COMPO

[nick williams]

phil whittel and my self where talking today about the good old days and the topic of Army compo came up , we where trying to remember what went into the ten man packs. if i /we remember rightly there was 7 menus from a to g, and the main course dishes where
corn beef
steak and onion
steak/kidney pudding
chicken curry
thats all we can remember apart from that horrible apple pudding !!!! "no more for me chef im full"
 so if anybody can fill in the other three missing dishes , that would help me sleep at night!
 also if i remember rightly the packs came with a menu of the contents of all the packs, dont suppose anybody has a copy,
 the packs we are on about went out of sevice shortly after 1991
 thanks for any help

ps if ian scott sees this myself and phil didnt think you could help, yes you would know how many boxes and what menu you had in stock but you wouldnt have a clue what was inside

[Ian E Scott]

Didn't need to know....I had grunts like you to tell me!

[Ian E Scott]

Now Williams!

If you'd done what I told you in the first place.....trawl the net you'd have found this and many more!

http://rations.vesteyfoods.com/ration_packs.asp

http://www.crusader80.co.uk/ration.html

Now get some ordered and give the wife a break!  

[Ian E Scott]

Irish Stew & Mutton n Veg

[nick williams]

thanks ian , i knew you would have some of the answers

[fritzfraser]

One problem with compo was that there was no custard provided so some of the puddings were dry. Did anyone else discover that if you took POM mashed potato powder, (which no one would eat ), mixed it to a thin paste and added sugar and milk you could serve it as semolina to eat with the puddings. Needless to say this operation had to be carried out behind a wagon out of sight of of the intended recipients.
fritz

[rubberguts]

Ha, Ha. Nice one.  I never forgot the message a Sergeant in charge of the demo of building field ovens during training, which was, "Remember the key motto of the ACC is to  improvise.
"Your versatility reminds me of the time I was on the B2 course at Gebel Maryam on the Suez, which was situated twenty miles either way from civilization no show of replenishing supplies in a hurry. It was breakfast prep time. The SSM. said, "We have scrambled eggs for breakfast but only one hundred and sixty eggs (which were the size of Bantom eggs) to feed three hundred and twenty men. So what we are going to do is make one gallon of white sauce." My job. "Rub these crusts through a sieve. and add it to the scrambled eggs."
Seasoned up and with a little egg colour no one was the wiser.

[Ian E Scott]

Here's a Site for all you Burner Lovers!

http://www.freewebs.com/29thfieldkitchen/index.htm

[terryc]

A Mate sent me this.. thought I`d pass it on, very interesting i thought, to see how the "Other" lot feed 

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/09/04/weekinreview/20100905_gilbertson.html

As for the Compo, I loved the old Steak Puddings in Suet pastry,i MISS good old bacon grill fried in tinned butter on the lid of a 6 Gall saucepan lid.. couple of eggs with the sausage and beans..... Lush.
Was recently given 2 boxes of the newer compo, boil in the bag chicken and rice..... "Carp"!!! i thought, tasteless.

 Happy days eh
Terry.