Page 42 - QDG Vol. 9 No. 2 CREST

40 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards
Officers’ Mess
The year 2021 began under the heavy restrictions of Covid-19. Early on, however, the Mess identified a good excuse for some outdoor fun in the form of some minor pest control;
Order. There was the usual posting of champagne corks to Officers deployed overseas; just to ensure they remem- bered exactly what they were missing
pagne, the Mess managed to pause their Chin-ery and began to use their palettes; it swiftly became a favourite and is certainly here to stay. Furthermore we are glad that we can share it with the RCA, in such a way that it is distributed all over the country to be enjoyed by current and ex QDG officers alike.
An ongoing theme in the Mess is the Senior Curry Club of The Line (SCCoTL). Typically this involves an officer, on his return from the warm bosom of London, picking up a bootful of curry from Spice Fusion on their way back to the Mess. This peaked with Lt Al-Khamiri collecting the meal in his personal TukTuk, for a truly authentic experience. SCCoTL proved to be a much more practical addition to Mess life when our beloved contractors revealed that all the chefs had left due to having their salaries cut and being heavily overworked for no overtime, and that they were closing the Mess kitchen for the foreseeable future. A duly outraged Mess then resorted to curry takeaways, pub dinners, trekking to the Sgts’ Mess and Pot Noodles – some members of the
kindly provided by the Keiths at their farm next door. Fortunately, this was allowed due to the Mess being one household. It was a long day of walking, and great fun was had by all, with several members being able to bag their first bird.
A duly outraged Mess then resorted to curry takeaways, pub dinners, trekking to the Sgts’ mess and Pot Noodles
back home. As a result there are now there several well- placed corks spread over Camp Bagnold and Poland for subsequent rotations to puzzle over.
Brexit continues to impact the lives of those in the Mess, and 2021 was no different. Except this time it was deadly serious: the Roger Brun Champagne stock almost ran dry. Luckily salvation arrived in the form of Henry Sugden (Defined Wines), an ex-QDG, who was on hand to save us from total disaster. They produced a large quantity of individu- ally branded QDG Sparkling wine from the ‘Garden’
C Sqn deployed to Mali on
Op NEWCOMBE 2 in June
with the Royal Anglians and
took with them a large chunk
of the Mess. From that point
the Mess would not return
as a single unit until well
into 2022. In the meantime
Mess traditions very much
stayed alive. The Orders of
Dress photo went ahead
with some more recent additions being shown: Zoom Order and King Faisal
of England. After the initial shock and spluttering at no longer drinking cham-