Brigadier Tim Carmichael, a British soldier with Headquarters, Allied Rapid Reaction Corps at Imjin Barracks, England, dips bread into a runny egg as part of a successful attempt to set the Guinness World Record for most people simultaneously dipping soldier-shaped bread into runny eggs on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014. Carmichael, along with 177 other NATO servicemembers broke the record to promote a fundraising campaign by Winston's Wish, a children's charity. (LaSonya Morales/Courtesy of NATO)
RAF MILDENHALL, England — A total of 178 NATO servicemembers at Imjin Barracks, England, helped a charity for bereaved children by setting a Guinness World Record for the number of people dipping strips of bread, called “soldiers” into soft-boiled eggs simultaneously.
Winston’s Wish, the charity that organized the event, announced in a Wednesday release that it achieved the world record. The charity staged the event to promote a campaign to raise 50,000 British pounds (more than $82,000) to support children who have lost someone close them, such as a parent or sibling.
U.S. Army Sgt. Jessica Smith said dipping and eating the bread in unison was not that difficult since she just followed the shouted instructions. The hard parts were making certain she got yolk on the bread and then swallowing it.
“The taste of it was semi-raw,” Smith said in a phone interview. “It was not all the way cooked, so that’s what made it difficult for me to swallow because it was very gooey.”
Despite the taste, Smith was happy to have participated.
“It’s once-in-a-lifetime,” Smith said. “I guarantee you that probably won’t happen again unless it’s a charity event.”
A post on the Guinness World Records website confirmed the charity broke the record for “the most people dipping egg soldiers simultaneously,” and a Guinness representative said in a phone interview that the previous record was set in June 2012 in London by 100 members of the British army.
Brigadier Tim Carmichael, a British soldier with Headquarters, Allied Rapid Reaction Corps at Imjin Barracks, England, dips bread into a runny egg as part of a successful attempt to set the Guinness World Record for most people simultaneously dipping soldier-shaped bread into runny eggs on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014. Carmichael, along with 177 other NATO servicemembers broke the record to promote a fundraising campaign by Winston's Wish, a children's charity. (LaSonya Morales/Courtesy of NATO)
To break the record on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014, soldiers with Headquarters, Allied Rapid Reaction Corps at Imjin Barracks, England, had to dip soldier-shaped bread into an egg four times. (LaSonya Morales/Courtesy of NATO)
The eggs for the record-breaking attempt were boiled by catering staff at Imjin Barracks and donated by Creed Foodservice. (LaSonya Morales/Courtesy of NATO)
