Cooks of the 2nd Battalion preparing bully beef rissoles for the evening meal at Ypres. With the aid of the mincer, the eternal 'bully' was turned into a variety of dishes.

Australian field kitchen

Body of a shell that hit the hot food container at the 18th Battalion cookhouse near Villers-Bretonneux on 8 July 1918.

Shell

A concrete emplacement near Bethlehem Farm, in the Messines sector, used as a cookhouse by the 57th Battalion. Throughout the war, Australian troops almost invariably received at least one hot meal a day. The hot food was placed in containers to be taken to the men in the front line trenches. The containers seen in this photo are the same as the shell damaged food container.

Cookhouse

At 10.10pm on 8 July, the north section of the Villers Line was shelled. The food container was standing with others beside the cookhouse in the support line. The cooks of the 18th Battalion were preparing food to send to the front line when a 7.7cm shell hit the container and passed through the double wall of steel and insulation, landing beside one of the cooks. Fortunately the shell was a dud and did not explode, sparing those in the vicinity.

Shell hole entry

Both holes, but especially the exit hole, reveal the red-brown fibre insulation, likely animal fibre, inside the double walls.

Shell hole exit

Insulated double wall hot food container. The container is kidney shaped and has two canvas straps so that it can be worn as a backpack. There is a small stuffed hessian sack near the base of the container to provide some back support. The container has two rope handles to help carry it if not being worn as a backpack.

Shell damaged food container

18th Battalion