On April 14, 1945, officers and men of a Spitfire wing queued for morning refreshment at RAF Matlaske in Sussex, England. The Australian War Memorial's photographic caption identifies the supplier as a tea wagon operated by the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes, or NAAFI.
A mobile service could bring drinks to the people who needed them, but it also concentrated service through one vehicle. When many personnel shared a short break, an orderly line formed even inside an operational air station. The catalogue describes only “morning refreshment”; it gives no price, headcount, or waiting time, and those details are left unknown.
Histories of a fighter wing naturally emphasise aircraft and missions. Daily operations also depended on small acts of supply, including a drink for aircrew and ground personnel. The distinctive feature of this queue is not simply tea. Instead of making the unit travel to a permanent canteen, a shop on wheels arrived at the unit—and the morning organised itself around the wagon's serving point.