best instuctor

[pac]

There were many exellent instructors ; both in the schools and units .
A man I shall never forget was Sidney Norris ,he was one of the few all round tradesmen , a top class instructor . What I learnt from him helped me so much in civiy street.

[Combat_Cookie]

Mark 'Scouse' Roberts,

Was one of the best,

Took me through basic training, then 12 years later ended up being my RCWO...

A great instructor, great boss and became a great friend.

Must mention Billy Barrie too, taught me everything I could ever wish to know about catering. Top Chef and top Bloke.

[CHINERS]

I have fought hard to overcome my modesty
But I think I may have given them all a run for their money

[rubberguts]

They were all good and well trained, The one who stood out for me was an SSM Gilmore or was it Gillman. Came across him in Egypt. Great cook and true adventurer. 

[rubberguts]

The Instructors were all good in my book. However, one senior Cook Sergeant stood out, not for his abilities, rather more for a "Blooper." He had freshly returned from an overseas field posting and was assigned  to the main bulk kitchen at St.Omer Barracks an duly wasted no time at beginning to stamp an authoritative impression on the cooks.
 I happened to be one half of two cooks caught talking while he had us lined up for inspection. He knew I was a civvy street cook and told me to go and perform some task. The other cook, he ordered to go and stand by the steamers and not do anything unless told to do so.
 The Sergeant told the cook to put the steak and kidney puddings in the steamers for lunch and the bloke obliged. Come service time and the Sergeant went to get the puddings from the steamer.
All merry hell was let loose when the Sergeant realized the puddings were still raw. "Why didn't you follow my orders?" He bellowed.
"I did Sergeant " the cook replied. "You ordered me to put the puddings in the steamer. You didn't tell me to turn the steam on."
Well there were footprints over the ceiling as the sliced cold meat for supper was hastily brought out and bacon ready for the next days breakfast was cooked along with sauted potatoes and anything that could be found to go towards supplementing the main item on the menu.
It didn't turn out to be as humorous to us as it first seemed when we were required to replenish the food for supper and the breakfast preparation.

[Kevin Shea]

one incident i recall a guy being told to put the beans in the bain marie marie, which he duly did ,but without the dixie

[rubberguts]

Ha Ha. Good one. What a Hoot.

[Ian E Scott]

Take it he passed his B3?

[chris1957au]

Had great repect for all the instructor but Sid Swan  ( this one is not in manual but the boys love it), Bill Jenner and Mr (ex warrent) Frost,

It's a pitty that the collage of Knowledge is no longer, but I guess that the world we live in'' if it works fix it''

Chris

[rubberguts]

 I suppose Freddie Fox would have been well retired by the time most of you young jokers joined up. Freddie took a real interest in getting us up to scratch for the B2 exam. I feel priviledged  to have been instructed by some of the tailenders who saw second world war service.

[mick jones]

Chris,
     I well remember Bill Jenner, Jack Frost and Sid Swan all down the garages when I was a brat, Sid could throw a mean knife and I still check a "chef "by the way he/she uses a steel. Bill Jenner kept a mean table at the BEEHIVE,and Jack Frost died in harness, ALL tradesmen who new the job inside out and coulnt be touched by todays so called MASTER CHEFS.
             Their skills live on in the boys they taught all those years ago,fortyfive in my case.
                       
                                MICK JONES ex 22 intake JTR.

[rubberguts]

  It May be of interest to note that when I entered hotel cooking as an apprentice in 1949, nearly all the cooks were recently returned ex war service boys from the main demobilization  in 1947. That equated to about sixty out of a full brigade of sixty five.
These boys without exception were perfectionists at consistency and masters in the art of getting a "Wiggle On,"  mixing it with the best when it came to kitchen craft. From deftly handled swiftly  flashing blades of knives flew a growing pile of tiny vegetable parings to leave a uniformly olive shaped vegetable that was tossed into a container without further consideration. Onions, shallots, mushrooms were treated with the equal disdain bourne from the confidence of routine.
Organization ability showed it the position they held.
 So please don't give me any Sh*t about Army cooks being lessor mortals that civvy cooks. If anything they are superior, fitter and sharp witted. Er- With the exception of myself that was.

[chris1957au]

Mick,

I Remember a guy asking Sid Swan durring our first week how a sieve worked, He stood him on a chair put several pounds of flour in a sieve, and told him to hold it over his head  and ''watch and learn while you shake it'' he said, you can see the picture he was white from head to foot, we laught so much even cleaning up the mess, needless to say the guy never ask Sid to many questions after that.

Name with held to protect the @#%&#

Chris

[james ongley]

Hi, Mick-Chris and John alias R/guts.
It´s amazing how the same names are mentioned all the time and quite rightly so
but I would also put Mr. Cruickshanks on the list. Last week I was given an old poster which has photo´s from the 60s/70s at St.Omer.On one photo is Gale Plt.A.Coy.11th. March 1961 and another shows Sid Swan with a forequarter of beef on his block giving instruction to the young chefs in his class.There are a couple from the field-kitchens which were behind the annex´s and two Passing-out Parade photo´s from different intakes.If Brian can put the photo´s into the Old Gallery I´ll send them in. Mick 22nd.intake Sept.64 Were Terry Tredigo & Kieth Price in your squad?
Regards Jim.

[rubberguts]

Hi James,  I am sure there are many of the Guys who could dig into their memory and spin a few tales. It would make good reading.
 I take interest in at any new photos posted, even looking back over the old ones. It is  great to see and remember how young many of the apprentices looked. I often wonder how they progressed on in later life. Any new photos are always good to look at as far as I am concerned.
 Talking of sides of beef reminded me of the B2 course. At the introduction to the course we were told we would be required to bone a shin of beef to beneath the layer tissue surrounding the bone. there was a lot of apprehension building up amongst us  until the day of the exam. It was a scary few moments but once we got into it, it wasn't as impossible as we imagined. We all passed, even me.