Forty members and guests attended the October meeting of the Pembroke Ladies Probus Club at the Cleddau Bridge Hotel.

The raffle was won by Josie Releen.

Once lunch orders were complete, the business section of the meeting over, members settled down to enjoy the speaker, Julie Cooper - My Life in the British Army.

Julie, a local girl from Stackpole, kept the members enthralled with her simple but graphic snap shot of her life from childhood cooking at home, school cookery lessons through her 22 years of army life to being awarded the MBE.

After passing her WRAC initial training at Guildford, she was sent to Aldershot to train as a chef for up to 10 people then to preparing meals in field kitchens.

In the Army Catering Corps, she became a regular soldier, had full military training and as she rose through the ranks not only did her salary increase, but also the responsibilities commensurate with this. She was the first woman to be posted to the Devon and Dorset Regiment where her first task was to prepare the food, including a unique centrepiece for a special party for The Queen and Prince Philip who were guests at a special party of 4000 people.

She was posted to many places, including Cyprus and Germany, as well as troubled areas, including Northern Ireland and the war zones of the Falkland Islands and Bosnia.

In Bosnia, not only was she responsible for providing food for the 1,500 troops of the battalion, but also all the peripheral sections which support the Army while on active service such as the field hospital staff, the patients - many with special diets, plus the animals, dogs and goats. Food also had to be provided to any prisoners, as well as the villagers stranded because of deep snow. She was awarded the MBE for her outstanding work, often under fire.

At the disaster of the sinking of the cross channel ferry, The Herald of Free Enterprise, she not only set up a field kitchen, but had to escort bereaved families to the mortuary.

She recounted amusing tales of her time in Germany, at the Tower of London and of once being helicoptered to an unknown destination where she prepared a meal for Prince Charles.

Julie's success, she felt, was based on the grounding she'd received from her mother to 'clear up as you go,' reinforced by cookery lessons at Pembroke Comprehensive School and by the Army. It soon became obvious to us that this was allied to her capacity for hard work, clear thinking and courage which enabled her to cope with increasing demands on her skills. She was promoted through the ranks from Private to Warrant Officer and awarded the MBE.

One of our members commented: "Julie's talk has made me wonder what on earth I've done with my life." I think we all were in awe of what she'd coped with so successfully.

The vote of thanks was given by Julie's very proud mother, Gwen Smith.

Julie was pleased to accept the club's donation for the charity, SAFFA.

The next club meeting will be on November 19, 11 for 11.30 am, at the Cleddau Bridge Hotel.