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FORTHCOMING EVENTS 2010
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13th Feb - Valentines Disco
Free entry, food available.
Venue @ Walsall HQ
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17th Feb - RMR Familiarsation Visit
Venue @ HMS Forward, Birmingham
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20th Feb - 1 Troop Drill Competition
Venue @ TS Vernon, Birmingham
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EVENTS 2010
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RMR Familiarisation Visit
Walsall Marine Detachment spent an evening with the Birmingham Detachment, RMR Merseyside @ HMS Forward in Birmingham.
The visit included an outline to the Royal Marines Reserves, aswell as some weaponary demonstations.
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Mercia District Drill Competition
Well done to the Sea Cadets who took part in this years Mercia District Drill Competition.
Walsall entered all 4 disciplines this year, achieving the following results:
Armed - 3rd
Un-Armed - 1st
Colour Party - 2nd
Piping - 3rd
Well done to the Un-Armed team who will now be going to Area and represent Mercia District. Also, well done to AC K Hartley who won best Squad Commander for the 2nd year running.
BZ to all cadets that took part.
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Previouisly....
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National Drill Competition
During the weekend of 25-27th April 2008, Cadets from Walsall & Perry Barr Marine Cadet Detachments took part in the annual battle for the National Marine Cadet Drill Championship at HMS Raleigh, Plymouth under the scrutiny of the WO2 Thrift and his team.
A close competition ensued as the cadets representing 1 Troop - Alpha Company (South West Area) took on the might of cadets from X-Ray (Eastern Area), Yankee (Northern Area) and Zulu (Southern Area) Companies under the watchful eye of Sgt V Wagstaff and Sgt B Burlace.
The hard work and dedication from the Cadets over the last few months proved worthy as they walked away with trophies for Best Arena Display and Overall winners, making them 2008 National Marine Cadet Drill Champions.
This is an excellent achievement for all cadets and staff involved from both units. They will now be looking forward to the Annual Trafalgar day parade, London in October where they will be representing Marine Cadets Nationally.
BRAVO ZULU
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Ex Royal Star, Alpha Company Easter Camp
Sgt Wagstaff, 7 Marine Cadets and 1 Sailor travelled to Caerwent Training Area to take part in Alpha Companies Easter Exercise. This is the first Company Exercise that Walsall MCD have taken part in, in over 2 years and from the feedback received all Cadets had a great weekend and enjoyed all aspects of the training.
Qualifications were gained from this weekend including Basic Camp Craft, Advanced Camp Craft and Weapons handling.
We now look forward to Annual Camp, to be held in August 08.
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Electrical Engineering 1st Class
Cpl A Bellingham attended the Electrical Engineering 1st Class course at HMS Gannet, Scotland. After a week’s hard work and exams, he successfully passed the course becoming 1 of 7 Cadets in Britain to have both Marine & Electrical Engineering 1st Class Qualifications.
A huge congratulations to him, he now hopes to go for his Cadet Instrutors later this year.....Good Luck
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South West Area Drill Competition
A huge congratulations goes out to the Cadets from Walsall & Perry Barr Marine Cadet Detachments, who joined forces to take part in this years Area Drill Competition.
After an exciting weekend, a lot of hard work and an excellent drill display helped the lads win 2 out of the 3 main Marine trophies.
Best Guard - Walsall / Perry Barr
Best Guard Commander - Cpl B Wood, Perry Barr
Runner Up Best Dressed - MC2 Kennedy, Perry Barr
This is an excellent achievement which only leaves Nationals for the Cadets to show that they are the best in Britain.
Good Luck, we have complete faith in you all.
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Mercia District Drill Competition
Well done to the Sea Cadets who took part in this years Mercia District Drill Competition.
Walsall did not enter an Armed or Unarmed squad as they have in previous years however, they entered a Colour Party which is something they haven't done in a long time.
The Colour Party consisted of A/C Gripton, O/C Oakley, Cdt Wright, Cdt Hartley & Cdt Wilkinson who stepped upto the mark as the Colour Party I/C.
The Cadets did really well, but unfortunately they did not get through to the Area Competition.
Well done, a really good effort by all. Lets look at entering all 3 next year!!
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South West Area Administration Award
A BIG congratulations to Mrs Chris Harris who has won the South West Area Administration Officers Award for 2007.
This goes to show how much hard work she puts into the Unit as our Admin Officer. Chris takes care of all Unit Administration ranging from Course Applications for the cadets, Royal Naval Review Reports & documentation, correspondence and much much more.
You are an asset to Walsall Sea Cadets and we thank you for all your hard work you have put in over the past years.
Thank you and once again, Well Done.
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1 Troop Drill Competition
Well done to Walsall Marine Detachment who took part in this years 1 Troop Drill Competition. After a Full Dress Inspection and Drill Display we came away with a very respectable 2nd place.
Overall Guard - Runners Up
Runner Up Guard Commander - Cpl A Bellingham
2nd Place was an excellent acheivement for the Detachment as we only had 5 Cadets participate, out of a possible 13.
The Winners, Perry Barr MCD, unfortunately are 5 Cadets short for the Area competition, therefore Walsall will be joining forces with them and work together to Win the Area competition. This will be held in March.
Well done everyone, good effort!!
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2007 Effeciency Award
Walsall unit has been awarded a Pennant for 2007. This award is gained throughout yearly assessments, finalised by the Royal Naval Unit Review.
BZ to all the Unit Staff, Cadets, Committee, Parents & Supporters and everyone else who has supported us throughout 2007!
Lets make 2008 an even better year and aim for the Burgee.
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Mercia District Seamanship Competition
Well done to L/C D Hartley, A/C S Gripton, O/C P Oakley, Cdt D Wright, Cdt Wilkinson, Cdt P Hollyhead & Cdt K Hartley in this years District Seamanship Competition. The team came an impressive 2nd overall, only 9 points behind the winners and one position up from last years result.
Unfortunately, the team dropped points in the chartwork section. They will now work on this and look at winning next years competition.
BZ all and thanks also to PO Brake who helped train the team.
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National Drill Leader
On Sunday 2nd September Sgt V Wagstaff travelled down to HMS Excellent, Portsmouth to take part in the National MC Drill Leaders Course.
After a long hard week of Dress Inspections, history tests, drill practice, presentation and assessments Sgt Wagstaff passed the course and is now one of a select few who can be called a Drill Leader. On top of this, she has also become the first and only Female Drill Leader within the Sea Cadet Corps.
Well done, an excellent acheivement!!
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1 Troop Field Assessment 2007
Well done to Walsall Marine Cadets who took part in this years field assessment. The section was lead by Cpl Bellingham and after a successful weekend they walked away with the highest grade possible....Very Good.
This is a excellent result, BZ to all involved.
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RYA Safety Boat Course
On Sunday 18th February Sgt Wagstaff and PO Hughes travelled to HMS Raleigh, Plymouth to take part in a Safety Boat Course.
After a lot of hard work and effort they both walked away on the Friday with an RYA Safety Boat Ticket.
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Sea Cadet District Drill Competition
Well done to the Sailors of Walsall Unit who trained and took part in this years District Drill Competition. The Un-Armed Squad lead by L/C Hartley came 4th and the Armed Guard lead by L/C Collier came 3rd.
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MCD Troop Drill Competition
Well done to Walsall Marine Cadet Detachment. After taking part in this years Troop Drill Competition, they came away with 2nd position behind Perry Barr MCD who came 1st.
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1 Troop Field Assessment
Well done to the Marine Cadets from Walsall Unit who took part in this years Field Assessment. The section consisted of: L/Cpl Bellingham (Section Commander), MC2 Buckland (2IC), MC2 Evans, MC2 Boulton, MC2 Kelly & MC2 McQuaide
After alot of hard work and training the lads came away with a GOOD Grading, Only 2 marks off a Very Good. Good Effort lads, lets get the Very Good next year.
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Rememberance Sunday Parade
On Sunday 12th November TS Vanguard took part in Walsall's Annual Remembrance Day Parade. The whole Unit including Parents and Supporters marched from Walsall Sea Cadets HQ into Walsall Town Centre where they joined up with the main procession.
After being led off by one of Walsall's top Brass Bands, the Unit gave their Salute past the Carless Memorial and then past the Mayor and dignitries, finally arriving at the Cenotaph where the Unit took their place and the Marine Guard got into position. The Last Post and Reveille were sounded by Sgt Wagstaff and a Reef was laid on behalf of Walsall Sea Cadets by Cdt L Bellingham.
After the main parade, the Unit then made their way back to the Carless Memorial (Able Seaman John Carless was killed at the naval battle of Heligoland Bight on November 17th 1917 and was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross). Again the Marine Guard and Bugler took their positions and the rest of the unit stood back with a number of spectators looking on to. A further reef was laid by CPO I Bullock, again on behalf of Walsall Sea Cadets.
In all, the Cadets worked extremely hard and did TS Vanguard Very proud. Well done everyone.
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After a Years Hard Work.....
......L/Cpl Bellingham and MC2 Buckland passed their 1st Class Marine Engineering.
On Sunday 5th November L/Cpl Bellingham and MC2 Buckland travelled upto HMS Gannet in Scotland to attend the Marine Engineering Course. After a week of hard work they both came home with their 1st Class Qualification. This is the First 1st Class Specialisation for both of them.
Well done lads, you've done really well.
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District Seamanship Competition
A BIG well done to Walsall's Seamanship Team who took part in the Mercia District Competition on Sunday 5th November. The team consisted of L/C Collier, L/C Hartley, A/C Gripton, A/C Kirk, A/C Poulton & Cdt Oakley
After a lot of hard work and effort the Cadets came away with 3rd place, only 7 points behind the winners and a tiny 2.5 points behind the second place team.
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Normandy Trip
On Friday 20th October 38 people from TS Vanguard started their journey to Caen in Normandy, France. The Coach set off from Walsall HQ at 0715 to start the long journey down to Dover, accross to Calais and then onto our Hotel in Caen.
Saturday saw us visit the Merville Battery Site, located on the East bank of the mouth of the River Orne. Then onto Pegasus bridge to view the museum and the famous Cafe Gondree.
The Saturday afternoon took us to the D-Day museum in Arromanche then onto The British Commenwealth Wargraves in Bayeuax which holds 4868 graves. Here we paid tribute to our war heros by laying a wreath.
Sunday started off with a trip to Longues Sur Mer, again to see some German Batteries however this time they were coastal. We then made our way to Colleville American Cemetery which overlooks Omaha Beach. Again we paid tribute to our war heroes and laid a wreath. Colleville holds 9386 graves.
On the Sunday Afternoon we went to Ste Mere Eglise to visit the Airborne Museum then finally followed by a trip to Pointe du Hoc.
Our last full day on Monday saw us have fun and a more relaxed time as we travelled to Paris. Here we spent the day in Disneyland, I think some of the adults enjoyed it more than the Cadets!!
In all the trip was very enjoyable and everyone enjoyed many different aspects of it. Hopefully we shall be arranging another one for next year, possibly in Germany.
Please keep an eye out in the Picture Gallery for photos of our trip.
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Downsman Hike
On Friday 6th October 2 Staff and 6 Cadets made their way to Burgess Hill, Sussex to begin a weekend of Communications for the Downsman Hike.
The Downsman Hike is an 80 mile walk over the South Downs Way which is organised every year by the Scout and Guide Associations of East and West Sussex starting from Buriton going through to Eastbourne.
The Sea Cadets are asked to supply a Communications team to work along side the 1st Burgess Hill Scout Group. Throughout the weekend they provide an extremely important job by acting as Check Point Stewards for the teams taking part. Their job is to relay the times and details for each team passing through their Check Point back to HQ.
The Cadets did very well, as some of them were out until the early hours of the Sunday Morning.
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