CCF
Round-up
by David ColeN
umbers have remained
very high this year, with
many 6th formers opting
to stay on as senior
NCOs. This is obviously
a good sign that the CCF
is offering the right mix of activities and
leadership opportunities, and 25 62 NCOs were
honoured at the CCF dinner in May. Yet again
King's had another Lord Lieutenant's Cadet
appointed, with Lucy Barker continuing a long
line of successful cadets, and the Summer term
ended with news that next year we would have
two more Lord Lieutenant's Cadets in Fleur
Netley and Charlie Morris. The appointment of
SLt Mark Smith to run the Royal Navy section
has proved a great success and his numbers
have improved significantly over the year.
Field Days
We had two Field Day weekends this year.
Unfortunately, foul weather in October meant
that overnight camping and bivouacking were
out of the question, but the Army and Royal
Marine sections had a good day at Merrifield,
the Royal Naval section went sailing at
Wimbleball and Dartmouth, and the Chindits
spent the day on the Quantocks.
The Summer term's Field Day weather was
much kinder and the Army 4th form, led by 61
NCOs, had a 24-hour exercise on the Caerwent
Training Area in South Wales. The Royal
Marines 6th form were taken on section attack
drills, assaulting tors on Dartmoor, and the 4th
form went climbing and sea canoeing in North
Devon. The Naval section had two days of
excellent sailing weather on Wimbleball.
Meanwhile all the Chindits had an adventure
day at the River Dart Country Park,
experiencing rope slides, rafting and obstacle
courses.
CCF Competitions
King's came first in the annual Cadet County
Competition held at nearby 40 Commando,
Norton Manor. A mixed section of Army and
Royal Marine cadets tackled the series of
stances ranging from first aid to navigation,
shooting and a stretcher race, winning many of
the exercises.
A well-practised Royal Marine section, led by
Tom Dunham, came fifth in the country in the
Sir Steuart Pringle Trophy. The team had been
getting up at 6.30am most mornings in the
first three weeks of the Michaelmas term,
practising drill, field craft and weapons drill to
compete in the arduous two-day competition
based at Lympstone.
Ten Tors
Our three Ten Tors teams all successfully
completed their routes, and thanks must go to
the team managers, Sgt Mason, Captain
Belfield and Lieutenant Denning. The senior
55-mile team of Tom Dunham, Tom Le Gallais,
Charles Marr, Chris Morris, Grant Little and
Tom Walters have stayed as a team since they
were juniors, and this was an excellent way to
round off their time in the CCF at King's.
Aluredian
22