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On a wet and windy Sunday morning, 6 cadets from T.S Broadsword joined other units from across the district for this year’s Paddlesport Regatta, which was held at Oxford Sailing club in Farmoor. The year saw not only flat water racing, but the introduction of Cross Stream (timed boat handling) and whilst the conditions weren’t perfect, the cadets gave it their all!

The Results for the cadets from T.S Broadsword were as follows:

Cdt L/Cpl Nicklin – Cross Stream open boys kayak, 1^st place and Cross stream open boy’s solo canoe, 2^nd place

Cdt Sgt Pearce and MC2 Fitzgerald - Cross stream open tandem Canoe, 2^nd place

Cdt King - Junior boys 2km single, 2^nd place

Cdt Saunders - Junior boys 500m single, 3^rd place

A mention also must go out to MC2 Bailey who after a valiant effort in her 2km open girls race, sadly had to pull out due to injury.

‘Bravo Zulu’ to all who took part

Armed forces day commenced for T.S Broadsword with the Commanding Officer and a group of 6 cadets attending the installation ceremony of the 710 Operational Hygiene Squadron Royal Logistics Corps into the Army Reserves Centre in Aylesbury. The Unit was invited to attend this event by Captain M. Tomkins RLC on behalf of the Unit OC Major P. Bell. Other guests at the event included the Lord Lieutenant and the High Sheriff who witnessed the 710 raise their flag at the ARC. The cadets carried out their duties during the morning well and following the event Captain Tomkins sent the following note through about the assistance from T.S Broadsword:

‘On behalf of the OC Major Phil Bell, myself and Captain Paul Spafford from 710 (RBH) OHS, I would like to say a very big thank you for attending the parade and also bringing your cadets along. The parade was a huge success, made more successful by your presence. The Lord Lieutenant mentioned how pleased he was to see the cadets on parade with the reserves. Please extend our thanks to all involved’

After the event at the ARC, the unit moved across to Weston Turville for the Armed Forces Day event. 11 Staff members and 14 Cadets represented the unit at this event and the Cadets demonstrated some of the skills they’ve learnt to the visitors. The demonstrations included Rope work and Rigging from the Sea Cadets and Kit layout, Kit packing and Cooking in the field from the Royal Marine Cadets. Alongside the demonstrations the cadets helped the event organisers at the amusement rides and were involved in the flag raising and lowering ceremonies.

The weekend of 26^th to 28th June saw PO Morrice and PO Nicklin head down to Guildford to undertake the BCU FSRT (Foundation Safety and Rescue Training). This course designed for Paddlesport teaches (as it says on the box) basic safety and rescue techniques for both land based, canoe and kayak based instructors. This is a very water based course and they spent as much time in the water as out of it. Luckily the weather was kind and they had a very successful and enjoyable weekend coming back with a further qualification under their belts.

The weekend of the June 20^th and 21^st saw 6 Juniors, 1 Senior Cadet and 7 members of staff head off to Grebe Lake, Calvert for a weekend of camping and fun. The theme for this year’s camp was ‘Star Wars’ and C3PO was there to greet the Cadets as they arrived and began setting up their tents.

A little bit of rain (torrential at times) didn’t stop everyone having fun, doing a number of activities on the Saturday including Power boating, Paddlesports, Rowing, 1^st Aid, Stoves, Team Games and Seamanship.

Sunday was Competition Day. After breakfast there was a Scavenger Hunt followed by model boat making. The boats were then launched on the lake and raced to the shore in a very close competition. The final competitions of the day led to the Cadets getting wet, very very wet with some Paddlesports fun. This culminated in the cadets trying to get as many of their team onto a single Kayak in one go. Lots of fun, lots of laughter and lots of water involved. After lunch is was sadly time to break camp. The Cadets all worked together to stash their kit and take down their tents before the presentations of Certificates and Medals.

Over the weekend of 19^th June to 21^st June, Cadets Gayler, Jeeves, King and Saunders all attended Middlehill Activity Centre is West Sussex for a weekend of Adventure Training. All four Cadets successfully completed the Camp craft Basic course which had them sleeping out in tents for the weekend and cooking their own meals - Mums cooking has never been more appreciated!

Over the weekend the Cadets also learned how to read a map, what a grid reference is, how to use a compass and about measuring distances. They also learnt about the many different types of tents and camping stoves.

‘Bravo Zulu’ to all who took part.