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FOR SALE: THE RECIPE BOOK THAT FED AN ARMY

Army chef Corporal James Abraham Harrison

Wednesday August 6,2008

By Polly Buchanan

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IF an army marches on its stomach, this one certainly had the edge.

Stew and dumplings, beef hotpot, Coronation pudding and steamed jam roll were the order of the day for soldiers in the North African desert in the Second World War.

Or to spice things up a bit, they might have tucked into the occasional rabbit curry.

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Recipes for these and other field kitchen classics are found in a battered cookbook up for auction next month.

Handwritten and illustrated by Army chef Corporal James Abraham Harrison, the book records his recipes for the meals he prepared for thousands of men during four years in the desert.

The 118-page book gives an insight into how he fed troops in tough conditions, where armed soldiers stood guard over water butts supplying their camp.

Practical tips include how to avoid food poisoning and how to build an Aldershot Oven using 150 bricks, a rake, two arches and nine baking dishes.

Most of the ingredients used by Cpl Harrison appear to have been supplied by Army stores in Britain – but when these ran low he turned to local ingredients such as aubergine and okra, unknown in wartime Britain.

The book will be auctioned at Thomas Mawer and Son in Lincoln next month.

Auctioneer Clinton Slingsby said: “This is really unusual, and makes for a very interesting read. It gives us a rare insight into to the type of foodstuffs cooked for troops on the move in the desert.”

Cpl Harrison was born in New Zealand and joined the country’s Expeditionary Force in 1939.

He was trained at an Army catering school, then seconded to the 19th Army Corps and stationed in North Africa, catering for Allied troops.

The recipe book came to light in a box of belongings he sent to his daughter Madeline before he died in October 1974, at the age of 58.

Madeline, 69, of Washingborough, Lincs, said: “Dad didn’t start off as a cook, he joined up as a fighting soldier, but he was sent to cooking school when he was stationed in Palestine.

“After he left the Army he used to cook for the family on special occasions. He was really good at pastry – he used to make apple pies all decorated with roses. They were really beautiful.”

After he left the Army he used to cook for the family on special occasions

Daughter Madeline

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FED THE ARMY IN AFRICA

06.08.08, 7:05pm

My Grandfather was also a chef feeding the Army in North Africa, know as the Aldershot Cement Company, the cooks that worked below him were German POW’s. Strange that they were feeding the people that were fighting their country men!

• Posted by: JonHewitt • Report Comment