Summer CCF Camp in Devon
In late July, 56 members of Caterham School CCF participated in the highlight of the Army Section’s training year: annual Summer Camp, this year based at Okehampton, Devon. The four sections were immediately pitted against one another in a competition which rumbled on through the week, testing the cadets in drill, fitness, first aid, on the air rifle range and the obstacle course. After a short night’s kip, Day 2 saw the contingent cross into Cornwall where the CO ran a terrific live firing marksmanship package at Millpool Ranges near Bodmin. The cadets honed full bore marksmanship at 100m, engaging targets from the kneeling, sitting and prone positions while their peers raised and lowered the targetry from the butts as bullets whistled over their heads. Strong shooting from Cdts McMillan D, McMillan J, Woods-Scawen and Rooney won them a place in the final competition shoot, but LCpl Mulcaire proved unbeatable.
A two-day marine AT exercise occupied Monday and Tuesday. First, cadets undertook a demanding sea kayaking expedition around the Devon coast from Goodrington Sands, navigating themselves, practising casevacs at sea and exploring the coves and outcrops that make this part of the world so beautiful. After a day’s paddling, the party landed with spirits undampened and, after some seaside cricket and fish & chips, pitched camp on a hill above the water at Watcombe, telling stories and jokes around an open fire and belting out the National Anthem with a gusto that belied their fatigue. And then it was wetsuits on and to sea again, this time having fun on giant paddleboards and hurling themselves from rocks and cliffs as they coasteered the stunning shoreline around Anstey’s Cove.
Our fifth day took us to Hound Tor on the east of Dartmoor. Beneath warm summer sunshine, the cadets explored this extraordinary terrain, navigating in sections to various stands where they climbed up, abseiled down, scrambled across and weaselled under the rocky crags. And so, we came to the last phase of camp: Ex Scraesdon Tiger, a two-day battle exercise in and around a Palmerston fort. In testing heat, cadets were trained in fighting in this new environment before embarking on an exercise like no other, patrolling through dingy rooms and sepulchral tunnels, abseiling into a moat; breaking into the fort through mouse holes and providing fire support from high on the ramparts in one of the most demanding and unusual exercises Corps has run. The surprise arrival of an ice cream van as ‘ENDEX’ was called only broadened the smiles on the cadets’ faces at the close of Friday afternoon.
And so, to our last day, a final parade offering the chance to reflect on a wonderful week. All the cadets received the OC’s warmest commendation for their efforts, and some were singled out for special awards, among them Cdt Donovan (Best Cadet); Cdt Robertson (Most Improved); LCpl Mulcaire (Best Shot); and Cpl Rooney (Best NCO). Behind the success of the camp were, as ever, my positive and indefatigable colleagues, to whom I am tremendously grateful, and our outstanding Upper VI SNCOs. The latter, many veterans of Master Cadet and Cambrian Patrol, are our annus mirabilis and this was their last time in uniform with Corps – how we can survive without such remarkable young leaders is at the time of writing unimaginable. Inspired by them, the whole contingent should be very proud of how amply they displayed the values which are integral to our movement: courage, commitment, self-reliance, discipline, service and friendship.
Capt Mathew Owen
OC Army Section
