Foodish History: A Bomber Command Breakfast
My September 2023 release, Heart in the Clouds, is a romantic historical fiction, set on an RAF Bomber Command Station in Lincolnshire, England. The story is inspired by the work my grandfather did piloting Lancaster aircraft during the war. Since my bread and butter - pardon the pun - is food copywriting and recipe development, I’m doing a series of posts that reinterpret some of my historical research as modern recipes.
Flying meal
A modern interpretation of an operational supper served at Bomber Command during WWII.
Feeding the forces
When I think about food during World War II, I usually think about the scarcity of it. Rationing was tight for people at home, especially during the early years of the war when shipping lanes were compromised and American imports weren’t yet available. However, the purpose of that rationing was partly so that food could be diverted towards the troops.
At the Royal Air Force stations dotted across England, airmen and women (from the RAF, Women’s Auxiliary Air Force and other commonwealth air forces) were fed well. They received three square meals a day. At Bomber Command, the section of the RAF that conducted bombing operations over Europe at night, caterers from the WAAF ran a round-the-clock kitchen.
This recipe is a modern interpretation of an operational supper at Bomber Command. It’s the kind of thing that today we order for brunch in a cafe after a night out, when we want grease to soak up the excesses of the previous night. But at Bomber Command, stomachs were being lined for a different reason.
A last supper
The ‘powers that be’ considered that airmen had a better chance of survival if they crashed with a full belly, so air crews were fed a night flying meal before they set out on their long, cold flights over Europe. This supper included egg, bacon and beans, although one report describes the meal as “bacon, sausage, egg, baked beans and chips all washed down with a pint of milk.” According to Alan Cooper in his book Air Battle of the Rhur (1992, p31), just one of these pre-flight suppers would involve cooking up 140 eggs!
My modern meal doesn’t use quite that many, but I’ve scrambled rather than fried them (because if I had to feed 70 hungry men, that’s how I’d do it). Sourcing ingredients is important for this recipe. Use traditionally-smoked bacon (available from a local butcher) and organic, free-range eggs (there was no other kind in the 1940s). I’m not sure if the beans at Bomber Command were commercial ones, but it’s a revelation to bake your own so give it a go if you have the time. I’ve used pork sausages, although it’s probable that the sausage mentioned in the air-gunners account was a blood sausage of some kind.
At Bomber Command, this kind of meal wouldn’t have been eaten with enthusiasm or gusto. The men would have forced down their sombre supper out of duty, painfully aware that it could be the last thing they ever ate. Just under half the men who flew with Bomber Command died (57,205 out of the 125,000). Food for thought as you eat.
Bomber Command Breakfast
Serves 5
Baked Beans
The day before, cook borlotti beans according to Stephanie Alexander’s recipe in the Cook’s Companion. Reheat to serve. Or use commercial baked beans.
Chips
Cut 5 medium sized potatoes into 8 wedges each. Toss in 1 teaspoon of garlic salt and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Line a tray with baking paper and lay the potato pieces on the paper in a single layer. Bake at 170°C for 35-45 minutes.
Sausages
Begin cooking 15 pork chipolata sausages in a frying pan. When lightly browned, transfer to a baking tray and finish in the oven with potatoes.
Scrambled eggs
Add 10 organic, free-range eggs and 100ml milk to a small bowl. Whisk to combine, season with salt and pepper. Add eggs to a shallow pan over a low heat, dragging a silicon spatula through the mix occasionally to scramble. Remove from heat when eggs still slightly runny, as they will continue to cook in the pan while you assemble the other ingredients.
Bacon
While eggs are cooking, fry 5 full rashers of traditionally-smoked bacon in a frying pan with a little oil. Drain on paper towel and serve immediately with other ingredients.
Serve with strong tea, coffee or orange juice.
He’s a charismatic Australian bomber pilot used to beating the odds.
She’s the straight-laced radio operator he speaks to each night before he flies.