COMBINED CADET FORCE The Army Section has been disbanded at our own request; but it is hoped that in time we shall start it again. We did not have enough cadets in it to make it work well, and it would have been invidious to 'draft' recruits into the Section when there was room in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force Sections in which they had chosen to serve. These two sections continue to flourish. We are very grateful to HMS Caledonia for taking the diesel boat Valley' into their care for the winter and giving it a splendid refit, and to the Royal Engineers for bringing a crane to lower Valley' into the Ouse again after her return from Rosyth. The RAF Section's Hang Glider has not yet made its mark on the history of flight, but persevering enthusiasts have high hopes; well hopes anyway. The Annual Inspection on June 4th was favoured by excellent weather, and the Inspecting Officer, Major General G. de E. Collin, M.C., proved to be as shrewd and sympathetic a senior officer as any we have had in our time here. Some of the comments of the accompanying Staff Officers were, however, open to question, and we are questioning them as we have sometimes done in previous years. It does seem that staff officers need to be clear about what they are looking for at an Inspection, and by what criteria they ask their questions and make their reports, otherwise they are not very useful to us nor to the close association that should exist between the Services and the CCF. The Officers of our Contingent were well pleased with the efforts of the Cadets, and we thank Mr. Pemberton and Mr. Riley for adding some excitement to the occasion by the lead they gave to the excellent Wind Band. We hope to revive the Corps of Drums, 'The Band' as we used to call it, and to give its members a proper share of CCF time for practice. We are very pleased to welcome into the Contingent Pilot Officer P. G. Wise who will of course be on the strength of the Royal Air Force but will co-ordinate the training of the first year boys who will form a preCCF for their first year. These boys will have the option of enlisting in the Royal Navy or Royal Air Force Section at the end of their second term, and thus qualifying to attend a camp in the Easter or Summer holidays with the service of their choice: they will, however, continue their general training with the pre-CCF until the end of the school year. The training will be such that a boy who wishes to pursue the Duke of Edinburgh Award from his second year onwards will have done a good deal towards the Bronze Award standard: so we hope to make the best use of the resources of the CCF within the school generally. D.G.C.
ROYAL NAVY SECTION As usual, our thanks are due to CPO Ingrey for his regular and patient instruction throughout the term, and especially to H.M.S. Caledonia, our parent establishment at Rosyth. After a complete overhaul by the Artificers there, Valley' was returned in time for Inspection and re-launched with the help of an Army crane. Lockable covers have also been installed to discourage boarders. A party of a dozen new recruits from the third form visited H.M.S. Caledonia over the weekend before 23
