12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS: Rationing? Not on the navy's Christmas menu

In 1945, while the rest of the country was finding it hard to obtain a Christmas dinner after the Second World War, it appears all was well in the navy. And '¨why not?
By The Newsroom
Published 17th Dec 2016, 06:00 BST
Updated 17th Dec 2016, 09:41 BST
The cover of the Stockheath Camp Christmas menu drawn by a talented sailor in 1945.The cover of the Stockheath Camp Christmas menu drawn by a talented sailor in 1945.
The cover of the Stockheath Camp Christmas menu drawn by a talented sailor in 1945.

Here we see a menu cover drawn by a talented cartoonist sailor in 1945 when based at Stockheath Camp, now part of Leigh Park where Great Copse Drive is today.

He might have drawn it some months before as the war was over by the time this menu was compiled.

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I find the most amusing drawing is of the three sailors on the right bawling out a carol and captioned: The Silent Service...

The rest of the country might have been on rations, but not the navy.The rest of the country might have been on rations, but not the navy.
The rest of the country might have been on rations, but not the navy.

The menu itself would not look out of place in any decent restaurant today.

To the centre-top is a caricature of Captain Paul Vivian the camp’s commander.

He had survived the torpedoing and sinking of his ship HMS Laurentic on the night of September 3, 1941.

The camp had its own farm so I would assume that the roast pork came from their own pigs.