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 :}

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.

Ahhhh Deci and the evil Deci Red.

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.

I still have a tin of marge and sugar lol

bet you didn't keep any of that bog paper

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.

..

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.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.......

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:

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.

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.

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:

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.