Your guide to the differences between the many mess halls and clubs on base at the Thorpe Abbotts WWII USAAF bomber crew base, as seen in Masters of the Air.
For starters, here are some definitions to help you out:
Commissioned Officers - members of the flying echelon with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant and above; consists of navigators, bombardiers, pilots, and copilots. Requires at least two years of college education to be a commissioned officer. Also called “Flight Officers.”
Non-Commissioned Officers/Sergeants - members of the flying echelon with the rank of sergeant through master sergeant; most often the gunners. They are usually just referred collectively as “Sergeants” in most contexts. Note how even the lowest ranking commissioned officer outranks the highest ranking a non-commissioned officer can receive.
Enlisted Men - most often used to refer to the men of the 100th who were apart of the ground echelon; also known as “ground-pounders” and “paddlefeet.” In my research, I’ve learned that sometimes Noncommissioned Officers are referred to as Enlisted, regardless of if that’s correct or not.
Also called the Combat Mess or Air Officer’s Mess, this mess hall was reserved for men of the air echelon. It is situated close to the Station Headquarters and Group Operations in the communal site, near the officers mess. There were two sides of this mess hall, one for the flying officers and the other for the NCO’s.
The Flying Mess was open early in the mornings for crews before their missions and opened again later in the evening for the crews that returned. Their hours differ depending on the time of the mission in order to ensure there is always breakfast and dinner served to the crews that fly. They served the best food on base.
“Good fried eggs, bacon, oatmeal, orange juice, milk. I take no coffee, but I grab a couple of apples and oranges to take with me. We also have chocolate bars for the trip. The mess hall is warm for us in our fleece-lined flying gear. Most of us are sweating.”
- A Wing and a Prayer by Harry Crosby
“All combat crews would be given two fresh eggs for breakfast on the day of a mission. The cooks would serve them any style at your request. For the army (AAF), this was indeed a treat. A little like a death row breakfast.”
- Source
“By 0400 hours, the combat mess halls, officer and enlisted alike, are full. The cereal is as tasteless as ever. The hum of conversation and the clatter of plates makes a reassuring and welcome din. The fried eggs (occasionally real ones), or the alternates, French toast or flapjacks, followed by a slug of strong GI coffee, is the usual fare. Men who can take the rough grapefruit juice fill their canteen cups. The enlisted men are following the cafeteria style of service, heaping platefuls of food for themselves.”
- Contrails: My War Record by Henry H. Arnold
“Since we have not eaten since morning, we need food. We look at our watches: 1930 hours. The Flying Mess will be closed.“
- A Wing and a Prayer by Harry Crosby
The officers mess hall is situated close to the Station Headquarters and Group Operations in the communal site, near the flying mess. Reserved for Flight Officers, this mess wasn’t as popular as the flying mess. Most men much preferred the raunch and camaraderie that came from a meal in the flying mess.
“The food in the Flying Mess was good, but I preferred to eat in the Officers' Mess which had tablecloths, and most of the officers were in their blouses instead of A-2 jackets. Then, too, there wasn't as much bluster, the loud talking, the laughing, the coarse jokes, Texas talk.”
- A Wing and a Prayer by Harry Crosby
Located on top of a hill, the Officer’s club was very much the heart of the base for the Flight Officers. It had several different lounges and rooms for the men to unwind. They held “tea dances” every Wednesday afternoon, along with other dances on occasion.
“‘The Officers Club is open all the time, and there's no beer or whiskey now, with the red light on. The Flying Officers' Mess opens at seventeen-hundred hours.’”
- A Wing and a Prayer, Harry Crosby
“Every evening coffee, beer, and a large spread of food consisting of thick slices of English bread and generous helpings of butter, jam, and peanut butter were placed on the bar.”
- An Eighth Air Force Combat Diary by John A Clark
“The officers club had been remodeled too with a fancy bar and equally fancy rooms for dancing and relaxation.”
- They Never Had it So Good, Jack Sheridan
"I always kinda think of the 100th like a country club, in a way, with a serious nature to it, but a lotta crazy things went on...When we were first over there it was unbelievable. Bicycle races in the officer's club, set the officer's club on fire cuz it was the lousiest club in all of England..."
- Maj. Joe Armanini ("Big Joe")
Similar to the Officers Mess, the Sergeants Mess operated at much more regular hours. They closed at 0730 in the mornings, and would reopen for lunch and dinner.
“The Consolidated Mess hums and clatters with conversation and dishes. A plate smashes to the floor and the cry of ‘Rookie!’ is hurled at the offender The chow line winds in serpentine coils around the length of the hall and doubles back. Men who have not yet slept eat with men who have yet to work this day. From the line, the grind of engines is heard above the mess hall chatter.”
- Contrails: My War Record by Henry H. Arnold
“Our last mission was January 10, 1945, and we were the first crew in the 350th Squadron to complete a tour of missions between August 1944 and January 1945. The Enlisted Men's Mess Hall had a special table called the "Lucky Bastards' Table", complete with a checkered table cloth, China and silverware. That is where the Mess Sergeant served our specially prepared meal for our entire crew the next night.”
- Source
Also called the "NCO club."
“The enlisted men had two clubs on base, one called the ‘NCO Club’ for staff sergeants, tech sergeants and master sergeants. The other club was the Airmen's Club for those not NCOs: privates, privates first class, corporals and buck sergeants (called ‘bucks’ because they were bucking to become an NCO). The clubs had men elected to serve on their managing boards and they had an enlisted man running the club. The clubs provided some food, drinks, places to play cards, dice tables, and so forth, as well as reading and writing rooms, plus a stage and dance floor. They had some of their own bands or used the station band. Girls from the surrounding towns were transported in and taken back to their town or hamlet after the dances. It was a good system and enjoyed by the men and the gals.”
- Memories and Stories of the 100th Bomb Group by Capt. Robert Tienken
“Over behind the combat mess they had taken an empty building and built it into another club, the Sergeants' Club—where Master, Tech and Staff Sergeants had their bar and their club rooms where monthly dances were held for the members and their guests.“
- They Never Had it So Good by Jack Sheridan
"They had a tea dance at the Sergeant’s Club from 1700 to 2200 hours tonight. Plenty of scotch, beer and eats on hand, in fact Marshall and Salvo made over 500 sandwiches. When the party was over you couldn’t find anything to eat after those civilian gals got through going through the sandwiches, cookies, cake, etc.. The WAC’s and civilian girls were in full force and the Century Bomber furnished the music for dancing. A good time was had by all from all reports."
- Source
"16 June 1944, the Sergeant’s Club had its informal opening tonight. A meeting was held about two months ago with Major Utley to form the club. It was decided to charge a fee of three pounds to join now and everyone coming into the Club later would pay four pounds. A fairly good crowd turned out for the affair. The Club is really something with it’s “Western Style” bar. The logs around the bar make it look good. The lounge really does look good with half bombs, made by the 1776th Ord. boys, hanging from the ceiling to make indirect lighting. Also have lamps made out of bombs, by the writing tables. Real nice over stuffed chairs for comfortable resting in the evening, should say half overstuffed."
- Source
Nicknamed the “Big Top Club,” this club for enlisted men was around Christmas 1944 for men ranked privates through buck sergeants.
Art (Woody) actually spent three months with me in a room of the Big Top (the enlisted men’s club), which we called the band room, teaching me to play the sax, every night from seven to about eleven o’clock. Finally one of my greatest day arrived. Woody asked me to go on the job with the band. - Source
Similar to the Officers Mess and Sergeants Mess, the Enlisted Mess was opened and closed at regularly scheduled times.
Cries of "Coffee!" rise to heckle the KP's on the slow-time completion of their appointed rounds, as the urns spurn attempts to squeeze another canteen cupful from their dry interiors. A KP skids from the kitchen with two steaming pailfuls, yelling "Hot stuff!"
Members of the 0729 Club (the mess hall closes at 0730) arrive breathlessly, and bitch bitterly at the bill of fare.
"Lousy powdered eggs again?"
"I shoulda stood in bed."
The chow line moves slowly. Mechanics from the planes in flight, mechanics from Sub-Depot, air inspectors, ordnance men and chemical men, operations clerks, S-2 personnel, radar men ... take two steps... stop ... take three steps... move hesitantly toward the powdered eggs.
- Contrails: My War Record by Henry H. Arnold
“The Enlisted Mess is just above the tennis courts (didn't know about that!) and the Sergeants' Mess is at the top of the photo. The Sergeants' Mess has what appears to be a Projection Extension on it so l would guess it was used for showing movies. Just speculation at this point.”
- 100th BG photo gallery
“The American Red Cross had a recreation building on the base which included a reading room, library, place for parties and offices where they handled personal problems from those asking for help. It involved men who received divorce notices from their wives, financial hardship cases and sometimes problems with local love affairs. The Red Cross was a touch of the old U.S.A. I think many men preferred to talk to a little older woman who they felt would better understand and not get it involved with their Commanding Officer or Adjutant.”
- Memories and Stories of the 100th Bomb Group by Capt. Robert Tienken
“Amy puts out the sandwiches at the Aero Club as the fireplaces toss out heat, and Betty or Hilda or Dorothy or Jane smiles at the boys.”
- Contrails: My War Record by Henry H. Arnold
“Perhaps the Red Cross Aero Club at Thorpe Abbotts has been torn down. Perhaps it has been repainted. Whatever its fate, the quotation on one wall had been alive, and would be remembered…
‘... and we met a new land and sky pattern ... grey sky... damp earth... and birds were different... and trees and stones... and insects were of another season… the people spoke and thought another part of life... embracing customs foreign to our own... and yet a common cause expressed itself by theirs and ours who gave their lives. ...’”
- Contrails: My War Record by Henry H. Arnold
