
OMUTHIYA SPECIAL
The obverse of the solemn pledge of loyalty was a more jovial tradition. On the evening following the pledge of loyalty, all new members were expected to dring an “Omuthiya Special” from a fire bucket, as the water bottle’s canteen cup was universally nicknamed. This was a ferocious drink consisting of whatever was available in the unit bar at the time, although the bulk of the drink was made up of Stroh rum. There is no formal recipe for the Omuthiya Special because the ingredients, apart from the rum, varied from one occasion to the next – the RSM was the designate “potion master”, and the precise mixture of the firewater that was added to the rum usually depended on his mood.
This made for some rough passages, it needs hardly to be said, and the effect tended to be equally rough; form many a newcomer, swallowing it was often the last clear memory he retained of the evening’s festivities. The hard men who managed to remain compos mentis after downing their Omuthiya Special often claimed a remarkable physical metamorphosis occurred in the brief space of time imbibing the last drops of the Special and replacing the empty fire bucket on the table; their legs turned from flesh and bone to rubber, and remained that way for the rest of the evening…