42 NAVY NEWS, JULY 2010


Link with home is reforged


A CHARITY link between a Scottish unit and a care home has been revived thanks to the efforts of a member of staff. Alan Duff, the Officer in Charge


of Methil and District unit, and his partner Andrea McRoberts took part in the Scottish Two Day Marches to raise funds for Erskine Home in Edinburgh, a nursing home for ex-Servicemen and women. Based at Garelochhead training camp near Helensburgh,


the


Scottish Marches are a qualifying event for the British military contingent aiming to take part in the Nijmegan Marches in the Netherlands. It involves an 80km road march


covering harsh terrain. Alan and Andrea presented a cheque for £654 to Erskine Home fundraising manager John Fyfe – and the marchers said they hoped that the event would help rekindle the relationship between the two charitable organisations which had fallen away in recent years.


Chatham celebration


THE spotlight may have moved on, but Chatham is not bowing out.


The Historic Dockyard on the


Medway was centre stage this time last year, hosting the first Armed Forces Day national event. This year that honour goes to Cardiff, but Chatham is still welcoming members of the Armed Forces and veterans to the yard. And the event, due to be staged


as Navy News went to press, will also feature major participation by Sea Cadets, Air Cadets, members of the Army Cadet Force and CCF contingents, as Chatham marks the Cadet 150 anniversary – including an inter-cadet field gun competition.


CADETS from across the UK may be looking forward to using the new training centre at Weymouth, but they will also get a chance to look back as well.


The new centre, TS Duke of


York, represents a major facility in the borough of Weymouth and Portland, which will host Olympic and Paralympic sailing events in 2012.


But woven into the fabric of


the state-of-the-art complex is a historic strand.


Although the centre will mainly offer sea training, there is also


Big day for grand new Duke of York


a sports hall with an impressive climbing wall. Called the Willis Hall, it is named after a sailor who served in HMS Poppy, and who was later a member of the Flower-class Corvette Association. Annie Seymour,


“across the bay” in Portland, and noted that the Corps was a very important part of youth development in the country. Southern Area Navy Board cadet


Association


treasurer and daughter of founder member Cyril Stephens, said the £45,000 legacy from Mrs Willis helped with both the sports hall and the cadets’ lounge, known as the Convoy Room because of the corvettes’ wartime role. For the official opening ceremony around 50 local cadets met guest of honour Admiral Sir Jonathon Band, the former First Sea Lord, who unveiled a plaque and watched a club-swinging display by Dartmouth unit and a performance by the Portland and Weymouth Corps of Drums. Admiral Band said it was a great honour to officiate at the opening of the “fantastic facility.” Among the other VIP guests


were Valerie Pitt-Rivers, the Lord Lieutenant of Dorset, and Cllr Paul Kimber, Mayor of Weymouth. A letter from the Duke of York,


the Admiral of the Sea Cadet Corps, recalled that he spent a good part of his Naval career


l Stonehaven’s junior section crew, who took part in a fun race at the Grampian District regatta – front to rear, Rosie Hall, Danny Caine, Emily Martin and Kirsty Lawson


A half-ton of pride


HONOURS were shared between local rivals Peterhead and Stonehaven at the Grampian District regatta. Hosts Peterhead proved their


girls had the edge in both age categories, taking the Open and Junior pulling titles. But Stonehaven managed the same feat in the boys’ competition.


pulling


Both Stonehaven boys’ pulling teams progressed smoothly to the London showdown in the first week of September, where they will defend their national titles alongside their boat handling compatriots and colleagues from


And when it came to boat handling, the visitors were on top of the oars, but Peterhead reigned supreme in the power section. The two units then combined to ensure that Grampian District would once again be prominent at the ExCeL Centre in London’s Docklands – and it will be the 50th year in succession that Stonehaven has represented the North.


l Loughborough cadets with their trophies after the District pulling regatta at Northampton. The boys’ team won gold in the Open category, and will this month compete at the Eastern Area regatta. The unit’s juniors also won, but the girls lost narrowly to Northampton


crew coxswains were LC Michael Smith, LC Michael Blacklaw and OC Liam Parker.


Peterhead, Greenock, Newburn and Chester-le-Street. The successful Stonehaven


POC Paul Huggett (standing in for his South Western Area colleague) was also there, performing his duties diligently despite the fact the Hastings cadet had a maths A-level the following day. Two members of the


Submariners Association London branch, Ian Tyson and Bob Nunn, were also there to present a plaque from the wall of HMS Dolphin; the men had been impressed by the Corps when London cadets were brought in to help run a centenary remembrance service at Westminster Abbey in 2001. Sea Cadets have trained in


Weymouth for 30 years in the Nothe, but TS Duke of York – led by CO Lt Cdr (SCC) Dave Bradford RNR – will welcome Army, Air and CCF cadets as well. It can accommodate 62 cadets plus 18 volunteers, and features a main deck, the Taranto indoor shooting range,


classrooms, a


dining room, galley, a ward room with spectacular views, a cadet mess and offices. Cadet training at Weymouth


l Cadets demonstrate the new climbing wall at TS Duke of York in Weymouth


Whitehaven detachment maintains standards


THE fledgling Royal Marines Cadet detachment of Whitehaven unit has again proved itself up there with the best in only its second field assessment weekend. The section of eight Royal


Marines Cadets achieved an overall rating of ‘good’ – and it was so nearly even better. Sgt (SCC) Simon Gray, Whitehaven’s Royal Marines Cadet Detachment Commander, said: “The team scored 60 points overall.


have given them a ‘very good’ assessment, and they were only two points short of being the best performing detachment during the weekend.” Whitehaven unit’s Commanding Officer Lt (SCC) Peter Lucas RNR added that even though the team had not won they had been singled out for praise as being “head and shoulders above the rest” in most aspects of the assessment.


“I am extremely proud of all those who took part,” said Lt Lucas.


will focus on developing the skills required to handle anything from a single-handed sailing craft to a high performance mono-hull, while for adults the emphasis is on powerboat and safety boat handling. Courses in navigation, marine


engineering, shooting and cook stewarding will also be offered, and over the next 25 years the centre expects to welcome some 280,000 cadets and 90,000 volunteers. The new centre also offers


facilities to Weymouth unit TS Boscawen (whose members helped ensure the opening ceremony ran smoothly) and an Air Cadet unit. The new building is funded by Defence Estates, the Royal Navy, MSSC, trusts and foundations and individual members. Captain Sea Cadets Capt Mark Windsor said: “This is a very proud and important day for the Sea Cadet Corps, and a huge milestone in delivering this new, state-of-the-art facility for Sea Cadets and other forces as well. “I think it signposts the way to the future for the cadet movement, and hopefully many thousands of cadets will enjoy the opportunities afforded by this facility well into the future.”


Ely stages special service


EAST Anglian cadet forces combined with the Cambridgeshire Regiment Old Comrades Association for their annual commemoration service. It ensured a special day for


both veterans and their youthful comrades drawn from units across the county.


And the relevance of the event,


part of the Cadet 150 programme, was reinforced by the fact that the founder of the Army Cadet Force 150 years ago was Octavia Hill, from Wisbech in Cambridgeshire. A commemorative service taken by the Bishop of Huntingdon took place in Ely Cathedral, during which a specially-made casket containing the remnants of previous Regimental Colours was brought to the altar on behalf of the OCA by POC Lily Freeman of Cambridge unit, the Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire’s Cadet.


The Colours had previously been laid up in the cathedral but had become too fragile for normal display.


The service itself was designed for both the veterans and cadets. After the service a parade was


staged, with the salute being taken by the Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire, Col Hugh Duberly, accompanied by Maj


Gen John Sutherell (Rtd) and a plethora of mayors and other VIPs from across Cambridgeshire. Cdr Stuart Watt RN, Deputy Area Officer East, attended the event and was accompanied throughout by Eastern


Stefan is becoming something


of an old hand at this sort of high-profile event – he was one of seven Sea Cadets who met the Queen in February at the start of the Cadet 150 calendar. Static displays were provided in


the cathedral grounds by all the cadet forces, the Sea Cadets being represented by Mildenhall unit – technically an interloper, being in Suffolk, but actually the closest unit to Ely.


The Sea Cadet platoon from


two different districts comprised cadets from Cambridge, Wisbech, Mildenhall and Peterborough and was led by Lt (SCC) Amanda O’Donoghue RNR, the CO at Cambridge.


The predicted rain fortunately


held off, but low cloud prevented a planned flypast over the cathedral by the Historic Battle of Britain Flight.


Area


Navy Board Cadet, POC Stefan LeRoux, also from Cambridge unit.


“This was only the second assessment in which our cadets have taken part and was a terrific achievement for them. “It also reflects well on the


quality of training delivered by our detachment staff.”


Last-minute visit proves big success


EIGHT pupils from the CCF (RN) section at the Duke of York’s Royal Military School got the chance to visit HMS Monmouth when the frigate visited Dover. Although all from military none of the pupils’


families,


parents were in the Navy, so this was a chance to see what the Senior Service is all about. The visit was arranged in less


than two hours – Monmouth was spotted by an eagle-eyed member of staff that evening as she sailed into the Channel port. But despite the lack of time, a commendable effort


by the


frigate’s officers meant the cadets were soon learning about life on board, touring the bridge, the ship control centre, the ops room and the hangar in the process. Highlights were perhaps not


surprisingly the guns and missiles for’ard and the tour of the Merlin helicopter aft. Two hours after the cadets


went shoreside the Black Duke was off again, helping escort the ‘Little Ships’ across the Channel from Ramsgate to Dunkirk in the Operation Dynamo 70th anniversary commemorations. For a report on the


h “One more point would


80x42 Portrait (col)_Layout 1 14/06/2010 commemorations see p11


SUPPORT YOUR SEA CADETS


Volunteer, donate or even leave a legacy


Visit sea-cadets.org or call 020 7654 7000


A charity registered in England and Wales 313013 and in Scotland SC037808


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