Life Stories and Personal Memories > Personal Memories

Speaking of N.A.A.F.I. Vans.

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Dave Smith:
Grandarog. In my day, late 40's, NAAFI van tea & a wad was 2d ( we were paid 10s a fortnight!). On leave, we always visited the NAAFI Club between Gillingham & Chatham where everything, including a favourite egg & beans on toast, or chips, was really cheap. They had dances on a Saturday night where you could meet- or watch if you were shy like me- GIRLS. Verboten at Halton! It was always fairly crowded, for the Navy, Marines & Army still had a presence in Medway then. It closed in 1962 due to "no, or little, presence"!   

johnfilmer:
My eldest sister tells me that the other drivers in the photo are George Tapsell, centre, and Alec Baker on the right. My father was AJH Clements, Archie to his parents, John to much of the rest of the world.


As to date, my father’s moustache is most similar to his 1940 ID card, so we think not long after that.


It seems that Dad was very proud of that truck as it was quite big for the time. The others are wearing their uniform caps, somewhere he have (or at least had) Dads cap badge, he never wore the cap.


The NAAFI garage was in a group of Nissen huts directly opposite the bottom of Mill Road on Prince Arthur Road. No trace now. The bakery was near the bottom of Richmond Road, now a housing development, but still visible on GSV if you wind back the time.

johnfilmer:
That certainly looks to be the beast grandarog.
It may well have been one of these that I remember riding in during the early fifties. I loved my cars, but lorries were always a bit of a mystery.
Certainly in the later fifties Dad was driving an Austin (Loadstar?) with a bonnet topped by a flying "A".
The last truck was a Thames Trader, the one with the small additional central grille at high level. Following illness he did not drive from 1963.

grandarog:
Someone with better knowledge can correct me if its wrong.
The front looks like a Fordson 7V .There were lots of different bodies built on the 7v chassis and cab . There was one still in use with the standard NAAFI canteen backend when I was at RAF Halton 1957. Used to come round the site morning and afternoon breaks.

johnfilmer:
The picture is of three NAAFI drivers - my father is on the left.
Date unknown - and does anyone know what the truck is?

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