Page 28 - Flaming Cauldron – Issue 62

ACC ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER ACC ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER

Field of Remembrance 2023 ACC on St Kilda

By Lt Col Nigel Shepherd (Chairman ACC Association) By Brian Kay

On Thursday 9th November 2023 I was honoured to be alongside Denise Walker (ex ACC/
I just came upon an article in a Brisbane “Tourist”
WRAC) at the Army Catering Corps plot at the Field of Remembrance, Westminster Abbey.
Guide which extolled the virtues of visiting/
The Field of Remembrance has been held every As highlighted, lunch post the Field
exploring the island of St Kilda in the Scottish
November since 1928 when The Poppy Factory of Remembrance is held at Westminster
Outer Hebrides. St Kilda is UNESCO World
brought a group of disabled veterans, a tray of Kingsway College restaurant, where a
Heritage listed for “...both its natural and cultural
poppies and a collecting tin to the grounds of St number of our members are past alumni
significance”. WELL, I’d like to take you back to
Margaret’s Church, Westminster Abbey. That year (Geoff Acott, Tony Monk, Richard Collins
1959/1960 when I served as an Army cook on
only a handful of poppies were planted round – to name but a few). The lunch is prepared
St Kilda and any thought of “natural beauty” was
a single cross, in 2023 tens of thousands of pop- and served by students of the college, and
furthest from my mind!
pies on wooden crosses stretched over the ground this year they truly out done themselves –
I was posted to the Royal Artillery Guided
whilst many veterans from a large variety of Corps, they provide a seven course taster menu which
Weapons Range (RAGWR) in the Outer Hebrides
Regiments and Formations placed themselves was superb.
in 1958, straight from Basic Training at St Omer
in front of their plots to meet Her Majesty The It is a fitting tribute to all our ACC
Barracks, along with fellow cooks, Chris Foster and
Queen. Denise and I were delighted to be spoken Veterans and I strongly urge you to apply to
Tom Coughlin, all of us Regular soldiers in the
to by Queen Camilla in front of the Corps’ plot. our Corps Secretary to attend next year.
days of National Service. We were required to do
Afterwards we retired to Westminster Kingsway
extra training in dehydrated foodstuffs, breadmak-
College where we join a hearty contingent of fellow
Field of Remembrance ing and butchery (which could have been handy
ACC members for an excellent lunch.
Booklet and ticket for butchering sheep on St Kilda! And this, before
Wally Vincent and Geoff Acott joining the unit at Woolwich Arsenal and then
moving to Troon in Ayrshire Scotland and before
being part of the Advance Party on South Uist,
Outer Hebrides in 1958/59. We lived in the build-
ers’ “Nissan” Huts until the camp accommodation
and the kitchens were built: I remember the ardu-
ous task of loading and unloading ballast from the
ships that brought the equipment and supplies to
the cookhouse on St Kilda, (miles out to
South Uist and Benbecula from the mainland. But
sea, further West than the West Coast of Ireland)
eventually RA units started to arrive in the Outer
Waiting for her Majesty usually for three months at a time, staggered with the
Hebrides to practice firing their ballistic missiles
Birthday Boy and then return to their units, mainly in Germany. only other cook on the island so that there was always
(John Walker) someone with experience in the kitchen. In winter
During this Summer (in Scotland?) firing practice I
(when I drew the short straw) there was usually only
spent most of my work- days, manning a field
30-40 personnel on the Island and we worked 7 days
kitchen near the firing
a week, shift on, shift off, feeding all ranks breakfast,
range from morning
lunch and dinner. My fellow cook was a ‘volunteer’
to the end of day when
warden with the Scottish National Trust and had
it started to get dark
the last say in which tracks could be used, which
(10pm most nights!).
stones could be moved, and which flora and fauna
Part of our “duties”
could be disturbed. As an avid bird watcher, he
as unit cooks at
Below left and right, RAGWR was to take wanted to be out at Dawn, and I was quite happy to
the lunch crowd take the “early shift “ most days when the breeding
a turn at manning
season was on. Of course, “... the best laid plans of
mice and men...” went awry and bad weather stopped
resupply and staff exchanges and we both had to stay
on the Island for an extended period. Our reward for
working every day for more than three months on a
windswept deserted Island? An extra four days leave,
which was not much use when it took two days to
reach the mainland cities of UK by boat and train!
As you can see from the attached photo, there
was quite a difference from the Tank Landing Craft
(TLC) in 1960 that we used and the Luxury Liner
in the recent Tourist Guide of 2023, just as there is
a significant difference from the working conditions
of Army cooks from 60 years ago to today (at least
I hope so!)
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