The St. John Camp Cadet No. 1 (Saturday 1st August 1953)

& real enjoynent.

pitching tents till there were no more tsnts to pitch.

"Splendid,'' we said, "and, by the way. where's your own tent?"

Desr Muffi, it's roining cots dogs ot Stubbers

rnHIS is how mam,y cadets at the Coronation Camp in Essex r began fheir fitst letters home. But before the day was out, the'sun was smiling on ther rain-soaked fields, and the grin'andrbear-i( exp,ressions worn by all the campers turned to smiles of

Rain was pelting down when the great day dawned. Indeed, some of the 140 officers already under canvas were woken at three in the morniug b1, the patter of the first heavY shower.

Then came some 14 hours of unremitting rain-vital hours for cadets arriving frorn all parts of the countrr. laden with luggage and faced *ith rh. immediate task of setting up their tents.

The spirit .of these cadet$ was something to remember. Several had been travelling all night, Yet when Camp Commandan,t, Dr. KennedY, called to them: "Are You downheatted?" there was onlY one answer.

"Not half!" rePlied a grouP of Ambulance Cadets from Leicestershire, but the grins on their faces showed that their answer, too, was the same.

THE FIRST ARRIVAL

The first cadet to arrive at the camP was 19-year-old Emma lgnacio, who also had the distinction of being one of those frorn the most distant parts.

Her home is in the Fort Hali area of Nairobi. where her father is a famous and well-resPected KikuYu chieftain. Emma arrived on FridaY nisht.

tirst to arrive on Saturday were 2l Nursins and Ambulance Cadets

From Lanc*ashire, with one Ambulance officer and two Nursing officers. ther pass"d through the gates of Stubbeis iust after nine o'clock.

We niet some of these earlY arrivals in the administration tent attached to the Nursing Cadets' camP, where a lady whose name we unfortunately missed was doing yeoman work as the officer in charge.

ALL NIGHT JOURNEY

Cadet Superintendent, Mrs' Car,ter. of Lancaster. told us theY had lefi Lancaster on the 9.45 p.m. train the previous night and had arrived in London at 3.30 a.m.

"What did you do then?" we asked.

"Whv." she said. "we went to see Covenf Garden"which is not a bad wav of filling in the early hours.

Two 6l Mrs. Carter's Protegees had come all the waY from Barrow-inFurness, which looks a long waY from London on anYbodY's maP!

Over at the Ambulance Cadets' camp we found a sPlendid man in charse-Deputv Commissioner H. J. Harr'is. from - Herefordshire. His lieutenant on the job, CountY Cadet Officer I{. N. Beckett, is from Cheshire.

Mr. Harris drew our attention to , ;;;r;-;i New Zealand cadets who weie pitching tents. in all the rain. as fast as theY could go.

We sPoke to Cadet Officer Cilbert' who wis superintending these ladsand doing a good bit of lhe work himself.

He told us theY intended to go on

"Oh. we haven't got around to that one yet,"' he told us.

Bravo, New Zealand! What a grand spirit this shows.

In a motor-coadh at the disembarking centre, we found a PartY of girls from Spaiding, in Lincolnshire. gazins out at the rain. - "What about getting your tents up?" we asked them.

- "Ohl" they calmly rePlied, "the Ambulance cadets from Bourne are seeing to {hat. But we shall Probablv -have to do their washing-up lor them tomorrow!"

Most of the nursing cadets were less fortunate, having to brave the .rain themselves. But theY worked with a will and there was a forest of tenls on ttreir site bY tea time.

This story cannot close without a glance at the two gallant cameramen Irom Wallace Prodttctions, who were making a cinema newsreel for the Children's Film Foundation. The'ir names: Jimmy Ewins and RalPh de Larrabeite.

When the rain was at its heaviest these two were out with their camer&cheerfully getting shots. The cadets adored them.

LADY MOUITTBATTEIT SEITDS GREETIITGS

Sir Otto Lund, Commissioner'in' Chiet. St, lohn Ambulance Brigade' has'receired the following telegrom from the Superintendent'in'Chief.

"Mv warmest wishes to all at' tendine the Coronation Cadet Camp and my real disappointrnen't at ndt be,ine ible to he present. 'I shall be thin[ins of vou all so much.

Erlwii'a llountbatten of Burma"'

ELEPHANTS AND ALL

f F 1ou were a Cadet in lndia 5ou 'f would riot be surltirised il 1ou uere told to retch an eiephant to use as a ferry 1rl rescue people slranded in their houses in the floods. Nor: wouid you think twice when askecl to g;ve lirsl atd lor.nake or scul.pion bites.

Dr. Handickar, of Inciore, said so when askcrl to give examples of any accldenr;s and emergencies which Cadels might have to deal with in lndia.

I nere a,:e nearly 400 caciets in India todrr: the iuniols act us nlcssenHers ano -runn:ri. Front l4 uP*ards all cadets have to Pass first aid examinations and the girls have to Pass in home nurslng irs wei1. At fairs, cinemas and festivals Ainbulance ( adJls arc expected to fend(r c\eI) sort of tirst atcl duty; the girls wolk onll in pc()ples'houses and do not appear ar public lunctlons' 'bne unuJual aspect oi cadet work in tndia is the LYCie Ambuiancerwo bicvcles riddsn parrcllel * ith a carpet iiretch3t 5lullg be,u een them, li it rains much more at the camp vou wili no doubt be relieved to "know that though he has no eleohattt" L)r. handlekar is quite used io rwintming,hrougn lndran floods rvith ropes to toei people to safety -get your tow-ropes t'eady.

KIWTS I{ERE TOO

f F I ou haPPen to have lallen ovet' 'L i larg" recl tu.em Pole. as we have, done be worried, Yo.u qe still at Stubbers. The truth is that the New Zealanders are with us. , You will alreadY have read how the New Zea\and Cadets, having arrived early just went roun-d lookine for tenls to Pul uP. When You ha.-re seen thelr national danccs you wili not be sulprised that th3y have so much energy'

Anvone raho ian gYrate in the uaY that ihey do in the Maori dances' will fin<i tent-erecLing mere play'

- Ail cadets are reminded that the formal opening of the camP bY the Lord Liiutenant of Essex takes piace at 3 P.m. todaY.

' This will be regarded as a rehearsal for the visit of H'R.H. Princess Margaret.

So polite about our English Yveather

/-\VER:r cun ol tea wc mel ten U .l.o* uetl Springbuks + all in remalkably good cheer in spite ol a thorough drenching.

We asked: "What do you think of oul weather'J"

"Weli," said one of them (sureiy the politest of rvomen), "it has been very nice up to now."

And this afier ten days in Engiand!

These cheery people fron-r Soulh Africa informed us that ihey represcnred tlru largest ovcrs-as contingent.

Nioreover they claimed to have brought with thern the youngest nulsing cadet from overseas-Barbara Riggs, of Johannesburg, who is oniv eleven.

l-he\ also claimed thai the only male imong them, Colps Officer W.

Ooerheard

at the fielcl kitcfun, as the gollatrt W.l ,5. slurcLl otr itt a tropical do--rtpotu':

"l'nt aJraid it n,ilL HAVE to be u puddirtg rtott'."

T ltt tltortpltLct'o.\\eLl (,ttt ttlittJ illtot rros ii l|lEANT 1,, h,'?

Sweet, of Capetown, was the oldest cadet officer fiom abroad to visit the camp.

N41. Sweet confided to us that he was 62 and added that it was 34 vears since he last saw England.

"

THE DAILY POINT ER

'TrHE eighr points of rhe uhire cross E v, hich is th.' svmbol ol cur Order of St. John of-Jerusalem. can be interpreted in various ways. Those of us who are cadets are farniliar with the designations shewn in the Preliminaly First Aid Course. r,vhere the points represenl certain charact:ristics which a St. John member tries to develop so as to carry outhis work prop:riytact. resource, dexterity, sympathli. perseverance, discrimination, erplicitness and observation.

But the de-'per truth and meaning of these eight points merits consideration. for as vie know from our St. John prayers the eight points of the cross represent the eight Beatitudes.

For each day, then. of this .camP, Iet the meaning oi each in lurn of these Beatitudes be in our minds.

Before considering the fit'st one, it is useful to think a moment of the circumstances leading up to the time when. in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus.pronounced the eight Beatitudes.

THE TIIGHEST VALUES

Then followed the Sermon on the Mount with the eight Beatitudes. The Beatitildes paint a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His perfection. Christ sets before us the highest scales of human and spiritual values bv His character, and in rhese Biaritudes he reveals, one by one. the characteristics by rvhich we may 'try to achieve a lilieness to Him. The Sermon on the Mount is -not only meant for the individual-it is also the 1aw for societY, for. the social community is made uP of grouPs -of individuali, for Jesus taught that the individual does not eNisi outside the community of his fellow men, nor the community without the individual.

\*'e asked: "What was the weather like then?"

I{i:t answer has been censored.

In charge of the six Nursing Cadets from South Afr"ica was Mrs. E. Robertson. of Johannesburg, and another cadet officer.

With Mr. Sweet from CaPetown came R.egional Superintendent N4iss W. Pugh.

* SPRINGBOK: A denizen of South Africa.

Some regard the eight Beatitudes as four blessings balanced by four wo-es. So Moses declared the biessings for obedience and the curses for disobedience of the 1aws. There would aoDear to be actuallv nine Beatitudes in 'the sense that each begins with the word. "Blessed," but verse 5 may ire a doublet. and in the eleventh verse "rhe thought" of verse tqn is .eo.ir.a with thi verb in the second nJr.on. so that Matthew ma1 have inrended indeed onlY seven. as the seven petitions in the Lord's prayer

ALL THE HEALTH

{Continued fru,nt the previou.s poge) and the seven parables. The word "Blessed" represents a Hebrew word meaning almost "congratulations to."

The order in which the eight Beat.itudes foliow one another is as importanl as their substance. foI they wurk up lo a climax and so lead us to rry lo climb rhis spiritual mouniain. step - bi step, until the 5ummit is evJntuallv reaihed.

rAO T]NST BEATITUDE

o'Blessed are [he poor in spirit, for theirs !s ihe Kingdom of God."

We all want to be blessed-we say " God bless you " often enough to someone to whom we have cause to t'e thankfui; we say "God bless you" often as a farewell, as we say "Coodb5e" or "Cod be wilh you : so we long to be blessed. we Pray Io be trlessed. But we have to earn the xight to be blessed, and we lealn that in these eign't Beatitudes. "Blessed are the poor in sPirit". How can this be understood'l SurelY this means spiriluai dependence on Goda compiete dependence on Him and His wiil-poverty renders people dependent on otheis, the Poor must accept, the poor can onlY rePaY in gratitude. - "In spirit" means PovertY in a spiritual sense not in a worldly sense. Jesus then teaches us that we are ail p,;or in thaI we are His children, utreily dependent on Him. and that when'we understand this meanrng ol poorness as dePendence on Him, Siessed rve shali'be, and so receive 'the reward of the Kingdom of God, q]r as Mattheiv often uses it-the Kingdom of ileaven. to which, in the .future, ail the "blessed" are heirs.

CALL AT THE PRESS TENT

and order lor your friends noii at the camp. :

I. THE CAMP CADET ; 2s. the series post free i

2. THE CAMP HANDBOOK:

3d. to St. John members ! 6d. to non-members (Postage 2d. extra).

ARRAB{GEMENTS IN SAFE HANDS ARE

A N-YONE who falls iil at Slubtrers can be su"ie of, imrnediate and ex. n pelt arfen,ion. The health arrangements are in excellent han<ls and ahe carmp hospital is a rnodcl of its kind.

Meet your Carl. p Co*unandant

There ale two main tents, one for boys and one for girls, each with ten beds. ln addition there are two isolated t'ents with three beds in each.

A1l food for patients will be prepared in a mobile canteen which has come all the way from Stafl'ordshire specially for the purp,ose. lt is staffed by people with a knowledge of invalid diets.

In charge of the health arrangements generaliy is Dr. A. Walker, frorn Staffordshire. and 1o help him thero's Dr. J. Richmond, of Wolverhampton.

Matron of the camp hospital is Miss C. Neal, a qualified hospital maLron f rom Somerset. "fhe sanitary arrangements are above reproach. Extreme measures have been taken to avoid any possibility of infection.

Nursing Olilcer Miss Durrant is lesponsible for this.

OYER FROM CAI{ADA

f AMPERS ttl .\r. lolttt, I v'clc,'nrc tJ vr// r,t Strtbhcrs.

Never in the histor,r of the Brigade and nol since tlte days when the Knighrs Hospitallers v,ere in Ma'lta, has so grenl o concotlrse of persons bearing the eight-pointed cross canped togetlter. We haye a.ssembled lrom n1ltty p{trts of the globe, ond the eyes ol the Contntonwealtlt and Etnpire ilre Lrpotl this c:antp ctver whiclt thc bonners ol St. loltn have been utrfrtrled.

'l'lris cantp is in celebration ol the Coronation ol Her Ma'jesty Qu.een Eliz,abetlt II, and I trust.thot eaclr and cvert ntenther itl it will do his or her best to ntoke it a lestivol v:orlhy Df this great event.

This is our opportilnity of demonstrating the standord ol St. lohn t:nrnping-let us nnke it a high one. Wltether you have come from near or far, I ltopt'tltat 1,ou will enjoy tlte <:amp, and tlte octivities, tours and entertainments tlrut hove heen prepured for you,

F. R. B. II, KENNEDY, C orttrt ris.sio tte r, 3

A charming overseas lepresenta- tive whom we met .in the Press tent was Lieut.-Colonel Mrs. Ronald Back. irorn London, Ontario. Her smart g!'ey uniform, we noticed, showed the eflect of rain even more clearly than tbe black uniforms worn by United Kingdom ofTicers.

Mrs. Back had brought with her from Canada two Grand Prior Cadets, Irene Trowsdale. of Victoria, British Colurnbia, and Margaret Davies, of Ottawa.

Margaret is to receive her Grand Prior's badge on Wednesday from her royal namesake. She will also receive a special service shield for 200 hours of voluntary public duty.

A lourth Canadran representarivc at the camp is Cadet Superintendent Mrs. N,nabel Sampson, of Victoria, B.C. She wasaiready in Engiand.

HER DAY WILL COME

An optimistic arrival at the camp on a day when everlone was thinking in tcrms of ho, colTee and olher warming comforts was Area Cadet Officer M iss Ayres.

She is Oflicer Commanding ice cIeam.

ALL CAMP

TIME TABLE

Owing to the large number ol entries received it has been necessarv to limit the number of Cadets taking part from any one Unit in any one event. Unit Officers have received a list of entries anld where the number exceeds the lirnit they will have to decide who sha'll compete bearing in mind that competitors of all ages should be included in the te+m events.

Salturday .Afternoon (immediatell' the Formal OPening has been completed)

FIRST AID

(A) Unirs: I to 8 9 tot6

1'7 tt: 21 22 Io 27

(N) Urzirs: 51 to 55

56 to 61

62 to 7O

71 to 80

81 to 88

flhe winning team from each Section will compete in the final competition)

BEDMAKTNG

{A) Units: I to 18 19 to 27

(N) Unir.s: 51 to 54 55 to 59

ABOUT OUR COMPETITIONS

Sunday Afternoon

CIIILD WELFARE

(Nr Urrlls:

to

(A) Urrits: I to 27

(The winning team from each Section will compete in the final competition)

CADET CAMP CONIPETITIONS

Wanted offers to help to judge the preliminary tounds of ,the First Aid (team). Bed Making (pairs), Child Welfare (indfvidual), Road Safety (indivldual) and Fire Fighting (oral) tests.

Marking sheets will be supplied. Times of iudging as given in time table.

AII offers to Camp Cornpetition Secretary.

F[R,E FIG}ITING

(A)

(The winning team from each Section will compete in the final competition)

(N) {/rzits:

to 88

(The three, Cadets from any one Unit in the Section will comPete in the Three-man hYdrant Drill)

${onday Mornlng: CTIILD WELFARE FINALS

(A) AND (N)

Road Safety: Eliminating rotrnd.

(A) Uttits

1to6

7 to 15

16 to 19

20 to 27

(N) Units

51 to 58

59 to 70

71 to 80 81 to 88

(The winning entrant from each Seciion will compete in the fina1 cornPetition)

Monday Afternoon: SPECIAL COMPETITION FOR TTIE'SPRINGBOK' TROPHY

Overseas members will comPete itl PAIRS and two representative pairs (one of Ambulance Cadets and one of Nursing Cadets) will be selected to represent the Home CountrY. The Sureeon-in-Chief tMajor A. C White Kiox, O.B.E., M.C', M.ts,' Ch.B.) will judge this event.

Tuesday Afternoon: ROAD SAFETY FINALS (A) AND (N) (Competitors should bring pencils with them.)

FIRE FIGIITING EVBI{TS to be iudged bv members o[ the Essex County Fire Brigade.

Thursday Afternoon: FIRST A{D COMPETTTION FINAI-S (A) AND (N) BEDMAKING'COMPETITION FrNAr_rs (A) AND (N)

Should it be necessarY to alter anY of the timings announcements will be made in the CamP NewsPaPer. ' 21st JulY, 1953.

O.C. Camp ComPetitions' G. E. CRAFT,

printed by vivian Gould (Printels) Ltd.. 129, st. Mary's Lane' upminster, Essex'