Rations return for VE Day RAF meals

Eighty years have passed since the Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. Evoking the wartime spirit of 1945, front of house staff donned Women’s Land Army costumes to warmly welcome personnel as they queued up for lunch.

On the menu, RAF personnel in all three messes found era-appropriate dishes to mark the historic anniversary.

Flight Sergeant Tony Hammond is the Executive Chef at RAF Coningsby. He said: “In partnership with our industry colleagues, we’ve developed a menu that closely mirrors the kind of food people would have eaten towards the end of the war. It’s been a unique opportunity to recreate a piece of history in the kitchen while ensuring that it still meets the nutritional needs and tastes of today’s RAF personnel.”

ESS Catering Manager Laura Ward is a former RAF Chef. She said: “It’s been enjoyable putting this together. Being a Catering Manager, but first and foremost a veteran RAF chef, is all about versatility not just in where we cook, but also in how we adapt. Taking historic recipes and making them work for a modern audience has been a great challenge.”

ESS and RAF chefs carefully developed the commemorative menu to reflect the ingredients, cooking techniques, and dietary realities of 1945. Despite the nationwide celebrations on VE Day food rationing was still in force, but today’s aviators need a full intake of calories.

Flight Sergeant Jamie Dixon, Executive Mess Manager, said: “We wanted to strike the right balance, for VE Day 80 to be a celebration, not just a history lesson. People still need to eat well and feel satisfied, so we worked hard to recreate dishes that were both true to the period, and enjoyable today. ‘Woolton Pie’, a well-known ration-era favourite, was one of the vegetarian options we offered; it’s hearty, filling, and surprisingly flavourful.”

A pastry dish of vegetables, Woolton Pie was widely served in Britain in the Second World War when rationing and shortages made other dishes hard to prepare.

AS1 John Sabu is an RAF chef at Coningsby and prepared some of the day’s special dishes. He said: “A good change to messing life to what we would normally do, it’s been exciting to be more creative and have more control over the menus. It’s quite surreal and humbling too, and these dishes are our way of remembering VE Day.”

Group Captain Pablo O’Grady is the Station Commander at RAF Coningsby. He said: “Today we are celebrating and commemorating VE day. I am especially proud of my catering team and the fantastic service they provide to all the people here at Coningsby.”

He concluded: “It is important for us to remember the sacrifice and service of our forebears and learn the lessons from history. That my fantastic Chefs could demonstrate their skills, connect us with past and recreate dishes that would have been enjoyed by the aviators of eighty years ago is a wonderful tribute to the ones we are remembering today.”