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ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE
CCF FieldWeekend
Navy
The Navy section visited Portsmouth for
the February Field Weekend. On the first
day we were given a tour of HMS Victory.
We then crossed the harbour in a small
craft and visited the Submarine Museum
at Gosport, the highlight of which was
being shown around HMS Alliance by a
veteran submariner who served during
the Cold War. In the evening we stayed
aboard HMS Bristol on Whale Island.
The following day, half the section went
sailing aboard a 38-foot yacht in the
Solent, breaking for lunch at Wootton
Creek on the Isle of Wight; the remaining
cadets were given training aboard a Navy
powerboat in the Solent and explored
Cowes before heading back to HMS
Bristol in the afternoon.
Army
The Army Section of the CCF had a busy
and varied 48-hour exercise, practising live
firing on the range for the very first time
and rehearsing section attacks using blank
ammunition (left). In addition, the Fifth Form
cadre braved the frost and cold to gather
intelligence, conduct a night ambush against
the enemy and plan a dawn attack on their
compound; a fitting and successful end to a
demanding exercise.
Cadets Joyce Yao (
YK Pao School, Shanghai
), Anton
Frieser (
German School, London
) sailing past a Type
45 destroyer
RAF
Following their visit to the Imperial War
Museum London on the first day of the
Field Weekend, the RAF Section spent the
second day at RAF Halton. Known as the
‘Gateway to the Royal Air Force of the 21st
Century’ the base is now a centre for basic
recruit and trade training. The cadets were
given a number of practical challenges to
emphasise the importance of teamwork and
communication; several budding engineers
successfully designed their own aircraft! After
lunch in the Junior Ranks’ Mess they visited the
Trenchard Museum, named in honour of the
founder of the RAF and where items related
to the history of RAF Halton are preserved
and displayed. The lucky few were able to sit
in the cockpit of a Red Arrows jet or try out
the flight simulators.
Zoey Flynn (
Dragon
) and Reha Soni (
Danes Hill
) at
the Trenchard Museum sitting in a Folland Gnat,
a jet trainer from the 1960s
Left to right: Annabel MacDonald-Smith (
Farleigh
),
Ilana Cope (
Cherwell
), Iona Anderson (
Windlesham
House
), Ella Mival (
Godstowe Prep
), Lucy Hope
(
Dragon
) and Octavia Hamilton (
Packwood Haugh
)
Brigadier Rob Thomson, the Rifleman for
Oxfordshire, visited the School in March to
present CCF Contingent Commander Nick
Coram-Wright with our refurbished Sword
of Honour. Brigadier Thomson also took
the opportunity to talk to our cadets about
leadership, focusing on his role as the senior
British officer to oversee the withdrawal
of UK troops from Helmand, Afghanistan,
in 2014.
Casper Sunley