Thanks Diane you have just reminded me .................................................. its 3 and time for ??? TD
MOBILE CANTEENS AND THE NAVY. 24 OCTOBER 1941, ROSYTH. A TEA CAR OF THE AMERICAN TRAILER AMBULANCE WAS PRESENTED BY THE PEOPLE OF HONOLULU TO THE YMCA. THE TEA CAR WAS HANDED OVER BY ADMIRAL SIR E EVANS TO THE ASSOCIATION. (A 6040) Catalogue number: A 6040 Rear Admiral C H G Benson, DSO (Ret'd), serving as a Captain of a warship wishing "good luck" to the driver, Mrs Brodie, and her assistant, Miss Staffin, of the Tea car. The Chaplain and other ship's officers are present as well. A NICE CUP OF TEA - ABOARD ONE OF HM MINESWEEPERS. MARCH 1943, DEVONPORT. (A 16220) Catalogue number: A 16220 A grand job well done, the men of one of HM Minesweepers, relax over a cup of tea. WITH HM SUBMARINE SERAPH. 6 AND 7 NOVEMBER 1944, HOLYHEAD HARBOUR. (A 26381) At "cuppers" cheering tea while at cruising stations. Holding cup is Leading Stoker W Hughes, of Liverpool, before the war and electric plater. Pouring tea is Stoker H G Shrubsole, of Folkestone. ON BOARD THE BATTLESHIP HMS RODNEY AT SEA. 1940. (A 2118) Catalogue number: A 2118 Just off watch, Tea time in one of the Mess decks below. HMS Rodney, 1940 THE ROYAL NAVY DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR (A 2124) Catalogue number: A 2124 Tea-time in one of the 16 inch gun turrets on board HMS RODNEY. The gun captain and some of his crew are ready to drop their tea and biscuits and be at their stations in a second. Crashing in on the party is a gun layer from his station below.
CECIL BEATON PHOTOGRAPHS: GENERAL (IB 1882) Catalogue number: IB 1882 India 1944: A soldier drinking a cup of tea next to a Red Cross Mobile tea wagon at Calcutta airport. DUNKIRK AND THE RETREAT FROM FRANCE 1940 (HU 104614) Catalogue number: HU 104614 A woman from the Mechanised Transport Corps (MTC) hands out tea to troops evacuated from Dunkirk at a railway station in the UK, 31 May 1940. EAST AFRICAN TROOPS LEARN JUNGLE FIGHTING IN CEYLON (IND 2438) Catalogue number: IND 2438 Having fought with great success in the Middle East, East African men are now being trained in warfare in Ceylon. In off-duty hours, when they make good use of recreational facililties of the district, Ceylon tea is as popular with East African troops as with the British. THE BRITISH ARMY IN ITALY 1943 (NA 9413) Catalogue number: NA 9413 Soldiers from the 78th Division enjoying tea and cakes served by a Salvation Army van in the forward area, 28 November 1943. THE BRITISH ARMY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM 1939-45 (H 39254) Catalogue number: H 39254 A wounded soldier, evacuated from Normandy, enjoys a cup of tea on a hospital train, 7 June 1944. THE BRITISH ARMY IN THE NORMANDY CAMPAIGN 1944 (B 5349) Catalogue number: B 5349 Members of 12th Parachute Battalion, 5th Parachute Brigade, 6th Airborne Division, enjoy a cup of tea after fighting their way back to their own lines near Ranville after three days behind enemy lines, 10 June 1944.
Official photograph (CNA 2989) Catalogue number: CNA 2989 R.A.F. airmen being served with tea at the Malcom Club in Foggia. THE SERVICE OF BRIGADIER SIR LIONEL WHITBY AND HIS WIFE MAJOR ETHEL WHITBY IN THE ARMY BLOOD TRANSFUSION SERVICE DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR (HU 67220) Catalogue number: HU 67220 Major Ethel Whitby gives Wing Commander Guy Gibson VC a cup of tea as he recovers from giving blood at the Army Blood Transfusion headquarters, 1944 RAF BOMBER COMMAND 1941 (HU 104642) Catalogue number: HU 104642 Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mk III and crew, with YMCA tea car in attendance, 10 January 1941. ROYAL AIR FORCE BOMBER COMMAND, 1939-1941. (CH 2144) Catalogue number: CH 2144 Waitresses serving tea and refreshments to airmen in the NAAFI canteen at Oakington, Cambridgeshire. THE ROYAL AIR FORCE IN YUGOSLAVIA, 1944-1945 (CNA 3078) Catalogue number: CNA 3078 The RAF evacuating wounded partisans, male and female, from Yugoslavia. Two RAF servicemen serving tea to some of the stretcher cases at the evacuation centre, 1944. ROYAL AIR FORCE OPERATIONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA, 1939-1943. (CNA 1081) Catalogue number: CNA 1081 Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder, Air Officer Commanding in Chief, Mediterranean Air Command, enjoys a cup of tea with airmen in the first RAF Malcolm Club, after opening it in Algiers.
ARREST THAT RAT: THE WORK OF THE WOMEN'S LAND ARMY RAT CATCHERS, SUSSEX, 1942 (D 11258) Catalogue number: D 11258 Land Girls Eileen Barry, Audrey Willis, Betty Long and Audrey Prickett enjoy a hot cup of tea after a hard day of rat catching, as part of their training on a Sussex farm. They are sitting on large cartwheels, whilst Farmer Giles brings them a jug of fresh milk to add to their tea. BLITZ CANTEEN: WOMEN OF THE WOMEN'S VOLUNTARY SERVICE RUN A MOBILE CANTEEN IN LONDON, ENGLAND, 1941 (D 2173) Catalogue number: D 2173 After tea, a group of Royal Engineers help Patience 'Boo' Brand fill up the washing up bowl with hot water from the water urn. The Engineers have been building bridges across bomb craters on main thoroughfares and have just bought afternoon tea and buns from the WVS tea car (which can be seen behind them), run by Boo and her friend Rachel Bingham. This photograph was taken somewhere in London in 1941. BRITAIN'S HOME FRONT 1939 - 1945: CIVIL DEFENCE (HU 36143) Catalogue number: HU 36143 Mothers and children in a working class area of Swansea have tea and sandwiches from a mobile canteen after a night's bombing. BLITZ CANTEEN: WOMEN OF THE WOMEN'S VOLUNTARY SERVICE RUN A MOBILE CANTEEN IN LONDON, ENGLAND, 1941 (D 2161) Catalogue number: D 2161 Patience 'Boo' Brand pours tea into the cup of a man who has been bombed out of his home, from the back of the WVS tea car. This man's wife is currently staying with friends. The cup which is being filled has been brought to the tea car by the man, so that it can be filled with tea for his cat! The man has a mug of tea for himself in his other hand. LIFE IN A BASEMENT AIR RAID SHELTER, SOUTH EAST LONDON, ENGLAND, 1940 (D 1623) Catalogue number: D 1623 Tea and buns are supplied by local Air Raid Precautions (ARP) workers to fellow ARP workers and civilians in this basement shelter in South East London. The boy with the tray of mugs wears a steel helmet with the letter 'SP' indicating that he is part of a Stretcher Party, whilst others can be identified as wardens by the 'W' on their helmet. This photograph was taken in November 1940. WOMEN RUN A BOAT: LIFE ON BOARD THE CANAL BARGE 'HEATHER BELL', 1942 (D 7634) Catalogue number: D 7634 On the roof deck of the 'HEATHER BELL', Miss March pours water from a brightly coloured can into the kettle to make a cup of tea. MEN AND WOMEN BEHIND BRITAIN'S SHIPS. MAY 1945, YARROW'S NAVAL SHIPYARD, GLASGOW. (A 29107) Catalogue number: A 29107 John Miller of Glasgow, having his cup of tea during the lunch hour break. He was in the shipyard in a shelter during the Clydesbank blitz. The shelter was hit but he managed to crawl out and immediately carried on helping to get out the others trapped in the shelter.
"A mobile tea canteen in the forward area, 31 July 1942." (So, in the El Alamein area somewhere) THE BRITISH ARMY IN NORTH AFRICA 1942. © IWM (E 15079)IWM Non Commercial Licence
That looks like a Divco. Probably didn't see many of them in England The Chillwagon is a fully-restored 1965 Divco Ice Cream Truck : Learn more about the history of Divco delivery trucks at thechillwagon.com
dbf wrote: "though I have to admit, I don't much like the stuff..." Me neither, dbf, and I'm supposed to be english. I prefer coffee.
It's nearly 10.00 pm and I'm sitting here in Belgium drinking my sixth mug of the day. My family think that I'm bonkers. Is pre-war tea drinking allowed ?
Many a Chindit at times of uncertainty, took time out for a brew, a chat and a ponder. Super photos in this thread.
Love the photographs especially the land army rat catchers. My mother described the process and was not a bit distressed - I would have run a mile at the thought of it. I would have hated the compo tea that was a powder of tea sugar and milk. I don't think you had the option of black tea or unsweetened. I remember that evaporated milk was used often in the fifties and sixtees especially where fresh was not available. I visited a schoolfriend whose parents had fled Poland and was given a cup of tea then offered lemon and milk - being polite, I took both. Marta laughed til she cried.
While I remember........... My dear late wife had standing orders from me never to turn away anyone at the door who was collecting on behalf of the Salvation Army. I remembered all too well the cups of tea that were provided by the Sally Ann (as they were affectionately known) in the most unlikely of places and quite often at risk to themselves. Ron