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District piping competition
On Sunday 14th February the unit sent teams to Abingdon to take part in the piping and drill competitions. Both of our piping teams were successful with the seniors taking silver and the juniors (pictured) taking gold.
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District drill competition
Despite a very young and inexperienced squad our cadets put on a fine display. On first in near freezing conditions the squad did well to hold on to their weapons - and fix bayonets in the conditions, but did this very well.
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Haiti collection
The cadets of our unit have contibuted to send a cheque to UNICEF to help their fellow young people affected by the earthquake.
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Remembrance parade at Newport Pagnell
Sunday 8th November saw the vast majority of cadets and staff on parade at Newport Pagnell for the annual Remembrance Sunday parade and service. A wreath was laid on behalf of the unit by Cadet Aimee Hooke-Goodrum before the last post and minute's silence.
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Cadets sail on Condor Ferries
During the half-term break two parties of four cadets, one of each gender, took up the generous offer made by Condor Ferries to experience life at sea. They steered the ship in and out of harbour and visited the engine room, experiences not available to paying passengers. The opportunity was also taken to view St Peter's Port harbour while the ferry was reloaded.
Special thanks to PPO Joy Tilley (pictured) who gave up vauable holiday to take both parties.
We expect to continue to send our older cadets on these voyages with day trips on the catamarans for younger cadets.
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A busy autumn for the greens
Our Marine Cadet detachment has been far from idle over the last few weeks, starting with a field assessment weekend at Aldershot in September. The detachment was rated "good" overall with cadets and staff gaining levels 3 and 2 instructional methods qualifications respectively.
Their activities continued with a shooting weekend at Longmoor where MCs Cassidy and Connolly and A/Cdt Pegrum (a blue) all experienced live firing for the first time and A/Cdt Pegrum proved to be one of the best. This was followed by an assault course where MC Connolly demonstrated that small size was no bar to surmounting the largest obstacles. Once again, thanks to Sgts Riley and Cross for running the course.
The greens also contributed a good detachment for the district Trafalgar day parade at Chesham where our unit was by far the largest present. Sgt. Green also attended a staff training camp at Bicester as an admin instructor.
L/Cpl. Kemp was successful at his MC1 promotion course in October, congratulations! Two other cadets did not pass but learned a lot... better luck next time.
Finally, Sgts Riley and Cross completed their blank firing safety supervision courses, the first step on the ladder to weapons instructor while TI Pickles completed her first aid course.
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Range Weekend for Greens
On Friday 4th September a party of six Marine Cadets and four staff under Sgt. Green attended Browndown camp near Gosport for a range and military skills weekend.
During Saturday all cadets and staff gained or renewed their weapons handling qualification and all cadets gained a shooting award with L/Cpl. Kemp achieving advanced level. Sqt. Green ran the range assisted by P/Sgt. Coller.
Weapons training continued into the evening including a blank firing demonstration and a presentation by the RAF Regiment of new weapons and equipment coming into service and the associated tactics. Cadets were also shown weapons types used by the Taliban. Senior cadets were taught by P/Sgt. Collar to conduct briefings using the NATO sequence of orders.
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March and shoot competition
Sunday brought a fresh challenge requiring a half-mile speed march, two circuits of the assualt course and a sprint to the 25 metre range to load and fire 15 rounds at a moving target and finally a speed march back to the start. The teams in which our cadets were included came first and second. Sgts Riley and Cross ran the assault course while P/Sgt. Coller kept score assisted by MC2 Duncan who was injured and unable to compete.
All cadets gave 100% effort but special mention must be made of MC2 Tyler who overcame his fear of heights to complete the assault course three times. In addition to those already mentioned, MC2 Walton and MCs Austin and Lambert completed the weekend.
The journey back to MK took in a vist to the Royal Marines' museum at Southsea and ice creams courtesy of P/Sgt. Collar.
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We affiliate to a merchant vessel
Since RFA Orangeleaf was scrapped we have been without an affiliated ship but not any more.
Thanks to the initiative of Michael Snell, our treasurer, we are now affiliated to MV Commodore Clipper and her sister high speed catamarans.
Commodore line operates between Portsmouth, Poole and Weymouth to the channel Islands and our older cadets will be able to take an overnight voyage in the 13,000 tonne Commodore Clipper(pictured) while younger cadets will take a day trip in a catamaran.
Our cadets will have the run of the ships, under supervision, and will be able to put their skills in everything from navigation to cook/steward into practice in a real ship.
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Cadits sail in Commodore Clipper
No time was wasted in cementing our relationship with Commodore line as Ordinary cadet Thomas Snell and Junior cadet Matthew Snell travelled to Guernsey, their father's original home, for a family holiday.
As promised, they were allowed onto the bridge to experience the complexities of navigating such a large ship in confined waters. In return, a photograph of our unit was presented to Captain Peter Grounds as a small token of our appreciation.
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Awards Evening
Our unit was well represented at the Armed Forces day parade at Aylesbury with our OiC CPO(SCC) Cole and Sgt Cross taking a strong detachment. Cllr. Janet Blake was so impressed at the bearing of our cadets that she agreed to present the awards on July 19th following our AGM.
A good number of parents and siblings attended, despite it being the start of the school holidays and many proud cadets departed with their trophies.
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Marine Cadets' camp
July saw Sgt. Green and five Marine Cadets attending Oakhampton Battle Camp, Sgt Green as a member of the directing staff and the cadets in Zulu Company.
The company staff reported well of our cadets' motivation and team work in a demanding environment and adverse weather conditions. Special mention should be made of MC2 Bell who came in as a last minute replacement and L/Cpl Kemp who gained his full-bore marksman's badge.
The camp was honoured to receive several VIPs over its duration including Vice Admiral Sir Jonathan Tod KCB CBE, MSSC Vice President, Major General A Salmon OBE, incoming Commandant General Royal Marines and Captain Mark Windsor RN, the incoming Captain, Sea Cadet Corps.
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Annual Royal Navy Parade
Each year a serving officer, on secondment to the Sea Cadet Corps, inspects the unit and makes his assessment of its performance, so every effort is made to impress him.
The evening started with Commander Andy Giles, Royal Navy, being welcomed aboard. He inspected the Guard before the colours ceremony when the ensign was raised.
After inspection of the remainder of the ship’s company, the cadets performed various evolutions to demonstrate their skills and teamwork before Commander Giles presented awards and addressed the ship’s company to congratulate them on their turnout and enthusiasm.
The evening closed with the Sunset ceremony followed by a buffet for all , including many parents and siblings who attended the evening.
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City Mayor is Guest of Honour
Also present for the evening was City Mayor, Cllr. Euan Henderson who watched proceedings with considerable interest. He enjoyed the musical drill display and was fascinated by the explanations of the various customs and traditions being observed by the cadets, staff and inspecting officers.
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Award for our 1st Lieutenant
Sgt. Andy Fisher was awarded the prestigous Sport MK volunteer of the year award in March for his services to sport in the community. While this was for his activities outside Sea Cadets, he has also been busy organising waterborne activities for the coming months which will represent a quantum leap over what we have been able to provide over the last few years.
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Greens grow
Our Marine Cadet detachment is now 16 strong and looking forward to getting out in the field this spring and summer.
Their detachment commander, Sgt. Lloyd Green (pictured), recently gave much of his own time to attend training courses and gain Royal Navy level 2 first-aid and command qualifications. It is only by such selfless committment that we are able to send our cadets out into the field to enjoy the activities that they joined for.
During June and July Sgt Green was Range Conducting Officer for the Combined Cadet forces annual camp as well as providing similar service for Eastbourne and Woking SCC units. It is incredible that Sgt Green has also found the time to pass his shotgun skills course and hopes to qualify as an instructor in order to provide yet another avenue of endeavour to our cadets.
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Greens at Stony Stratford fair
Once again, our Marine Cadet detachment led by Sgt. Lloyd Green were present at Horsefair Green to assist with erecting stalls and to man our stall. This help was greatly appreciated and mention of the polite and helpful behavior of our cadets was made to our chairman. A "guess the weight of the bergan" competition was held and the winner kindly donated the prize back to the unit.
Our thanks to Sgts Cross and Riley, L/Cpl Allen and Mc2s Kemp and Mears for giving up their bank holiday to support the event.
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Greens' summer camp
T.S. Whaddon's Royal Marine cadet detachment have just returned from Zulu company's annual camp at Brunswick Lines at Pirbright.
While there they undertook a 36 hour exercise, did live firing with the cadet's 5.56mm weapons system, the assault course (pictured), swimming, air rifle shooting and visited the Royal Marines' museum.
Mc2 Woodruff achieved "marksman" grade for shooting and Mc2 Duncan "basic" grade, while all cadets were awarded camp craft qualification.
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Assualt course supervisors
The assualt course activity, mentioned above, was only possible due to the sacrifice made by Sgts Riley and Cross who gave up even more of their time to qualify as asault course supervisors, the only staff in the company with such skills. This resulted in all cadets on camp, not just our detachment, being able to undertake this activity. It proved to be very hard work for all concerned but this only added to the sense of achievement and enjoyment for all concerned.
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CADETS VISIT NELSON'S FLAGSHIP
On Saturday 12th July PO W.Nash & CI D. Gibbs Along with 3 other members of staff took 18 energetic juniors and cadets for a fun and informative day visit to Portsmouth Dockyard, while they where there they visited HMS Victory, Action Stations (an interactive exhibit) and the Royal Navy Museum.
A great but exhausting time was had by all. At the end of the day they finished off with an hour on Southsea sea front.
The cadets had such a good day that they have requested a return visit, This is in the pipeline this time incorporating a Harbour trip and HMS Alliance (a WWII submarine), so keep your eyes peeled.
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CADETS GET YEARLY AWARDS
On Tuesday 24th June the unit held its AGM and annual trophy presentation, This is when the staff and committee at the unit get chance to thank the cadets and parents for their cooperation and help, and present awards to cadets and juniors for their efforts throughout the year.
Awards are presented to Best Male and female cadets, Best Female and Male Junior, Best Marine. Other awards include Best Dressed, Best Sportsperson, Most Improved, Best Division, In all we presented 14 awards to show our appreciation for all their hard work.
A big thank you to all whom attended this very successful evening and look forward to your continued support.
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Offshore sail training
In March four of our cadets went to sea on the sail training ships T.S. City Liveryman and T.S. Vigilant.
Sailing from Gosport, the cadets were soon involved in hoisting and trimming the sails, steering the ship and, when the wind got stronger, taking in a reef. Two, who shall remain nameless, also enjoyed the experience of seasickness!
At the end of the week Petty Officer Cadet Avery-Hawkins and Able Cadet Pickles were awarded their RYA Competent Offshore crew qualification whilst Able Cadet Gibbs and Ordinary Cadet Stewart gained Offshore grade II.
All cadets thoroughly enjoyed the very challenging week and wish to record their gratitude to HSBC for their generous contribution to the cost of their courses.
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Staff training
In order to train our cadets properly we have to train our volunteer staff. To this end, Sgt Green recently completed the 4 day tri-service short range conductors course and the one day tri-service small arms ammunition storemans course at Browndown camp in Gosport. Sgts Cross and Riley both completed the tri-service assault course instructors course at Browndown and also the Sea Cadet instructors Qualifying course at H.M.S. Excellent in Portsmouth.
PPO Wallace also completed the Sea Cadet instructors Qualifying course.
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District Drill Competition
Sunday 24th February saw the units of Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire district assembling at RAF Halton for the District Drill competition. As Usual, there was a strong contingent from Milton Keynes and as usual, trophies were lifted!
MK were adjudged the best unarmed squad and its commander Petty Officer Cadet Avery-Hawkins won both best squad commander and best dressed cadet awards.
Well done to all who competed, trained and supported our teams.
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District Piping competition
The same date and place was also the venue for the District Piping competition. Our Juniors did us proud with Junior Cadet Spruce taking first individual and Junior Cadet Jones coming third, our unit also taking the junior team trophy.
MK came second overall in the combined drill and piping award.
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Retirement of Chairman Syd
On Friday 22nd February our monthly divisions (where the cadets dress in their best uniforms and are inspected by the Officer in Charge) was dedicated to bidding farewell to our retiring chairman, Syd Shadbolt.
Syd has been with the unit for 20 years and chairman for ten after service as a commando in WWII and then as a fireman in London and Milton Keynes.
Syd was piped aboard and was the invited to inspect the guard and ship's company before being presented with a pair of decanters from the staff and cadets and gardening vouchers from the committee. A bouquet was presented to Joan Shadbolt in recognition of her tolerance of Syd's frequent absences on Sea Cadet business. "A first class parade" and "smartly turned out" were Syd's reactions; the evening concluded with a buffet supper for all present.
On 1st March fifteen staff and committee dined Syd and Joan out at a local restuarant where a certificate of appreciation, signed by the commandant of the Sea Cadet Corps, was presented to Syd.
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Lions roar for T. S. Whaddon
On a very wet Saturday 8th December, a contingent of cadets, staff and committee were delighted to take delivery of a baggage trailer thanks to the generosity of Stony Stratford Lions. Lion Verdun Webley handed over the trailer and said how pleased they were to help an organisation that had helped them in the past. Proceedings were ended with three hearty cheers for Stony Stratford Lions.
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District football trophy
The first weekend of December saw our unit retaining the overall district football trophy with an outright win in the junior boys' event and and a combined MK and Banbury junior girls' winning their category. With a runners up spot this was sufficient to take the trophy back to Kiln Farm. The icing on the cake was the best player awards to Leading Cadet Stutina Hawkins and Able Cadet Scott Oliver.
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Remembrance Sunday Parade
On Sunday 11th November a large contingent of our cadets under the command of CPO(SCC) Trevor Cole were present at local ceromonies to mark this solemn anniversary.
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Trafalgar parade at Abingdon
Twelve cadets under the command of CPO(SCC) Trevor Cole took part in the district Trafalgar day Parade on Sunday October 14th. Six of our cadets were in the guard, maintaining our tradition of more than pulling our weight in supporting district activities.
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Meet the Marines
Our Marine cadet section were active again over the weekend of 13/14th October when they met the Royal Marines at Caldecote lake. Eight cadets under the command of Sergeant Paul Riley participated in various activities including riding in a "Rigid Raider" craft on the lake, drill, PT and paintballing.
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Marine's weekend at Marchwood
9 cadets and 2 staff spent the weekend of 10th - 12th August at the Sea Mounting centre at Marchwood for fire-fighting and first-aid training. The course was given by the Defence Fire Service and consisted of the following modules:
The chemistry of fire and use of extinguishers
First Aid and casualty handling
Use of the light portable pump
Hose running and branch holding
Initial firefighting (practical)
A very instructive day was enjoyed by all and all cadets passed the course and were awarded their certificates.
On Sunday the cadets visited the Royal Marine's museum at Eastney where a great deal was learned about the history of the corps.
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Marine Cadets' Summer Camp
Three instructors and seven cadets attended the annual camp at Fremington in Devon from 14th - 21st July. They enjoyed a plethora of activities including shooting, quad biking, clay pigeon shooting, climbing, abseiling and the assault course. Their day started at 06:00 with PT and often went on to 19:00 (7 p.m.) but despite the efforts of the RM recruiting team running the camp our cadets were always ready for more.
MC2 Stewart gained his basic shooting award but the fun was not confined to the cadets when Sgt. Riley and T.I. Cross had a flight in a RAF Sea King helicopter and Sgt. Green had a "coming together" with his instructor on a quad bike!
All returned tired but triumphant, with experience which will stand them in good stead in their futures both as Marine Cadets and as young citizens.
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Area Kayak Championships
After their clean sweep at disrict level, our canoeists found the opposition at area level far tougher but were second Senior Boys and third Senior Girls. Well done to all concerned.
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Local MP is guest of honour
Present as guest of honour was local MP Mark Lancaster, who is a Major in the TAVR. Mark commented on the smartness and enthusiasm of the 35 cadets on parade but was surprised to learn that the running costs of the unit have to be raised locally. He wished us well for the future and expressed the hope that our efforts on behalf of the young people of Milton Keynes would receive more official recognition and support.
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Retirement of our president
Present at the parade for the last time was our president, Major Steve Nicoll RM with his wife, Helen. Their retirement to Scotland makes it impossible for him to serve us further and he will be sorely missed. A memento of the unit was presented to him by Major Henderson and CO Trevor Cole.
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Cockleshell heroes
The weekend of 2nd/3rd June marked the district Kayak championships and the unit entered a team drawn from bothe the Sea Cadets and the Royal Marine detachment. It proved far too strong for the opposition and the trophy was won by a margin of over 100 points. Well done to those who competed and to those who organised and supported the event.
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A wet yomp for the 'Greens'
On a very wet spring bank holiday weekend Sgt. Lloyd Green led a party of instructors and Marine cadets to Ash Ranges in Surrey where they completed an 11 mile sponsored yomp to commemorate the Falklands conflict of 25 years ago and to raise funds for Falklands charities.
All of our unit completed the course and £170 was raised; a report and picture appeared in the Woking local newspaper, though not of the exhausted cadets and at least one instructor sleeping through the return journey!
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Kayak success for the 'Blues'
Over the Mayday weekend four of our female cadets attended a Kayaking course and all were successful in gaining their 'one star' qualification. We hope to have many more cadets afloat during the summer.
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'Greens' hit their target
Over the Easter weekend our Royal Marine cadets (the 'Greens') visited Bicester for a shooting weekend. They fired both small-bore and full-calibre weapons and all achieved at least the basic qualification with some gaining advanced and one taking the small-bore prize. A good time was also had by all off the ranges and we wish to record our thanks to the staff at Bicester for making us so welcome.
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Vernon Trophy
The unit was suprised and delighted to learn that it had won this national award for engineering. This is awarded for both cadet attendances on engineering courses and the unit hosting training weekends. Our Commanding Officer, CPO(SCC) Trevor Cole is seen here with the award.
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District Shooting competition
On Sunday 14th January a team travelled to Abingdon for the district shooting competition. Despite being a cadet short due to illness they secured third place. Well done to all concerned.
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