‘Bless these Australian nuts’: A fruit cake and VB English tradition
Williams joined the British Army in 1949 and badged to the Welsh Guards. He saw service in Egypt, Germany and the UK. He migrated to Australia and joined the Commonwealth Police, the forerunner of the Australian Federal Police in which he served at Maralinga in 1963, later retiring as a station sergeant in 1988.
This year Ivor Williams, who served with the British Army and the Australian police, was given the honour of cutting the cake.Credit: Jenny Magee
In the great hall, designed by Sir Christopher Wren as a dining room, the chaplain blesses the cake in rhyme: “So let us now bless these Australian nuts – in the cake I mean – to feed our Chelsea guts. We now implore your blessing upon this Australia fayre, and keep our friendship with a joyful air.”
“This cake and ale ceremony has come to symbolise for us the warmth and camaraderie that you cherish between us,” governor of the Royal Hospital, Sir Adrian Bradshaw, told the Australian contingent.
The cake is divided up and shared among the pensioners to enjoy over the festive period. The VBs were for drinking straight away.
The ceremony survived the pandemic, albeit it was socially distance and held in the courtyard.
Chelsea Pensioner Arthur “Skippy” Teasdale, who served in Korea, spent 44 years living in Australia. Credit: Jenny Magee
One in-pensioner who wouldn’t have missed this day was Arthur “Skippy” Teasdale. The 94-year-old completed his national service with the Royal Air Force in Germany before a nine-month deployment with the Durham Light Infantry in the Korean War.
He and his wife later migrated to Adelaide as “10-pound Poms”, where he worked on powerlines, including at the Woomera Rocket Range. After the death of his wife and 44 years in Australia, he returned to the UK and found himself at Chelsea.
“They look after us so well here,” he says. “We’re all mates and look out for each other. My sons are in Australia, but I wanted to come home. I brought my nickname back with me!”
