Tea and wads

[boxer]

My father used to use this phrase for a cup of tea and a snack.What is the meaning of wads and how did it get it's name?

[CiPHerTeach]

It seems that your father was in the services or he picked up the phrase from someone who was!
Tea and wads is phrase linked with visits to camp NAAFI’s or dispersal huts.

[Quizmonster]

'Wad' was popularised, as outlined above, in Services' slang from around the time of World War 1. However, it had been used to mean a lump of any soft, pliable substance as long ago as the 1700s. In fact, the earliest use of it in that way reads: 'Eyes like two dead beetles in a wad of brown dough." So, a lump of dough has been the making of a bread roll, which is basically what a 'wad' in this sense is, for quite a long time.

[boxer]

Yes my father was in the army in WW2. Thanks to you both for your comprehensive answers.

[wienlieber]

I believe it derives from World war two armed forces/national service ( coscription ) slang for cup of tea and slice of cake or a sandwich.