Helicon issue 3 2022

Helicon

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

HELICON CONTACTS

MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR

The editor assumes article contributors are aware that the magazine has a wide distribution to both Service and Civilian communities and contributors are ultimately responsible for the vetting of their article submissions. The editor also assumes that the contributor has ensured that personnel included in the photographs they provide are aware and have no objection to these images being used in the magazine. Advice on content or preparation of future articles can be obtained by contacting the editor. To this end the Helicon editorial staff endeavour to ensure all

are suitable for publication. The Helicon is the magazine of

Odiham and its intended audience is Station Personnel and their families. It is not an official document and the opinions expressed within it are not those of the MOD, the RAF or the editorial team.

STATION COMMANDER’S FOREWORD

Gp Capt Donal McGurk

Hello and a Merry Christmas to everybody involved in the enormous and amazing enterprise that is Royal Air Force Odiham. I can’t quite believe that I am here writing a foreword to the final edition of Helicon of 2022 – and what a year it has been. We have seen changes of Prime Minister, war between Russia and Ukraine, with the ensuing tensions across Europe, the ending of our Chinook operations in Mali, in support of the French military and the continuance of many other commitments and responsibilities - as I write this our National Standby Chinook has just returned from transporting specialist Urban Search and Rescue teams to Jersey following a major incident; it doesn’t stop and never will!

This issue covers some really important aspects of life at Royal Air Force Odiham. Firstly it touches on Adventurous Training and Force Development – highlighting the Engineering and Logistics Wing visit to the Tower of London. These are a vital part of life in the MOD, combining professional military education and team building, plus they are usually great fun and well worth the small investment in time and effort to make them happen. Secondly the operational deployment to Estonia highlights how much impact we, as a Station, have on the international stage, particularly in a time of heightened tensions

– we can self-deploy a long way away from home, and bring really meaningful capability. Finally I want to mention Artfulness, which I am a huge fan of. Although at best a ‘stick person painter’ myself I really love the idea of self-expression as a way of addressing the stresses of life on a demanding frontline unit – and being a social outlet too. Brilliant.

Many of our Royal Air Force Odiham people are deployed, working or holding standby duties over the festive season and my thoughts are with you and your families – I hope that you all have as peaceful and restful time as you can.

Merry Christmas to you all.

Editor’s FOREWORD

Flt Lt Kerry Rapson

Hello and welcome to the third and final issue of the Helicon Magazine for 2022. This issue continues the sporting theme of the previous with a look at the sporting activities and achievements of the Chinook Force and the wider activities that we have been involved with so far this year.

Once again, I have enjoyed bringing together the articles for this edition, showcasing what our personnel have doing in support of the Nation, both at home and abroad. We have been further demonstrating our interoperability with international partners, whilst deployed on Operation Peleda since the publication of the last issue. Our personnel have also

been enjoying some well-earned down time, taking part in some Artfulness activities and Force Development trips.

We do hope that you enjoy this edition, thank you to all who have contributed and please do contact the team if you have any submissions that you would like included in future editions!

Local Distillery Saving Gorillas One Drink at a Time

Gorilla Spirits

Founder Andy Daniels and the team at Gorilla Spirits Co. believe strongly that businesses should

tour, enjoy a cocktail masterclass, or for the ultimate gin making experience come to Gin School to distil a creation of your own! Shop through their website using

are based in Upton Grey, just a few miles from RAF Odiham, and produce a range of award-winning spirits, both under their own brand and on behalf of several other brands and charities.

make a positive contribution to the world and their local communities. £1 from each bottle of their core range of spirits sold is donated to The Gorilla Organization to fund gorilla conservation projects. Alongside this, they partner with Kula Project, so 10% of the profits from every bottle of Maraba Coffee Liqueur sold are donated to help eradicate poverty through the development of female entrepreneurs in Rwanda’s coffee communities. Want to get a behind the scenes look at a working distillery, or looking for a unique team building activity? They host regular distillery experiences or can help create an event specially for you. Book a

RAF Odiham Artfulness

By Fg Off Sweeting/Sgt Higbee

Having suffered a personal injury and in the light of missing ‘that something’ Sgt Higbee took to Art. Selfless in character, Sgt Higbee devised a plan which could deliver opportunity for station personnel access to non-medicative activities which could assist individuals in better managing the stressors of life & service. As Secretary of the Station Health and Wellbeing Committee, Fg Off Sweeting jumped on the opportunity of something new, innovative, and available to all. Since the initial conversation, the pair have worked together to set up bi-monthly meets in TDF ‘Think Space’, alongside Force Development and follow on from the Padre’s initiative of ‘Wellness Walks’. To date the team have successfully delivered Artfulness visits to Durdle Door, Portland Bill and Donnington Castle.

Artfulness is available for all to take part, to develop new techniques and to make new friends. Sessions incorporate both figurative and abstract painting techniques utilising acrylic, watercolour, charcoal, and pastel mediums. On occasion a local professional artist is invited to facilitate some sessions. A station exhibition will be hosted in December, which is

open to all to attend and admire the incredible artwork Odiham

Thus far over 50 station personnel have benefited from the art sessions & trips. We would love to show you what it’s all about and how you can benefit. All information can be found on TDF homepage, under Artfulness.

Personnel who have attended the sessions say, ‘Artfulness provides a little bit of creative calm in an otherwise full-on work schedule’.

Artfulness was founded mid-2021. Fg Off Sweeting was approached by Sgt Higbee who wanted to offer personnel at RAF Odiham a non-contact, non-physical method to manage stress and anxiety.

staff have created.

Op London Tower ELW

MT arrived at Hook train station to take advantage of the short journey to London Waterloo. Looking forward to exploring the Tower of London, the train cabin was full of excitement, anticipation and coffee.

Once arrived at the Tower, we collected the tickets and promptly moved to the queue where we were ushered through with ease. Upon entering the Tower and getting caught up in the hustle and bustle of the themed events and just how busy the Tower was due to the many tourists on school holidays. We quickly made our way to the first area of interest where the first of 4 Stands was about to be delivered.

The 4 stands were delivered, educating us on the history and relevance of the current RAF. The first two stands were delivered by AS1 Houghton and AS1 Scott at Beauchamp Tower where we would discuss the leadership/followship of the monarchs as well as the quite relevant case of Guy Fawkes.

Once these discussions were complete, we moved onto exploring this area of the tower whilst moving around the Bell Tower, Wakefield Tower, Lanthorn Tower whilst making our way to the Bowyer tower for the third and fourth Stand.

The third was delivered by AS1 Horrod in relation to the Duke of Wellington whilst the final (fourth) Stand was a team effort between AS2 Ella and AS2 Wynn who went on to discuss the formation of the Royal Fusiliers.

After all the stands had been completed, we head off to explore the other areas, particular interest was the White Tower which had some impressive weapons, armoury and displays from around the world whilst others enjoyed the Bloody tower for the mystique surrounding it.

Whilst we all would have loved to visit the Crown Jewels the queue was simply too large for the time we had to get around, at the point of exploring the possibility of seeing the Crown Jewels the que was in excess of 2 hours. A group

decision was made to finish up, head for a late lunch to discuss and debate what we’d just experienced.

A great day exploring and learning about the Tower of London and all its secrets. A huge thank you has

to go to AS1 Akling who arranged the event but sadly was unable to attend as well as a thank you to AS1 Houghton for stepping in at the last minute to follow through on AS1 Akling’s efforts.

On the 25th October a group from ELW descended on London for a FD trip to the Tower of London.

Display in the White Tower

Display in St Thomas Tower Display in Bloody Tower

Maybe the answer was THREE Chinooks!

As part of the Joint Helicopter Command response to the situation in Ukraine, 27 Squadron and supporting personnel deployed to Estonia between the 29th of June and the 14th of August on Operation PELEDA.

were delighted to find a massive volume and variety of tasking to achieve their

The ‘fog-of-deployment’ cleared slowly in the period before leaving Odiham for Eastern Europe. The dates, size, duration and even country changed back and forth as personnel from across the station scrambled to tick off the 100+ individual pre-Det items. Helped immeasurably by having done the same scramble tens of times before, specialists in all areas had to make swift decisions within the intent of the mission to prepare in quick time.

Wg Cdr Paul Butler, who at home is Officer Commanding 27 Sqn, added ‘Commander - Aviation Task Force 3’ to his titles and set about transforming a group of assigned individuals into a Command Liaison Team to act as an HQ whilst away. Sqn Ldr Steve Dunbar, 27 Sqn’s OC B Flight, began the enormous volume of work to create the documents that would order him to deploy, provide the framework for required supporting elements and supervise the building of the right package of capabilities and people to safely and legally operate on a new Det, from a new base.

With advance elements paving the way, 2 Chinook HC5s left on the 4th of July using their enormous range to stride across the full breadth of Europe via a night stop in Malmo, Sweden. Their destination: the purposebuilt home of NATO in Estonia, Ämari Air Base. French Mirage 2000-5F and Belgian F-16 fighter jets were already in residence and the facilities for 27 were a

revelation compared to some of the spots that Chinook has been sent. With good accommodation, technical areas, flight planning and HQ workspace, tasking could commence without time lost in standing up the modest footprint of a 2-cab Det.

27 Sqn had been dispatched to Estonia for a two-part mission: Show off our capability & Demonstrate interoperability. 1500 British, Danish & French troops were providing NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) from a base at Tapa, close to ranges for honing their infantry and armoured skills. Before the arrival of the two heavy-lift aircraft, those customers submitted a veritable avalanche of requests. To the delight of the HQ, they all fell

squarely into those two headline mission sets.

CAPABILITY

With the Engineering team working around the clock to keep the aircraft on the line, 193 hours were flown on 29 flying days over 5 weeks. A healthy proportion of those hours were spent exercising with the customers and improving capability at every turn.

Joint Helicopter Support Squadron personnel were kept busy too; they were sent out daily to reconnoitre new Helicopter Landing Sites, deliver survival equipment briefings, assess loads for internal or external carriage and even give UK personnel the chance to hook up a load and experience the ferocious

downwash of our favourite aircraft. Tactical Supply Wing provided refuelling around Estonia at short notice, greatly increasing flexibility and the number of customers supported.

Requests that met the criteria were slotted into the FlyPro by HQ and the DetCo, planned by the aircrew and supported by enablers. 27 Sqn’s PELEDA Det was 20% of the whole JHC contribution this year, and in that time, they flew 75% of the passengers, (1674 / 2215) and 84% of the cargo!!! (13.5 / 16 Tonnes)

The variety of tasking was incredible, predominantly working with the 2nd Royal Welsh and 2 Rifles Battlegroups. It included aeromedical evacuation training, carrying 105mm artillery inside the cabin, transporting Portuguese Marines in Lithuania, conducting Joint Personnel Recovery training with Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs) and Belgian F-16s, taking those JTACs onboard for live gunnery Judgemental Training serials, the live-firing infiltration of French Commandos to a training area within a few miles of the Russian border and an urban assault by Danish warriors on a compound in a civilian village which had only been partially cleared before becoming the target of a blank-firing heliborne assault!

INTEROPERABILITY

The flagship Exercise for the deployment was VIGILANT FOX. (VF) Between the 20th and 22nd

Words by Flt Lt Henry Fuller | Photos by Cpl Laurence and AS1 Palmer

They

mission as they ranged across 4 different countries.

27 Sqn worked with British Army troops on a variety of complex tasks

RAF Chinook HC5 of 27 Sqn over the stunning Koluvere CAstle, Estonia.

At home in the low level environment to get troops on target

One constant for the Det was the incredible landscape across the region

of July, Sqn Ldr Dunbar and the incoming DetCo, Flt Lt Henry Fuller visited Utti airbase in Finland. Special Forces and helicopter units of the Finnish Army are based there, working together on a variety of equipment and vehicles. The NH90 crews also hosted US Army personnel, with their own Chinooks and Blackhawks, for lectures and joint mission planning in advance of flying sorties.

It was immediately evident that the Finns have a remarkably similar skillset and attitude to UK Support Helicopter crews. Whilst discussing navigation, weather, airspace and formation procedures, all 3 nations were able to discuss what would be implemented over the flying phase, but also why small differences exist.

The flying consolidation phase consisted of the familiar incremental progression of sorties as all players get a feel for each other in the air. The breath-taking landscape of rural Finland provided the backdrop for up to 3-ship tri-lateral lowlevel navigation and confined area training. UK Chinooks flew in and out from Ämari each day to continue providing tasking in Estonia either side of the formation.

The tactical training kicked off on the 25th of July, when 64 armedto-the-teeth 2 RIFLES infanteers were dropped into Niinisalo Trg Area as a Heliborne Assault Force (HAF). On subsequent days further HAFs were flown as the ground commander’s scheme of manoeuvre demanded helicopter support to lift his fighting strength into position to engage the enemy. As the scenario increased in complexity, NH90 and Chinook crews operated seamlessly together, proving that if ever the need arises, they’ll be able to work together at the highest level from the outset.

ENGAGEMENT

It should come as no surprise that Op PELEDA was absolutely perfect for endearing ourselves to the leaders, ambassadors, serving personnel and entitled civilians of the many different nations involved. Over the 5 weeks, a handful of VIP flights and visits were arranged to show off the mighty Chinook and the highly trained folks who keep it in the air. The British Ambassadors to Finland and Estonia were given the chance to see parts of their host countries from the air and the Estonian Defence Minister had the opportunity to view the infrastructure improvements that had been sanctioned by his department in the previous year.

Around the tasking, Air Experience Flying was offered out to several nations stationed at Ämari. The use of the aircraft to generate

goodwill and provide a positive experience for friendly nations’ personnel was an excellent use of the spare minutes in the FlyPro, as each smiling passenger will return to their unit with an experience to share, widening the influence that the Chinook had in the region. Whilst in Estonia, the military liaison and support was excellent.

27 Sqn crews were pleased to perform a flypast to mark the transfer of authority between Base Commanders, where the notorious bladeslap was delivered to the audience at precisely the right second. The request for Chinook support to a Conscripts’ Day event at Tapa provided a fantastic opportunity to give conscripts, who serve for 8-11 months, and their families a close-up look around the aircraft. Never let it be said that maximum benefit isn’t the aim of every minute; in between aircraft tours, 27 Sqn crewmen were putting 90 Danish

troops through a rehearsal of their embarkation drills!

To round off the success of Ex VF, Chinooks, Blackhawks and NH90’s carried out a flypast of TamperePirkkala airport, where mission planning and debriefing had been carried out in the preceding days. On landing, a delegation of local and national media was introduced to the senior military representatives of the 3 nations who gave a short briefing on the successes and challenges of the Ex. Seeing the opportunity for yet more supportive press output, ATF3 HQ requested that the journalists be offered a short flight around the airport before the UK participation in Finland drew to a close. This was received extremely well and the UK/US involvement in Ex VF was lauded in Finnish language news as a hearty welcome to the NATO community as the country’s application

process gathers pace.

The final days of the detachment were no less busy. As the Commanding Officer of the eFP Battlegroup needed transport out to Saaremaa Island, where a small unit had been carrying out infrastructure and outreach programmes. On leaving the isolated community after a successful visit, the crew flew the 4 runs of the Danish urban assault and were just able to squeeze in a flypast of Truckfest in Tallinn as a way of showing our thanks and saying goodbye to the Estonian population. Weeks of effort had cultivated an appearance at the Baltic International Airshow in Latvia. A team of 16 were taken to the coastal airport of Liepaja, where the aircraft hosted 1500 members of the public for aircraft tours. With queues reaching hundreds of metres, it was clear that the RAF Chinook was a key attraction. The UK personnel hosting at the cab were able to answer questions about our role and activities in the region, whilst promoting the battle-winning capabilities of the Chinook and their crews.

The Chinook Force achieves more than it is asked to do wherever it goes because of the quality of people who support, maintain and operate the aircraft. In Estonia, with a generous pair of mission aims, 27 Squadron were able to make a huge contribution to NATO’s standing in the area. By carrying out a spread of missions with multiple nations, Odiham’s contribution to Op PELEDA was immense, timely and important. There’s no doubt in my mind that we will be invited back.

Taking every opportunity to show off the Chinook to foreign friends

Great success! Chinooks working seamlessly with Finnish NH90.

... Maybe the answer was THREE Chinooks!

MISSION SPOTLIGHT

On 4 Aug 22, 2 x Chinooks delivered 7.5 tonnes of building materials to a remote Estonian outpost, the closest occupied territory to Russian habitation.

Vaindloo is a tiny islet, measuring 800m by 400m at the very edge of Estonian territorial waters in the north-eastern corner of the Gulf of Finland. The Estonian request for heavy-lift support to a building project was requested as soon as the Chinook deployment had been confirmed.

The load comprised 60x lengths of timber measuring over 5 metres, 1.5 tonnes of HESCO material, 250kg of sandbags, roofing panels and some smaller items. JHSS were dispatched for an assessment and estimated the ideal composition of the internal and external loads. At short notice, TSW completed a site survey in order to provide essential fuel at the departure location, Miinisadama Naval Base, Tallinn.

Vaindloo is exposed to the elements and to foreign interference in a corner of the Baltic Sea closest to the wandering eyes of Russia. Reinforcing the islet with a new structure was of great importance to the Estonian Government.

Approval for the mission was sought from a high level, leading to a short notice requirement to integrate it into a busy FlyPro.

After carrying out PELEDA tasking to the eastern border of Estonia and to Finland, callsigns ULTIMATE 1 & 2 joined up near Tallinn to take on fuel and cargo in stream to head out to sea. A working party of sailors from the Estonian Navy travelled out with the aircraft to make the offloads efficient and

swift. With the first cab unloaded, JHSS prepared a hasty external load drop-off point so that Wg Cdr Butler and crew could deliver the HESCO and reposition to the pad. With no jetty for boats to disembark passengers, this isolated speck of land would be no place to leave anyone behind, so the

aircraft remained together until the task was completed. The complexity of the task in terms of diplomatic engagement, complex order of events, fuel, time and cargo required the skills and experience that the Chinook Force so often needs.

The UK Ambassador was well-hosted by the team when he visited Amari.

The closest Estonian islet to Russian waters, and only 0.25 square kilometres in size!

All hands to offload! No time wasted to get the materials offloaded.

RAF Odiham Football News

PRE-SEASON 22/23

JULY

The summer friendlies offered chances for a number of new faces to try and make their mark on Dave Evans, starting on a near-concrete surface at Benson. A poor game was settled midway through the second period when a Benson striker took advantage of a poorly defended goal kick to lob over onrushing Dom Turner in the Odiham goal.

The double-header in the final week of July was as tough a week as many of the Odiham players are ever likely to come up against, let alone in pre-season.

First up on the Tuesday was Horndean, a side who ply their trade in the ninth tier of English football. As well as being back into the swing of things a month sooner than RAF Odiham, they also offered a 22-man squad, just in case the visitors thought an early drubbing would ease up late on. Odiham went there with a patched up side led by Wayne Griffin in Evans’ absence, and found themselves 6-0 down

at the break, largely chasing shadows against a fine assortment of semi-professional and barely amateur players. Only Ryan Evans’ speculative 25-yard effort was noteworthy at the Horndean end in the first half and, shooting up the hill in the second period, Odiham can’t be too displeased to have kept it to 10 at full time.

Two days later Odiham’s 4G hosted Cove FC of the tenth tier, who also boast Odiham’s star men Armani Riley and Charlie Nicholas of the RAF Under 23s in their ranks. After an early goalkeeping mistake and a well-worked goal to put Cove into a 2-0 lead, Odiham pretty much matched them in the first period and deservedly levelled before the break. Max Brans capitalised on a mix up at the back to roll into an empty net and Jack Smallman battered home a penalty.

Nicholas entered the fray for Cove at Right Back at half-time and Odiham kept their shape well and effectively dealt with Cove’s direct, often diagonal, style of play.

This was until around twenty minutes remained and, with Evans making several changes to give personnel game time, Cove eventually found a way through, although both were well worked goals including a volley at the near post.

AUGUST

A trip to RAF Halton saw Nicholas and Jordan Jones set each other up to give Odiham a 2-0 lead at the break before, again, changes in the latter stages of the second period came at the expense of some organisation, allowing Halton to score two themselves.

Icarus, a team of commissioned Officers, put Odiham to the sword to the tune of 4-0.

Odiham’s final pre-season outing was another hosting of Cove, this time their reserves. Stunners from Cam Hall and Andy Houston gave Odiham the initiative, but Cove fought back for a draw.

SEPTEMBER

RAF Halton 0-2 RAF Odiham Odiham had a chance for a positive start to the season against a side they had faced only a month earlier, in the form of Halton in the London League opener.

To go to Halton is to expect a robust, functional side who will keep running even when the whistle is blown. Also, if it were to be anything like the pre-season friendly, it is to expect them to play out from the back with no fear or apparent regard for the result, which will inevitably provide you chances.

These pre-conceptions rang very true, as Halton harassed and harangued from the get-go, but Odiham’s superiority was clear. It did, however, take until the last quarter of the game for Odiham to make the breakthrough.

Odiham toiled on a difficult surface which, although not the rock-hard minefield it was four weeks earlier, was not a crown green bowls deck and had accounted for Doggett’s knee within the first thirty seconds.

Odiham were largely restricted to half-chances despite dominating the game and could truthfully have found themselves behind.

Charlie Nicholas, however, could find space in a phone box. Having had one cleared off the line after rounding the keeper in the first half, he neatly exchanged passes with debutant substitute Ellis Pitson before slaloming inside a challenge and slotting under the keeper.

Aidan Robinson would seal the game in injury time when he pounced on Halton’s insistence on playing out from the back and it was a wonder that it had taken ninety minutes for a chance to come of it.

Squad: Goulding, Read, Dickie, McMenamin, Doggett, Roberts, Nicholas (1), Naylor, Lupton, Nash, Naylor.

SUBS: Duxbury, Robinson (1), Pitson, Ikhlaq.

RAF Northolt 0-5 RAF Odiham It would, irritatingly, be three weeks before the second league fixture came around. Once again, it would take Odiham a while to be rewarded for their dominance, but they eventually came away with a resounding victory at Northolt.

Like Halton, Northolt belied the conditions to play out from the back, often taking at least two

passes to make it out of their box from a goal kick. A brave and questionable tactic when their obvious star was a right winger with an abundance of pace. However, from the first whistle, stand-in Left Back Connor Dickie dealt with him expertly, often forcing him to rely on those around him who were rarely outweighed but often outplayed.

Northolt were lucky to have eleven men on the pitch for longer than ten minutes as Andrew Tait was clattered on the edge of the box with no repercussions. Jones missed a one-on-one and Tait, Connor Read and Billy Eade all fired wide, while keeper Lofthouse rushed miles out of his goal to provide Northolt a chance, but Osh Goulding made up impressive ground to clear off the line.

Eventually, Jones bundled in a corner for Odiham at the back post right on half-time. The floodgates had been on the latch for most of the first half and Odiham were keen to swing them open, but Northolt continued to battle hard.

Left-winger Eade is one of several new additions to the Odiham side and brings welcome variety, with a great left foot and a frame which is often too much for comparatively small Full Backs.

Perpetually portraying the image that he is on his last legs, this is often contradicted by his actions, including when he effortlessly rose above his marker to head wide. He did it again shortly after, this time pulling down and squaring to Tait for a tap in.

Scott Naylor coming off the bench is a sign of Odiham’s quality in the middle of the park, as there is seldom an occasion he isn’t among the best talents on a pitch, as demonstrated by his 30-yard rocket.

Eade wasn’t in the mood to stop providing, with a couple of vicious balls across the six-yard-box from open play and then a free-kick which were bundled in, first by a helpless defender and then by the grateful knee of Archie Cartwright.

Squad: Lofthouse, Read, McMenamin, Gwilliams, Dickie, Riley, Jones (1), Nicholas, Tait (1), Nash, Eade.

SUBS: Goulding, Pitson, Naylor (1), Cartwright (1), Ikhlaq.

RAF Odiham 7-1 RAF High Wycombe

With Odiham having scored seven and conceded none, High Wycombe could hardly have visited at a worse time. This was made no easier by them turning up to Hartley Wintney FC with a bare eleven, which quickly became nine due to injury.

A first half Tait hat-trick, interspersed by JP Nash’s first of the season, was not enough for Evans and Griffin, who were demanding more at the break. They may have been disappointed not to have scored more, and they were certainly disappointed to have conceded to nine men.

Tait battered home his fourth after the break before substitutes Saad Ikhlaq and Cartwright got in on the act to round off a 7-1 victory.

Festival of Football, Shrewsbury Town FC

Odiham took two teams of eight to the annual 6-a-side tournament, with both reaching the semi-finals. RAF Wittering were the eventual winners.

Odiham’s two sides consisted of:

* Turner, Naylor, Gwilliams, Bloyce, Nicholas, Read, Tait, Riley

* Davis, Dickie, Hall, Finlan, Eade, Evans, K Thompson.

Odiham’s management team would have been forgiven for playing a 2-3-5 with the amount of attacking options available for this tie. The aforementioned Naylor was deployed at Right-Back as Odiham’s midfield three consisted of Riley and Nicholas as well as Jones, with a front three spearheaded by Tait and flanked by Brans and Eade in whichever combination those two saw fit.

On the side-lines lying in wait were Max Lawes, in recent months at the mercy of RAF Odiham’s operational calendar, as well as Gething and the electric pace of Lupton and Finlan. Debutant Sullivan could be said to have done well to get a look-in, and soon showed why he had.

A predictably dangerous early Nicholas free kick was less predictably, blindly but brilliantly

flicked on by Dickie for the opener. However, Wyton would lead a charmed life in much the same vein as Halton and Northolt did for just over an hour before pouncing on Dickie’s underhit back pass to level.

It wasn’t five minutes before Tait found himself in front of goal with time to put the kettle on, and he coolly slotted home to restore Odiham’s lead. Nicholas made side-footing a free-kick into the corner which the goalkeeper was staffing look frighteningly easy.

Odiham lapsed in concentration again, however, failing to deal with a diagonal ball and the accompanying knock down and midfield runner. Suddenly, game on with five minutes still to play.

Once again, however, Odiham wasted no time righting the wrong. The strength in depth paid dividends as Gething won the ball

on the left, fizzed out to Lawes on the right, who in turn waited for Gething to bust a gut to reach the back post and receive the return pass to smash home from close-range.

Odiham’s start to the London League campaign couldn’t have gone much better. Last season’s start and end to the season was fair, it was the middle months of winter which made it an average season. That, and the expunging of High Wycombe’s results meaning Odiham finished with 13 rather than 19 points.

With six games in successive weeks throughout November and December, including three teams they have already beaten, Odiham have every right to be optimistic about going into Christmas at the league’s summit as well as finding themselves a step closer to the RAF Cup.

RAF Wyton 2-4 RAF Odiham (RAF Cup Preliminary Round)

RAF

Cricket News

by Ryan McMenamin

Benson do the double

RAF Odiham’s first away game of their new setup ended in defeat at RAF Benson. Pallett hit fifteen fours on his way to 102*, ably assisted by Singh’s 69* which came with three sixes. In response, Oscar Fraser-Williams was the only Odiham batsman to dent the scoreboard as he hit 46, but the visitors were still some ways short.

Benson won the toss and opted to bat, an option very much vindicated as Andrews and Pallett raced to 70 before Dennison (3-40) had Andrews caught for 16 and quickly dismissed McCormick in a similar manner.

Smith (12) and Hearth (16) were there for a good time not a long time, before being bowled and caught respectively off the bowling of Pritchard and Dennison. Captain Pritchard, Odiham’s resident wicketkeeper, had removed the gloves for a spell with the ball and when he removed Danstan LBW it ensured he finished with figures of 2-38.

Having reduced Benson for 125-5, Odiham may have thought they had a chance of restricting their hosts to a competitive score. However, Singh and Pallett

combined to put on 122 in the final twelve overs.

The only respite Odiham had was when Pallett retired having reached his ton, leaving them time to run out King and for Wilkins (1-14) to bowl Walsh.

With 35 overs permitted, Odiham required seven an over to win the game with only nine batsmen, but the top three falling for a combined four runs did nothing to help their cause.

Walsh (1-24) cleaned up Pritchard before Jeffs (1-13) trapped Maisey (1) in front and Moverley (3) was bowled by Danstan (1-15).

Fraser-Williams valiantly went after the Benson attack, managing five fours and three sixes.

Hearth (2-12) accounted for Wilkins and Bindine, meanwhile Dennison didn’t intend to go down without a scrap and hit an unbeaten 14.

Rawles was run out and Bailey (2-11) had Fraser-Williams and Warrener caught to seal Benson’s victory at the end of the 23rd over.

Odiham show no mercy to kickstart season

RAF Odiham breezed to their first win of the 2022 season with a 9-wicket victory over RAF Wyton. The wickets were shared out between the varied bowling attack before Ben Warner hit a half century in reply, aided by Chris Maisey. Wyton batted first at Odiham and Greywell CC, the driest ground in the country throughout July and August, as documented by Sky News and The Daily Mail amongst others.

McMenamin opened up with a tight but unrewarded spell on a trampoline of a surface, zipping past Nash (16) and inviting an outside edge that flew to the Third Man rope.

Fraser-Williams (2-13) was fizzing through to keeper Pritchard down the slope, but anything dropped too short would fly off the bat, Nash crashing a cut through Forward Point. The left-armer’s pace would be too much for Jordan (2), however, nicking to Pritchard in the fourth over.

Kiru (21) would show the most promise with the bat for Wyton, he and Nash taking Dennison (2-37) for six boundaries in his first two overs including a full toss dispatched through Midwicket and

a rasping straight drive.

Moverley (2-3) castled Nash in his first over and had Kiru caught at Mid Off in his second, while Dennison recovered well to have Bromley caught straight and O’Grady (5) at Backward Point.

Wilson (13) pulled Wilkins (1-15) through the leg side before slapping a full toss into the hands of McMenamin at Mid On.

Abell (19) and Finden (11*) leathered a couple of boundaries each at the expense of CollyerPowell, before Fraser-Williams returned and dismissed Abell. In reply, Ben Warner hit nine boundaries and a huge six over Cow Corner on the way to retiring on 50*, having been dropped early on at Mid On.

Meanwhile, Chris Maisey offered a pretty much chanceless 38* with six boundaries of his own including two merciless cuts through Point.

Upon Warner’s retirement, Pritchard (5) managed to slap a four through Cover before being bowled by Able (1-10), with the only ball of the day to keep low.

Maisey took Kiru over Mid On for four to seal the victory at the start of the 13th over.

On Wednesday 24th August the London Area Cricket League hosted a 6’s cricket tournament held at Odiham and Greywell Cricket Club. The teams included a variety of stations from the London area and competed for the coveted LACL 6’s trophy via 5-over format fixtures. The hot and

dry summer continued into late August and the OGCC groundsman had worked extremely hard to provide the perfect setting for the day of cricket to follow. The tournament was held via a round robin format which saw every team play each other once with points awarded to the winner. The tournament saw the entry of 5 teams: two from RAF Odiham and one each from RAF Benson RAF Northolt and HQ Northwood.

It was an extremely competitive tournament which saw each team win a minimum of one fixture, many of which were decided in the final few balls. In addition to the superb facilities provided, a cricket tea was also provided by OGCC which was gratefully received by the players with plenty to go around.

Ultimately, however, there had to be a winner and much to their own surprise Odiham A came out the

victors. Despite what can only be described as a thrashing by Benson in two separate fixtures earlier in the year, Odiham had learnt their lessons and put it into practice despite Benson pushing them all the way to the end. A fantastic day was had by all and all those involved left hoping to replicate the event on an annual basis. A special thanks must go to Sgt Tom Butcher who organised the event and ensured it was a great success.

Venue: Odiham and Greywell Cricket Club

Winners: RAF Odiham

Ryan McMenamin with Flt Lt Rob Herrick

Badminton News

Badminton team fought valiantly at Inter-Stations

The main RAF Badminton InterStations tournament was held at RAF Halton over September 26th and 27th and, despite an admirable performance by two Odiham teams, neither managed to make it out of their group to the semi-finals.

Odiham took two teams of six, four men and two women each. Brize Norton were the only other station to enter two full teams, with 16 competing in total.

Each match against a station consisted of 14 games: 4 men’s doubles, 3 men’s singles, 1 ladies doubles, 2 ladies singles and 4 mixed doubles.

ODIHAM A:

AS1(T) Jonathon Fox

AS1(T) Lucan Horsnell

AS1(T) Katie Witting

AS1(T) Sarah Hughes

The A team had an extremely tough draw, coming up against High Wycombe, Leeming and Team X (a mixture of stations that didn’t have enough players to make a full team from one station). Odiham A finished third in their group, narrowly losing out to Leeming 8-6 who finished 2nd behind High Wycombe.

ODIHAM B:

Odiham B comfortably beat Northolt and Boulmer on Day 1 but missed out on a semi-final place, losing to Lossiemouth 8-6 on Day 2 to finish 2nd in the group.

A great day had by all and for some it was their first time representing Odiham.

Flt Lt Paul Huyton

Sgt Steve O’leary

Sgt David Witting Sgt James Bellinger-Brown

AS1(T) Sanoj Thapa

AS1(T) Zak Francis Cpl Chelsea Arnold Sgt Sharon Timmath

Ryan McMenamin with Katie Witting

Inter-station Basketball Tournament

Following changes to the theatre entry standards to 7 Squadron’s deployment to Op SHADER, RAF Odiham’s Force Protection Training Flight (FPTF) created and planned an Op SHADER predeployment training package (PDT).

October saw the newly formed RAF Odiham Basketball Team taking part in their first competitive event, the RAFBBA Inter-Stations Championships at RAF Cosford. This was the first time the competition was held in this format, seeing each station submitting a team of their own best players. Odiham would be joined by teams from (RAF) Brize Norton, Boulmer, Wittering, Marham and Cosford, as well as representatives from other stations such as Lossiemouth, Coningsby and even Akrotiri.

The Odiham team consisted of seven Odiham players of a variety of levels of experience, from veterans of the game to ‘newbies’ who had only started playing at the conception of the Odiham Team, just months ago. The players were David McArtney, Rakeim Willis, Adam Sully, Prasin Gurung, Pravat Gurung, Simon Bennison and Oliver Goode. Their numbers were bolstered by Billy Cousins (of RAF Spadeadam) and Chris McIntyre and Dean Tregoning (both of RAF High Wycombe).

Day one of the tournament saw the Odiham boys facing off against both other teams in their pool, in quick succession. Their first competition came in the form of tournament hosts, RAF Cosford, who they beat by a score of 46 - 29. Next up was RAF Wittering, with a number of experienced RAF Basketball veterans. They proved to be tough competition, but the energy and teamwork shown by Odiham allowed them to come out on top, with each

player getting their minutes and doing their part.

Their two victories saw Odiham finish top of their pool and would see them face off against the runners-up of Pool A (Brize Norton) to decide who would progress to the final on Saturday. Odiham got off to a strong start against a daunting Brize team, leading narrowly at the end of the first quarter. They managed to keep the pace up, seeing them extend their lead into half-time and could rely on fresh legs to see the game out in the second half. With a third win

out of three on Game Day 1, the Odiham team would be competing in the final against the winner of the other final-decider game. This was between Pool A winners, Boulmer and Pool B runners-up, Wittering.

Game Day 2 and Wittering had earned their place in the final alongside Odiham. The rematch would prove to be a far more competitive affair, however both teams agreed that, in the spirit of the competition, the first quarter would be played with the full squads, allowing every player to

get their chance to play in the final. Wittering took an early advantage, leading Odiham by as many as eleven points in the first quarter. But the same teamwork and synergy that got Odiham to the final came on show again. Important points and minutes came from every player and Odiham saw out the game with a winning score of 53 - 46. Wittering was tough competition, worthy of being in the final and on another day could easily have walked away with the trophy. But Odiham’s tenacity and togetherness shone through, and they were able come out on top.”

RAF Odiham Boxing News

A successful summer on the whole for Odiham’s boxers

AS1 Kaine Brookes and AS2 Ryan Mills both competed at RAF Honington’s station boxing show in June to end the season.

Brookes, with Sgt Luke Willis in the corner, impressed all three judges

to claim a unanimous victory.

Brookes repeated the performance in late September to reach the UKAF Development Finals, and AS1(T) Brandon Carr matched his result to defeat a home boxer in Bristol.

Mills’ debut fight at Honington unfortunately ended in a unanimous defeat on points but at RAF Digby in October he gave the judges no choice but to award him a unanimous victory, forcing his opponent to be given a standing

ten-count in the process. A more in-depth account of the UKAF Development Finals will be provided in the next edition of Helicon.

Flt Lt Craig O’Malley

Athletics Summer Round-Up

PRESIDENTS CUP – 25/05/22

RAF Cosford would host all three of this year’s RAF athletics competitions, the first of the summer season being the Presidents Cup. This is an interunit combined men and women’s team competition with the emphasis being placed upon mass participation with an introduction to athletics.

Odiham had a small but strong team that were keen to get their athletics season started. Nicole Burger got the day off to a great start winning the 100m sprint in a time of 13.7s, quickly followed by Henry James scoring more team points with 6th place in the 800m. Nicole continued to perform throughout the day, finishing 1st in the Long Jump and Shotput.

As the day drew towards a close it was the turn of the distance runners with Vickie Williams coming home in 5th place in the 1500m. The men were up next over the same distance, Rob Wood finished 1st in 4.08, closely followed by Luke Williams in 4th.

The final event of the day was medley relay that was a combined

whole team event, consisting of 2x100m legs, a 200m leg and 2x400m legs. Odiham managed to field a strong mixed team and got the baton round to claim 2nd place.

Despite some great individual performances through the day Odiham only managed to place 6th as RAF Cosford used the home advantage to finish 1st. Unfortunately, an incomplete team left Odiham too many gaps to fill all the events on the day.

RAF CHAMPIONSHIPS –15/06/22

Less than a month later it was time for the second competition, the Inter-Station Championships combined with the RAF Individual Championships. Odiham set off toward Cosford with a much bigger men’s team, so spirits were high in the hope of finishing higher than the last event.

Odiham managed to field a competitor for almost every event and quickly started adding points to the team score.

* Ashton Taylor finished 3rd against a strong field in the 100m in 11.81 seconds.

* Luke Williams ran 2:04 in the 800m to secure 4th.

* Jack Savage finished 3rd in the 400m Hurdles.

* Rob Wood gained two 2nd places in the 1500m and 5000m, running 15:14 and 4:05 respectively.

* George Shurley boosted the points tally in the field events, finishing 4th in the Long Jump with a distance of 5.35m and 6th in the discus.

Nicole Burger was Odiham’s sole female athlete on the day. She competed in multiple events finishing 1st in the 100m (13.6s), Long Jump, High Jump and Shotput! This gave her an impressive score, high enough to place 4th overall in the female team competition.

As is customary, the day finished with the relay races. Odiham’s sprinters put in a great showing to secure 2nd in the 4x100m relay. The day ended with the medley relay, 2x100m, a 200m leg and a 400m leg in which Odiham managed to finish 3rd.

The final standings had the men’s

team finishing 2nd overall on the day, only 12 points behind winners RAF Cosford.

Inter Service Championships –06/07/22

The final event of summer is the Military Interservice Championships, once again held at RAF Cosford. Three athletes from Odiham were chosen to represent the RAF to take on the best of the Army and Navy.

Nicole Burger leapt her way to 2nd place in the Long Jump (4.78m) and High Jump (1.50m) scoring some big points for the RAF.

Rob Wood was up next finishing in 3rd place in the 5000m (15:12).

Unfortunately, disaster struck Jack Savage in the 400m Hurdles when he clipped a barrier and injured his hamstring, not wanting to let the team down he still managed to get round and score points for 6th place.

The men’s and women’s team finished closely in 2nd place behind the Army.

Ryan McMenamin with Rob Wood

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