrin of the normal paying guests. Breakfast took about two hours to serve and eat. They slept through lunch and then left the hotel before Dinner - more actuals.
The Dinner meal could consist of an icecream scoop of Calamari for starter, a slice of cold ham and a ring of tomato for main, followed by a 2 inch square 1/2 inch thick slice of gateaux for sweet. Wine was not included, but there was no limit on soft drinks. To give some quantity to the meal vast amounts of bread were eaten and lots of Coke was drunk
( Hip Flasks may have been used). Three Cokes were about the price of a bottle of wine, we drank about 6 Cokes each. With 30 people arriving at the same time the waiting staff could not cope and Dinner took two hours. Also there was no provision for, the Vegetarians or those with allergies. They dined elsewhere on actuals.
The result we lost money, the hotel lost money, the waiters received no tips and the RAF paid a lot more!! They probably got MBEs for their work!!
They then organised that all 3 meals would be taken in the hotel, so no need to pay DMR, saving money. Only problem was that the Det was working irregular hours over a 24 hr period and hotel working normal hours. Day shift left the hotel several hours ahead of normal Breakfast time and hotel could make no provision. They were then reimbursed for the cost of Breakfast at the McDonalds on base. The night shift returned well before Breakfast time, so "relaxed" in their rooms until arriving at Breakfast in a very "relaxed" state to the chagrin of the normal paying guests. Breakfast took about two hours to serve and eat. They slept through lunch and then left the hotel before Dinner - more actuals.
The Dinner meal could consist of an icecream scoop of Calamari for starter, a slice of cold ham and a ring of tomato for main, followed by a 2 inch square 1/2 inch thick slice of gateaux for sweet. Wine was not included, but there was no limit on soft drinks. To give some quantity to the meal vast amounts of bread were eaten and lots of Coke was drunk
( Hip Flasks may have been used). Three Cokes were about the price of a bottle of wine, we drank about 6 Cokes each. With 30 people arriving at the same time the waiting staff could not cope and Dinner took two hours. Also there was no provision for, the Vegetarians or those with allergies. They dined elsewhere on actuals.
The result we lost money, the hotel lost money, the waiters received no tips and the RAF paid a lot more!! They probably got MBEs for their work!!
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Perhaps Wensleydale could throw his £0.02-worth in.. (no stranger to the galley he!)
I must confess that I do not remember the Wardroom label either. I wonder if the Coventry Shack has one?
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As an adjunct to my post about cooking in the Shack.... I seem to remember that not long after the E-3 came into service, some chump decided that the galley slave could no longer cook for the whole crew unless he/she had completed a catering food handling course. This resulted in the pre-packed warm through TV dinners produced by inflight rather than raw rations. Later on, the food handling course reared its ugly head again, but the argument that each crew member was responsible for cooking their own meal defeated the notion once more. This still didn't stop some of the Sentry's airborne technicians producing some excellent steaks etc from raw rations for the crew when deployed on operations and the crew busy coordinating the war.
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WD, you missed a treat. My daughter ran the food handling courses. Remember, the essence ingredient is good ☺.
She did one of the food hygiene courses and came home resolved to buy a new fridge ☺, but resisted the urge.
Had Captain Mac pushed hard at the outset you might have had a couple of flight attendants add to the E3D!
She did one of the food hygiene courses and came home resolved to buy a new fridge ☺, but resisted the urge.
Had Captain Mac pushed hard at the outset you might have had a couple of flight attendants add to the E3D!
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"What did you do?" asked the F16 pilot
"Went down the back, had a sh!t and a steak sandwich" replied the Nimrod pilot.
F16 leaves at speed and in the huff...
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Slight tangent, but there is the apocryphal story of the Nimrod crossing the Atlantic and was met by a USAF F16
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Pre RAF this one... School cruise around the Med, 1st meal at sea, Steak and kidney pie, roasties and peas, covered with lashings of thick gravy....... takes a mouthful to discover the gravy is chocolate sauce, look forlornly at my lovely sponge cake covered in chocolate sauce and our worst fears are realised.
I put white sauce on my cauliflower, like my mum used to do.
It was Rice Pudding!
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The Sqn Armourers at Bruggen were a sight to behold, the first armourer would plate up his lunch, roast beef and custard, with apple tart and curry and pass that to the man behind him, this went down the line until the last man would pass his selection to the first, they would then sit down and eat some of the worst concoctions imaginable.
Strange lot, they used to have one of those thick Starsky and Hutch woollen jumpers like this below and when off shift they would pick one of their number to wear it all day, he would then pick the next days person, you would be sitting on the beach or walking around Deci and the armourers would wander past in shorts and teeshirts etc, all except one of them who would be sweltering wearing one of those heavy knit jumpers done up, they used to get some strange stares downtown Cags
Strange lot, they used to have one of those thick Starsky and Hutch woollen jumpers like this below and when off shift they would pick one of their number to wear it all day, he would then pick the next days person, you would be sitting on the beach or walking around Deci and the armourers would wander past in shorts and teeshirts etc, all except one of them who would be sweltering wearing one of those heavy knit jumpers done up, they used to get some strange stares downtown Cags