Australian Army Catering Corps

Australian Army Catering Corps
Cap badge of the Australian_Army_Catering_Corps
Active	12 March 1943 – present
Country	Australia
Branch	Australian Army
Motto(s)	"We sustain"
Colors	Slate grey and yellow
March	The Roast Beef of Old England & Tavern in the Town
Commanders
Notable commanders	Sir C. Stanton Hicks

The Australian Army Catering Corps (AACC) is the corps within the Australian Army that is responsible for preparing and serving of meals. The Corps includes two trades, Chef and Operator Catering (previously known as stewards). The motto of the corps is "We sustain". Members of the Corps undergo civilian accredited training in both ADF wide and service specific training units.

The feeding of the soldier was and still is a unit commander's responsibility. Historically, unit feeding was dependent upon foraging in the enemy's territory, the baggage train being as small as possible. If a commander failed in his task, his company merely melted away. Cause and effect were apparent.

In the early days of the Australian Army cooks were drawn from the ranks of the Regiment. Unfortunately the kitchen was used as a dumping ground for the problem soldier, rarely did a soldier of any quality or ability volunteer for this despised trade. The quality of the food produced by these regimental cooks can be best summarized by the infamous World War I catch cry "Who called the cook a bastard?" the retort being "Who called the bastard a cook?"

World War I saw the introduction of new style of fighting on the battlefields, trench warfare. Soldiers fighting in the trenches were given hot meals, when possible, under the cover of darkness, during the day they fended for themselves and ate bully beef and biscuits and contrary to all the stories being passed down, they were also provided cheese, jam and bread. When relieved from the trenches soldiers were fed hot meals in the rest areas at the rear. The legend of Bully Beef and Biscuits was born.

In between the two World Wars the feeding of the peacetime Militia or Citizens Military Forces (CMF) at their brief annual camps did little to enhance the reputation of Army cooks or food. Feeding in these camps came to depend upon the employment of civilian cooks (shearers' cooks etc.) who were well paid and their general lack of culinary skills fixed firmly in the minds of the officers and men the concept that the cook was a deplorable necessity. The Militia soldier was reared on this idea, and accepted indifferent feeding as one of the least attractive aspects of military life.

At the outbreak of World War II the reputation of the unit cook was still at an all-time low. Qualified Cookery Instructors, members of the Australian Instructional Corps were running cookery courses, however only the worst soldiers of the regiment were being offered up for training. Despite the fact that these courses were run continuously as soon as the men had completed their cooks training they returned to their former duties as a rifleman, driver etc. It was rare for a qualified chef or catering tradesperson to volunteer because of the low status accorded to them.