THE CCF

Exercise Recruit Thunder II

Bramley Training Area, Hampshire, 11–12 February 2023

55 Recruits and 19 NCOs set up harbours, conducted night recce patrols, and carried out blank-firing patrol lanes on Ex Recruit Thunder II, which took place over two days at half term.

Recruit Elias Giandomenici (U4; 9 Section – Alpha Troop – TEELING Squadron) writes:

This has been my favourite CCF trip so far! I arrived at our meeting point early on Saturday morning with a sense of excitement, but a bit apprehensive as well. On arrival we received our ration pack, which was huge!

Our first activity was to go on a patrol – there was a lot of kneeling down, which was hard on my knees, but I enjoyed it, nonetheless.

We then proceeded to our Platoon harbour area to set up camp for the night. We were going to sleep outside in the woods, in our bivvy bags, under bashas; this was going to be a new experience for me, although I have camped in tents before. We then had to prepare our dinners using our mess-tins with water and cooking on a “Hexi cooker”. Everyone prepared their own, but also helped each other sometimes. To my astonishment, the Vindi Chana Aloo was not too bad.

After dinner we proceeded on night patrol to find out what the enemy was up to, as we had intelligence that they were going to receive a shipment of weapons. We saw them several times, but we were extremely cautious so as not to get caught. Our tactic was to go into “all round defence”. This was very exciting and a little nerve-racking!

Bedtime was fairly warm as we were wearing our numerous layers inside our bivvy bags.

The following day was extremely busy with breakfast, morning routine, mess-tin cleaning, boot cleaning, and inspection. I was looking forward to the firing exercise. We were out to shoot the enemy (but used blanks so that no one got hurt).

After lunch, we left for home. This was a very enjoyable and exciting couple of days. I was exhausted, but it was well worth it; now I have passed the Fieldcraft and Expedition & Exercise elements of my Basic Proficiency Certificate, and I can now wear the Half Red Star badge and the Basic Fieldcraft badge.

Congratulations to Natalia McFadzean, Head of St Benedict’s CCF, who has been awarded this year’s cadet prize from the Worshipful Company of Tylers & Bricklayers. The award is granted annually to an outstanding cadet in the Corps of Royal Engineers (London District Cadets Branch.

Here is an extract from Natalia’s citation: “[Natalia]… sets an excellent example to the younger cadets. As our senior female NCO, she often finds herself in charge of a barrack block on camps and looks after her female cadets with a kindness and easy authority which we have come to expect from her. Her reliability and integrity when acting independently are two reasons why she was selected for her role.

“All this has been achieved against a background of high academic performance and aspirations; Natalia has proven expert at juggling her various responsibilities without compromising the quality of any of them.”

Jazz Soir E

The St Benedict’s Jazz Soirée made a welcome return on Friday 10th March as pupils and professional musicians joined forces to provide a wonderful evening’s entertainment.

Caroline Cooper on keyboard and Paul Michael on bass guitar performed with St Benedict’s jazz ensembles, Big Band, soloists, and Girls’ Choir. Catherine Bench (OP 15) sang several songs, including Moon River and La Vie En Rose