The Sutlers Supreme
10 Groschen Worth of NAAFI History
Austria in the decade after 1945 was a country divided by occupation, shaped by Cold War tensions, and still recovering from the devastation of war. The Allied powers — Britain among them — oversaw not only security and political reconstruction, but also the fragile rhythms of everyday life. Economic hardship, rationing, and the uncertainties of divided governance meant that even small comforts carried real weight.
Against this backdrop, NAAFI’s presence was more than logistical: it became part of the social fabric of service families and their Austrian hosts alike. This chapter traces NAAFI’s Austrian adventure through four distinct settings. First, the families of Operation Henpeck reveal how domestic life unfolded in the shadow of occupation. Next, the grandeur of Villach’s Parkhotel shows how an elite hotel was transformed into a hub of service life. From there, the alpine canteen at Gerlitzen Alpe reveals the ingenuity and resilience behind catering in the mountains. Finally, the Styria Club in Graz highlights NAAFI’s role in building community and comfort beyond the counter. Together, these stories show how official policy and everyday routine intertwined — shaping a uniquely human chapter in NAAFI’s history.
 |
| NAAFI/EFI signboard listing welfare establishments in Austria, reproduced from Welfare Review Austria, No. 16, 5 July 1947. Credit: Paul Brazell, The Austro-British Society Carinthia (The History Project). |
Although the publication does not specify the sign’s location, it is likely that this display stood outside NAAFI/EFI Headquarters in Klagenfurt, then the administrative centre of British welfare operations in Carinthia. Its formal presentation and comprehensive scope suggest an official setting rather than a local canteen or club. If so, the sign would have been one of the first impressions encountered by staff and visitors alike: a concise map of a welfare organisation spread across borders, zones, and very different lived environments.
Operation Henpeck: Families in Occupied Austria
Queues, Hansard debates, and the rhythms of family life together reveal how British households adjusted to life in occupied Austria.
Announced in late 1945, Operation Henpeck allowed the wives and families of British personnel to join them in Austria’s occupation zones. It marked a shift from temporary deployment to something closer to a settled community, with NAAFI tasked with providing Families Shops to meet everyday domestic needs.
Hansard records indicate the scale of demand. By May 1946, 423 applications had been submitted, 315 approved, and 187 families had already arrived. Press coverage soon added human texture to these figures. The Belfast Telegraph pictured Sergeant G. M’Bratney with his wife and daughters in Völkermarkt, enjoying what were described as “ideal conditions” when compared with hardships elsewhere in Europe.
 |
| Sergeant G. M’Bratney with his wife and daughters in Völkermarkt, Austria, Belfast Telegraph, 25 October 1946. |
Domestic routines quickly reshaped garrison life. Shops and canteens now catered for wives and children, creating a more civilian atmosphere within the occupation zones. Occasionally, small quirks emerged. One report noted that British wives, accustomed to post-war queues at home, lined up outside the NAAFI shop each morning despite no shortages — a habit that reportedly took three weeks to cure.
 |
| "Three Weeks to Cure Queue Habit" Shields Daily News, 24 Aug 1946 |
For Austrians, Operation Henpeck brought both pressures and exchanges. Housing and supplies were strained, yet British households depended on local labour and services, while neighbours often offered gestures of welcome. Mrs Lannigan later recalled receiving a bunch of wildflowers accompanied by the message, “Welcome to Austria and much happiness during your stay here.”
The scheme also opened the door to cross-cultural marriages. James Lucas, a British soldier, navigated military bureaucracy to wed an Austrian woman in 1946. Their wedding — complete with a NAAFI-made cake, flowers sourced from Italy, and meals assembled within ration allowances — symbolised how military provisioning and civilian domesticity became closely intertwined.
Operation Henpeck thus marked a turning point: no longer merely a transient force, the British presence in Austria became something closer to a community, with NAAFI adapting its services to sustain family life in a divided land.
.png) |
| NAAFI Gift Shop, Graz, reproduced from Die Britische Steiermark, 1995. |
From Grand Hotel to NAAFI Hub: Villach's Parkhotel
How an elite hotel became a centre of British service life and a symbol of adaptation.
Opened in 1911, Villach’s Parkhotel was once a beacon of refinement, its café and bar frequented by the town’s upper bourgeoisie. More than simply a place to stay, it embodied continuity, cultivated taste, and the social rhythms of pre-war urban life.
.png) |
| Postcard of PARKHOTEL, Villach. (Author's own collection) |
That continuity ended in 1945, when Allied air raids destroyed much of the roof. Requisitioned soon afterwards by British forces, the Parkhotel entered a new chapter — no longer a sanctuary for the elite, but a functional hub for NAAFI and EFI operations. Its marble halls now hosted canteen meals, supplies, and social gatherings, reflecting Austria’s wider story of traditions reshaped and spaces re-imagined.
Yet the Parkhotel’s transformation did not erase its role as a gathering place. In December 1946, Die Neue Zeit reported on a festive event organised there for more than 2,000 local children. British officers and soldiers contributed from their rations to provide sweets and cakes, while Austrian teachers coordinated the day. Mickey Mouse films, music, and variety acts filled the Spielsaal, briefly turning the former grand hotel into a space of shared warmth during a difficult winter.
.png) |
| Report on a children’s Christmas celebration at the Parkhotel, Villach, Die Neue Zeit, 13 December 1946. |
The Parkhotel thus symbolised NAAFI’s dual role: practical provisioning for British families, and a bridge to the local community, offering warmth and neighbourly care in the heart of occupied Villach.
An Alpine Canteen: Gerlitzen Alpe
The ingenuity and humour of mountain catering, where Austrian staff and British routines met at altitude
.png) |
| NAAFI canteen at the Pöllinger Hütte, Gerlitzen Alpe, NAAFI News, April 1952. |
Perched high above Villach, the Pöllinger Hütte on the Gerlitzen Alpe was the only known NAAFI canteen to operate above the cloud line. Reaching it required a remarkable chain of supply: dispatched from Alamein Camp, carried up the Kanzelbahn funicular, hauled by sledge around the mountainside, and finally lifted by chair to the summit.
Here, Mary Howe of Nairn and Winnie Ormerod of Bury ran the snowbound outpost, serving tea, coffee, and hearty plates of ham, egg, and chips to British soldiers and ski troops training in the Alps. Journalist John Arlott noted their cheerful resilience, observing how mountain air and shared camaraderie more than compensated for hardship.
The women shared their quarters with an Austrian couple, the husband acting as storeman and assisting with daily logistics. Such arrangements were typical of NAAFI operations in Austria: local labour provided practical support while also helping bridge cultural gaps, blending British routines with Austrian humour and hospitality.
Improbable though it seemed, the Gerlitzen canteen embodied NAAFI’s adaptability — transforming a mountain chalet into a place of comfort, community, and comic improvisation high above the snowline.
Community and Comfort: The Styria Club in Graz
Partnerships with the W.V.S. and the creation of a social hub beyond supplies.
 |
| The Styria Club (Hotel Weitzer), Graz, reproduced from Reichs-Handbuch der deutschen Fremdenverkehrsorte, 1939. |
By late 1947, the NAAFI Styria Club in Graz had become a focal point of British service life. Housed in a former hotel overlooking the river, it offered far more than meals and sundries. Soldiers could dine in the restaurant, relax in the snack bar, or make use of games rooms, a library, and weekly entertainments ranging from whist drives to table tennis and dancing. A coloured map on display even traced the “Medloc” train route home — a visual reminder of the link back to Britain.
What made the Club distinctive was the presence of the Women’s Voluntary Service. As Miss Rankin, a W.V.S. supervisor, explained in a letter written in 1947, the information desk was not simply a place for enquiries but for conversation, where friendships were formed and the distance from home gently softened. Their green uniforms, familiar from wartime welfare clubs, brought a sense of continuity and care to occupied Austria.
The partnership between NAAFI and the W.V.S. was mutually reinforcing. NAAFI provided buildings, staffing, and supplies, while the W.V.S. contributed warmth, hospitality, and companionship. Together they created clubs with character, each shaped by the personalities of those who worked within them. In Graz, that character was defined by British organisation set within an Austrian environment, animated by laughter, friendship, and the small comforts that sustained morale.
Conclusion: Everyday Lives, Quiet Dignity
The Austrian chapter of NAAFI’s story was not defined by grand gestures, but by the quiet dignity of everyday lives. Families queuing for supplies, staff improvising in alpine canteens, and communities gathering in repurposed hotels and clubs all reveal how service life was sustained in a divided land. These vignettes demonstrate NAAFI’s adaptability and its role in weaving comfort into the fabric of occupation. As the narrative turns towards Vienna and Trieste, the Austrian experience stands as a reminder that history is often carried in the small routines that make extraordinary circumstances bearable.
Part Three therefore closes not with a headline event, but with the steady rhythm of daily life — where NAAFI’s purpose was to make those lives a little more connected, a little more human. There is, of course, more to tell. Vienna, divided yet vibrant, and Trieste, supplied through Austria, both hold further chapters in this story, to be explored in time. For now, the Austrian adventure pauses here, and the history of NAAFI turns in a new direction, ready to uncover fresh ground and invite readers into the next stage of its journey.
🗺️ Mapping NAAFI in Austria, 1945–1955
Known NAAFI and EFI locations across Austria, 1945–1955.
Editorial Note:
Map by The Sutlers Supreme. © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Editorial Acknowledgement:
The author would like to record sincere thanks to Paul Brazell, member of the Austro-British Society Carinthia (Klagenfurt), whose generosity with knowledge, sources, and local context has been invaluable to both this article and Part Two of the series. His work on The History Project has been particularly helpful in illuminating the British presence in post-war Carinthia, and readers are encouraged to explore it further at https://austrobritishcarinthia.at/history/
Further material and discussion relating to the Society’s work can also be found via the Austro-British Society Carinthia Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/austrobritishcarinthia
Sources & References
- Evening News, 10 March 1952. John Arlott, “It Occurs To Me…”
- NAAFI News, April 1952. “Canteen Above the Clouds.”
- Hansard Online. Austria (Families of Personnel), Vol. 423, House of Commons Debates, 21 May 1946.
- Belfast Telegraph, 25 October 1946. “Portadown Sergeant and Family in Austria: Ideal Conditions.”
- Shields Daily News, 24 August 1946. “Three Weeks to Cure Queue Habit.”
- The Tally-Ho, 7 May 1946. “To Austria via Henpeck.”
- Blairgowrie Advertiser, 28 November 1947. “NAAFI Club in Austria.”
- Reichs-Handbuch der deutschen Fremdenverkehrsorte, 1939.
- Die Britische Steiermark, 1995. “Memories of Occupation and Censorship in Styria.”
No comments:
Post a Comment