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ORIGIN OF REGIMENTAL MESS The Regimental Mess served many important
functions. It was not only a practical method
of dining in large units, but it provided an
opportunity for the members to become better
acquainted, and it developed a sense of
cohesion among the members of the Unit. It
was also an educational experience for the
younger members. They received training that
enabled them to serve as hosts of formal
gatherings when they became senior

members. Besides entertaining guests, the
In the early eighteenth century, there were formal Mess nights served to impress upon
no barracks for the British soldiers. Upon the members the luxuries of life and
entering a town, the Officers and men were gentlemanly behaviour.
quartered wherever lodging was available. A member must realize that the habit of
They posted the unit Colours at the Officers’ drinking too much is not clever, nor is it
billet, which became the central meeting amusing for other members of the Mess. Bad
place for all Officers awaiting orders from behaviour in the Mess will soon become
their Commanders. The fraternal common knowledge in the Unit. The Messes
atmosphere that developed from these must model their behaviour and should be
meetings fostered esprit de corps and exemplary, as it has a direct bearing on the
camaraderie. The billet became known as discipline throughout the Unit.
the Officers’ Mess.
WARDROOM
During the latter decades of the eighteenth
century, some Regiments did not have their The wardroom is the mess cabin or
own Mess. Consequently, many British compartment for commissioned naval officers
above the rank of midshipman in RSN.
Officers turned to taverns as their source of Although the term typically applies to officers
communal life. It was not until the in a navy, it is also applicable to marine
nineteenth century that the Mess proper officers and coast guard officers in those
became an established part of the British nations that have such service branches.
Army.
Typically, the mess compartment aboard a
naval vessel, and on larger vessels, such as
CUSTOMS IN THE MESS aircraft carriers of the U.S. Navy, there may
more than one wardroom. It may also be used
Noisy behaviour, ragging, clinking of glasses, to refer to similar officer mess facilities at
and other forms of rowdyism in the Mess, naval, marine, and coast guard installations
should be avoided, especially at the Mess ashore.
table. The forming of Mess “cliques” should
be avoided at all costs. They kill the family The wardroom provides a place of recreation
spirit in the Mess, besides causing a lot of bad as well as being a dining room. Usually, a
feeling, which is very quickly evident to galley adjoins the wardroom.
visitors and the rest of the Unit.