C.C.F

Coxswain Evans was appointed Contingent Coxswain when C.S.M. Lockwood left. It might here be explained to outside readers that in a C.C.F. with all three Service Sections the senior N.C.O. of the Contingent may come from any of the three; thus the Royal Navy Section would provide a Contingent Coxswain or a Contingent Petty Officer, the Army Section, the traditional Company Sergeant Major, and the Royal Air Force Section has in earlier years provided a Contingent Warrant Officer.

Over thirty new boys have now completed a term in the Pre-entry section, and will enter the Contingent in the Summer Term.

Apart from normal training, a Field Day was held on 1st March. The Royal Navy Section went to H.M.S. "Calliope", the Royal Air Force Section visited Linton on Ouse and the Air Traffic Control Centre near Preston, while the Army Section had an exercise at Ripon Parks. The Pre-entry recruits visited the Royal Engineers Depot at Ripon, and then had a map reading exercise, organised by Sergeants Marsden and Slater, which finished at Ripon Parks. The Army Proficiency Test was held on the same day, conducted by the Depot, The Yorkshire Brigade at Strensall; nine out of the twelve candidates were successful.

For the last parade of the term, on 22nd March, there was a full drill period, culminating in a March Past, which gave the new Band, under Drum Major J. F. Brown, the chance to show that it has come on very well. The Salute was taken by Group Captain R. H. Crompton, O.B.E., B.A., the Station Commander of Royal Air Force, Linton on Ouse.

Petty Officer D. J. McKenzie is congratulated on being selected to go to Canada as a member of the Imperial Cadet Association Rifle Team, representing the C.C.F. and A.C.F. against the Canadian Cadets. He will be in Canada for almost a month, in August.

R.N. SECTION

At the beginning of the term, the following promotions were made: L/Sea. D. J. McKenzie to Petty Officer ic. L/Sea. R. J. Mawer to 2 i/c. A.B. A. G. Bird to L/Sea. and Section Writer. A.B. R. L. Harrison to L/Sea. i/c Stores. A.B. G. H. Fairhurst to L/Sea. i/c Blake Division.

Later in the term B. Lark, J. S. Nixon and 'R. P. Taylor were successful in the A.B. exam and were promoted to A.Bs.

The section spent the Field Day at its parent establishment, H.M.S. "Calliope" at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. On arrival we were shown two films and were then drilled. After lunch we were instructed on gunnery and seamanship, followed by a lecture on radar.

Lt. Col. Hamilton addressed us, and after tea we returned to York. It was unfortunate that H.M.S. "Northumbria" was undergoing repairs at the time, as more practical experience would have been gained by sailing in her.

The new mast arrived during the term and it is hoped that it will be rigged in the near future.

The purpose of Arduous Training is not endurance for its own sake, but to try to encourage leadership in the achievement of useful objectives under rigorous conditions. Bad weather is therefore not essential, but part of the training must be the ability to live and work in bad weather if necessary.

Captain Gaastra planned the training in the Warcop area during the first week of the Easter holidays, when a certain amount of bad weather emphasised, for example, the problems of bivouacing in the wet, and the need for special care when hill walking in snowdrifts, which at first look like being just good fun. Some may have thought it soft to take advantage of a base camp to dry things out from time to time, but a balance should rightly be kept between endurance and maintaining a standard of fitness that will enable everyone to make the fullest use of a week's programme.

The training exercises were all intended to have a useful purpose, sometimes map reading, sometimes simply the importance of keeping a party together on hills, sometimes the seeking of information, and being sure that it was reliable; each individual was given the opportunity to take a lead in some activity, and most learnt how easy it is to allow leadership to decline into discussion groups.

One day was spent in the Langdale Valley with professional instruction in rock climbing which is a worthwhile specialisation for those who undertake Arduous Training; and by way of cultural diversion on two journeys, Lieutenant Croft gave most interesting lectures at Brougham Castle and at the Roman Camp at Ambleside.

We thank Captain Gaastra for devising an excellent programme in which there was due regard not only to the word "arduous" but also to "training", of a kind that the three armed services consider valuable. D.G.C.

R.A.F. CAMP, EASTER, 1966

During the Easter Holidays a party of 17 cadets of the R.A.F. Section, led by Flight Sergeant Oglesby, spent a week at R.A.F. Shawbury, seven miles from Shrewsbury. They were billeted in a large barrack block, with a single room for each cadet, and ate in the Airmen's Mess where the food was plentiful and above school standard.

Shawbury is the home of No. 8 Air Experience Flight, No. 27 Maintenance Unit, the University of Birmingham Air Squadron and the Central Air Traffic Control School. Although it was not an operational station, it still offered a varied and fascinating programme for the party from St. Peter's and the other school, Solihull.

This included drill periods with regular N.C.O.'s, a visit to the Control Tower with its Local and Approach Control, and a route march in the neighbouring Shropshire countryside. The cadets also visited the Air Traffic Control School, which is the only one of its kind in the country and trains controllers in radar and direction finding approach for all three services and air forces of other nations. It has modern and complex equipment such as synthetic trainers and computers.

To test their initiative and survival capabilities cadets also had to build bridges and towers and carry an imaginary radioactive source for a mile without coming within two feet of it. On the station's open range two 27

cadets gained marksman class shots in .303 shooting and every boy who entered the water passed the R.A.F.'s Swimming Proficiency in a nearby station's baths, a great credit to school swimming.

During leisure periods cadets visited the station cinema and spent an afternoon in Shrewsbury. Both schools attended the service in Shawbury Parish Church, on Palm Sunday. There were also rides in the camp's large, powerful fire trucks and a 50 minute flight in a Varsity aircraft over the snow-capped Shropshire hills. In an afternoon away from the station the group visited the Rolls-Royce Sentinel factory in Shrewsbury, where this famous company make oil and marine engines. The cadets also had a P.T. period in the station gym, and were shown an interesting film on ditching.

On the last day there was a lecture about radiation, nuclear warfare and the dangers of an aircraft armed with atomic weapons flying over a densely populated area such as England. The cadets were shown antiradiation clothing and the specialised equipment used by the R.A.F.'s special safety teams for detecting all kinds of radioactivity, such as might be present after an accident similar to that of the U.S. Air Force in Spain this year.

All the time the cadets were at Shrewsbury two officers, Squadron Leader Scott and Flying Officer Enderby, were near at hand trying to make the camp as enjoyable as possible and, although Solihull won the camp competition trophy presented by the Station Commander, Group Captain Wallace, at the final march-past, the whole party enjoyed the camp, especially the large number of younger cadets for whom it was their first R.A.F. camp. A.S.

ACCOUNT OF R.A.F. CAMP IN GERMANY, 6th to 13th APRIL

Starting at 7-45 from York, I arrived at the B.E.A. Air Terminal at Victoria Station at 11-50. From there we went to Gatwick, where the plane was five hours late. We flew to R.A.F. Wildenrath, arriving at 8-30 p.m. We then split into three parties, our party facing a five hour bus journey to R.A.F. Gilterslok, which used to be a paratrooper training station during the war.

The first day we spent exploring the camp and going shopping in the nearest town, Bielefeld. The camp possessed a number of facilities—a cinema, bowling lane and a number of clubs. The following day was Good Friday, which we had free, until the evening, when we had a fourhour night exercise in a nearby forest.

On Saturday, we all paid 12 marks for a coach trip round the local beauty sights, among which was the Mohne Dam of Dambuster fame (the local inhabitants did not talk of this). On Sunday we were free except for a fire-fighting demonstration in the afternoon. This developed into a large-scale water fight, which was one of the most enjoyable events at the camp. Monday was spent tramping round the country-side near Bielefeld. We covered some fifteen miles, pausing now and then for liquid refreshment.

On Tuesday, we sat through a police lecture and dog demonstration, then were inspected in the evening. The camp was very slack, most people being on leave over Easter, but was most enjoyable. 28