Honing field craft skills On the Spring Term Field Day, the Army section deployed to familiar territory in the Nesscliffe Training Area near Shrewsbury, home of our summer camp in 2012. Arriving as night fell, the cadets had to navigate through the darkness to find the Forward Operating Base which was to be their home for the next 24 hours. The Rifle Company built their own shelters to brave the freezing conditions and most slept comfortably, although L.Cpls. Grimwade (5th, NH) and Sacks (5th, NH) went to the extreme measure of contracting norovirus in order to escape!
testing weather to take part in the escape and evasion exercise and in skinning their first rabbit under the watchful eye of Cpl Pippa Hughes (L6, Q). After a round robin of ranges, air rifles, navigation and patrol skills, the Recruit and Rifles Companies recovered to camp for a well-earned hot meal. As ever, huge thanks to all staff who gave up so much time for this important training event. It really does give cadets and NCOs the chance to progress and develop their leadership whilst testing themselves in the field.
The Recruit Company were treated to a range of lectures and lessons courtesy of two expert Rifles staff; Lt Hartley (brother of Geography teacher Miss Hartley) and Cpl Easterbrook, who were kindly seconded from the Infantry Training Centre in Catterick. They were hugely impressed by the cadets and in particular how they ignored the
Maths success
Around 130 Lower College pupils took part in the UKMT’s Intermediate Maths Challenge Competition this term. A national competition run by Leeds University, the questions test ingenuity and mathematical ability. Between them, pupils won 9 Gold certificates, 25 Silver and 28 Bronze. Congratulations to Jeffrey Kwong (4th, BH) who came top of the school and to Tom Dowley (5th, L) and Alex Thorpe (3rd, BH) who topped their respective year groups. With the same paper being sat by all three year groups, the fact that three Fourth Formers: Jeffrey Kwong (BH), Josh Dell (H) and Dmitry Usynin (NH) and a Third Former, Alex Thorpe (BH), managed to bag Golds is particularly impressive! Good luck to Jeffrey Kwong and Alex Thorpe who, having been placed in the top 500 pupils nationally for their year group, will now go on to compete against pupils from right across Europe.
Sword of Honour Parade This term saw the whole CCF contingent assemble for the Sword of Honour Parade, thanking the U6 cadets and recognising their contribution to CCF over the last four years. As is tradition, prizes were awarded, starting with the Adjutant’s Cup which was presented to Jack Forrester (5th, BH) of the Naval Section. The Nash Sword was awarded to Duncan Payne (U6, S), the Nelson Bust to Tom Lowde (U6, S), the RAF
Chocks Away Trophy to Lawrence Xue (U6, NH) for the second year running, the Rifles Bugle to Rhys Edwards (U6, S), the Rifles Sword of Honour to Seth Dowley (U6, L) and last but certainly not least, the RGBW Sword of Honour to Tom Gossage (U6, BH) for being the best cadet from all three sections. Throughout the parade we were thoroughly entertained by Sue Mills’ brass band, followed by a formal dinner for the U6 and their parents. Fantastic entertainment was provided by the Band of the Prince of Wales Division, including formation marching and even a variation of the ‘Post Horn’ which saw a coffee pot and hosepipe adding to the ensemble! Colours were presented, with excellent speeches from Tom Lushington (L6, L) and Tom Gossage (U6, L). The evening was also a chance to thank Major Stephen Clark MBE and his wife Julie who have given so much to College and the CCF over the past two decades; their contribution is hugely appreciated.
Major Richard Penny, CCF Contingent Commander
Flying solo
This term saw Eisuke Sakaguchi (U6, H) fly solo in a glider through CCF. We caught up with him to find out what the experience was like: “The main difference between training and a solo flight was the fact that I was now the Pilot in Command. The
instructor who used to sit on the right seat would not be helping me and I had to take full responsibility of the aircraft operation. It made me realise how sensitive I was to things such as a small change in engine noise or traffic flying the other side of the circuit. These were things that I didn’t really pay any attention to during training. On the day itself, the air condition was really gusty with crosswinds but I was
Gold winners: Tom Dowley (5th, L), Dewi Edwards (5th, S), Ben Traas (5th, NH), Will Moss (5th, XT), Jeffrey Kwong (4th, BH), Josh Dell (4th, H) and Dmitrii Usynin (4th, NH). Missing: Will Donlan (5th, S) and Alex Thorpe (3rd, BH).
Charity donation
Congratulations to Ashmead girls who raised £450 through a House quiz competition. The money has gone to the charity Smile Train which helps children with cleft lips. able to fly just as I would do normally in good weather conditions. It was an amazing experience and something I would never have been able to do without previous flying experiences through CCF. I’ve been finding flying really appealing and this course reconfirmed my passion. I am going to train for a private pilot licence during my gap year and I am hoping to fly as a commercial pilot in the future.”
15