The Wardroom Food Caterer was probably elected on day three of the Commission. As the Mess President I had directed that neither I nor ‘Chief’ should be eligible for this chore: ‘Chief’ on the grounds that he was already responsible for all the Naval Stores and I on the grounds that, as First Lieutenant, I was responsible for all the victualling. You will realise that this was before the days of Pussers in Small Ships (PISS) and some years before the Courts Martial of ‘The Great Catering Scandal’ that led to young Pussers actually having to count beans afloat instead of pen-pushing ashore. The…
