Icon of Portsmouth military life Naafi marks its 100th birthday

Naafi – the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes – was established just after the First World War, when Winston Churchill, who was then the Secretary for War, wanted an organisation to serve all armed forces at home and abroad.

So, during the 1920s, a small motor launch serving Portsmouth harbour vessels and repair crews working on laid up ships became Naafi’s first local offering – under the Naval Canteen Service branch.

Beneath her raised hatch, sat neatly stowed food in packets and tins — necessities, luxuries, fresh fish and vegetables, tobacco, toothpaste, sauces and condiments, sewing utensils, sweets, and medicines.

Soon after, Portsmouth was used as a testing ground for new Naafi products at their growing number of naval and army camp shops. In 1932 it organised a ‘toy sale’ in Portsmouth, where unsurprisingly hardly any toys were sold and the shipment was returned to London.

The local newspaper advised that Naafi should avoid experimenting and blindly chasing profit with ‘the sale of sidelines’ in preference to concentrating its activities on the provision of everyday necessities for the Navy.

During the Second World War Naafi was never willing to be just a spectator, and maintained the highest standards under shellfire, rocket attacks, air-raids and in the galleys of Navy ships on the high seas.

Many Portsmouth locals signed-up as shipboard personnel with the Naval Canteen Service, wearing navy uniforms, but remaining ordinary civilians.

The dangers of serving in the NCS were manifest: five men of the Naval Canteen Service — along with 515 sailors — were the first Naafi casualties, killed just two weeks after the war began, when the HMS Courageous was torpedoed by a German submarine.

In my book Canteen Army: The Naafi Story, I discovered many stories of men and women sharing the dangers of their comrades in uniform.

Between 1939-1945, the institute operated thousands of canteens, pubs, cafes, shops and hotels from the deserts of North Africa to the freezing wastelands of Iceland providing the small luxuries that made life in a war zone more bearable.

RAF Portsmouth – which operated between 1939 until the early 50s – boasted a 24-hour canteen serving airmen defending the south coast.

At the same time, Naafi was also responsible for ENSA, the much-ribbed entertainment branch, which chalked up countless local wartime shows, featuring Gracie Fields, Arthur Askey and George Formby.

Those days are gone. Naafi however remains alive and kicking and those who have served with the British forces know what a remarkable job it does in both war and peacetime.

SEE ALSO: Portsmouth veteran marks Armistice Day with service on his doorstep

‘I first visited the Naafi in January 1946 when, as Princess Elizabeth, I opened the Naafi club at Portsmouth,’ Queen Elizabeth II noted in her message on the 75th anniversary of Naafi.

‘My father, King George VI, granted his Patronage in 1947 in recognition of the achievements of the Naafi during the Second World War.

‘I was pleased to continue that Patronage upon my accession and my family and I have seen Naafi in action on our many visits to Service establishments throughout the world.’

Along the way, the organisation flourished through World War Two, Suez, Korea, the Falklands, Iraq and Afghanistan - and even now Naafi still serves the forces, albeit in a vastly slimmed down form.

From the Dunkirk to the battle of the Falklands, ‘Canteen Army: The Naafi Story’ by Nathan Morley brings to life the far-reaching history of this much-loved institution.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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