Warrant Officers' and Sergeants' Mess
1. Dinner will start at 8 pm prompt.
2. Arrive for pre-dinner drinks at 7:30pm.
3. Study the seating plan and note your seat at the table. If you have a lady seated on your right, seek her out, introduce yourself and escort her to her place at table.
4. When dinner is announced -junior members enter the dining room first. It is not the "Done Thing to take drinks from the bar into dinner!!
5. The official guests and the CMC will be the last to enter the dining room.
6. Once, having located their seats, members and their guest remain standing until grace is said. Either the Padre or the CMC will say Grace. However the task may be delegated to Mr. Vice!
7. Everyone will then be seated after Grace has been said. If there is a lady next to you, help her with her chair!
8. Diners should not start eating any course until the CMC has started eating.
9. Subsequent courses will not be served until everyone has finished the
preceding course.
10. Any Mess Silver may be displayed on the dining table. Do NOT Touch It. To do so may incur an expensive bottle of port!
11. Wine, normally Red and White, is served with the meal.
12. Towards the end of the meal, The CMC and Mr. Vice will pass the Port in a clockwise direction. As the port is passed around the decanters should not be allowed to scratch the table. There is no convention that states that they should not touch the table!! However, in the W0s' and Sgts' Mess it is
customary not to allow the decanters to touch the table until they arrive back with the CMC/Mr. Vice. Once the port decanters return to the CMC & Mr. Vice, they both then charge their glasses, and the stoppers are returned to the decanters. Good manners dictate that if there is a lady sitting on your left, you should offer to pour the port for her. (Diners not partaking of the port may be served. with a glass of water)
13. When the glasses are charged with port/water and the stoppers have been returned to their decanters the CMC will strike the gavel and say "Mr. Vice - THE QUEEN" Mr. Vice then rises and when he is standing says "Ladies & Gentlemen -THE QUEEN. When all are standing, the ONLY response by the diners will be "THE QUEEN" ( NOT “God Bless Her” )
14. After the toast has been drunk, coffee and liqueurs are served. The CMC may then give permission to smoke, by either lighting a cigar or cigarette himself, or by signifying to someone near him that he has given permission. At this point, it usual for the CMC to invite the head chef to join him for a glass of port. The Chef will sit on the immediate right of the CMC and will stay for a short while.
15. As, on this occasion, the dinner is a ladies guest night. the CMC may call a five minute "admin break" (Always say five as it will more than likely be 10/15 before everyone comes back!!)
16. Once the Chef has left the dining room, or at a suitable time after the Coffee and Liqueurs have been served, the CMC will bang the gavel and then will make a short speech " First formal dinner to be held by the Wing W0s' & Sgts' Mess Good response, thank you for your support etc. Introduce/Welcome the Wg Cdr and Sqn Ldr. Sit down and have a chat with the guests. After a suitable time 5 mins or so, bang the gavel and introduce the Wg Cdr. (He should know the score!!) He should thank the Chef and the mess on behalf of fellow guests etc and give a bit of chat about the ATC/Wg and the future etc. He may then propose a toast to the - ATC, Wg or some such. BEWARE of toasting with an empty glass - it can prove to be yet another expensive bottle of port. So always ensure there is port in your glass until the toasts have been completed.
17. If for any reason an individual is required to leave the table during dinner, they must seek the permission of the CMC - either by passing a note on the back of their place setting or walking around to the top table. (Word of note, keep an eye on your own place setting, as another member may use it to excuse himself. The CMC may decide your excuse to leave not valid and fine "you" a bottle of port!
18. Leaving the table during the meal is considered discourteous but - without first seeking permission is also a fine of a bottle of port. In the service it may incur extra duties!!
19. Once dinner is over, the CMC will indicate this by banging the gavel,
standing, and inviting Mr. Vice to take over the CMC's position at the top
table. As the CMC and the top table depart for the bar - in a clockwise
direction, the assembled diners will all stand. Mr. Vice will make his/her way
to the top table also in a clockwise direction - in order not to hinder the
passage of the departing guests!! Once at the top table, Mr Vice will invite the remaining diners to be seated. Mr Vice will then keep the guests amused for approx 10 minutes. Barracking Mr Vice may mean that he/she may well
invite you to the top table to assist with the entertainment!!
20. After a suitable period of entertainment - the rest of the diners will leave the dining room and make their way to the room in which they first assembled - usually the bar!!
21. It is courtesy that no member departs before the official guests have departed. Should it be necessary to leave before the official guests, permission should be sought from the CMC.
ENJOY THE EVENING
