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TS Gurkha's amazing WRNS100/IWD Celebration Cake
TS Gurkha Celebrate IWD & 100 years of Women in...
Stratford upon Avon Sea Cadets celebrated the 100th anniversary of Women in the Naval Service with a special Divisions night.
‘We have a high proportion of girls within TS Gurkha so it seemed appropriate to highlight this anniversary’ explained Officer in Charge, Lt Roger Edmunds. ‘However it’s not just about the girls. Just like the Royal Navy, Sea Cadets is fully inclusive, regardless of who you are and we are very proud of that fact.’
TS Gurkha decided to hold their event to coincide with International Women’s Day and invited Lt Cdr Suzanne Lynch, a Royal Navy Officer to attend as a VIP.
Lt Cdr Lynch gave a presentation on her recent posting to Djibouti in the Horn of Africa where she worked on Operation Atalanta, a counter-piracy naval operation. She told the cadets about the positive effect that the Royal Navy where having in protecting humanitarian aid so that those in need the most get help and support.
‘It was a very interesting evening’ said Chris Wheeler, Vice Chair ‘This is an area of naval operations that many of the cadets are unfamiliar with.’
The celebrations were completed with the cutting of an anniversary cake, which was shared by all.
Engineering Qualification for Stratford Sea Cadet
Ordinary Cadet, Charlotte Drinkwater from TS Gurkha is celebrating after successfully completing her 2nd Class Marine Engineering (ME) qualification at Sea Cadet Training Centre, Weymouth.
Charlotte, aged 16, discovered an interest in engineering when she went offshore in 2015 with the Sea Cadet Corps on one of their power-training ships, TS Jack Petchey. ‘We went down to the engine room and learned how the ship worked.’ Charlotte said. ‘I realised that engineering could be an option for me when I left school.’
Charlotte quickly took her basic (3rdClass) ME but was very keen to progress to the next level.
This time the training was much more intense and involved two weekends away in Weymouth. ‘We arrived on the Friday Evening and began with a briefing. Actual lessons and practicals started the next morning and ran from 8.30am through to 11pm at night. At the end of the second weekend we had to sit an exam and the pass mark was quite high.’ Charlotte explained. ‘It was hard work and very challenging. I am just so pleased that I passed.’
The course covered a variety of engineering subjects including principles and performance, governors and clutches, engine and electrical systems, fuel systems, wiring diagrams, start and fault finding, lubrication and cooling systems, electromagnetism and Health and Safety.
Charlotte is now hoping to move on to her 1st class qualifications in mechanical and electrical engineering which she will hopefully complete next year with Sea Cadets. She is also due to start engineering at college in September.
Lt Roger Edmunds, Commanding Officer at Stratford Sea Cadets said. ‘This is a perfect example of how training and experiences at Sea Cadets can generate an interest that can lead to a valuable career. We are really pleased for Charlotte. It is a tough course.’
Going forward Stratford Sea Cadets hope to be able to have their own ME instructor so that the basic qualification can be offered more locally. More Stratford Cadets would then have the opportunity to progress in this engineering, giving them a valuable advantage should they wish to pursue a career with one of the many engineering based companies that there are within the region.
Lord Lieutenant's Visit
Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire, Tim Cox, attends Divisions as VIP.
Promotion for Commanding Officer of Stratford...
Cadets, staff and volunteers at TS Gurkha are delighted that their Officer in Charge, Roger Edmunds has been promoted to Lieutenant. This is no easy achievement, requiring a huge amount of work, time and commitment.
Roger joined Sea Cadets Corps over 20 years ago as an adult civilian instructor when he began dating Nicola (now his wife) who was, and still is, a Sea Cadet instructor. He realised that the skills that he had from working on boats for 5 years as a teenager would also be very useful in teaching cadets on the water.
In order to develop these skills further he went away on many different training courses and was promoted to Petty Officer after completing a week long course at HMS Excellent in Portsmouth. Over the next 10 years Roger continued to teach cadets on a weekly basis and in 2010 decided to work on becoming an Officer within the Corps. This involves much extra work and additional weekends away from home in order to be trained and assessed by Sea Cadet and Naval Officers. These weekends are both challenging and exhausting as potential officers are pushed hard to see if they can cope with pressure. In November 2010 Roger successfully passed the officers board and was promoted to a Sub Lieutenant.
Lt Edmunds said ‘It is good for the cadets to see staff going away and working towards promotion so that they recognise that training isn’t just for cadet but adults too.’
To attain this most recent promotion, Roger was required to serve a further 6 years as a Sub Lieutenant and attend a week-long Junior Officers Training Course at SCTC Weymouth. Cadet First Class Molly Edmunds, Roger’s 13 year old daughter knows more than others how hard he has worked.
‘It's strange when Dad is on a course as he's not there to wake me up in the morning or to eat with us. But if he didn't go on these courses he wouldn't have been able to get to where he is now and it makes me proud to know that my dad has achieved so much!’ She said. ‘He dedicates a lot of time to cadets and he makes sure everyone gets the best out of it. When he goes away he isn't just achieving things that will help the cadets to learn new things but he achieves a skill for himself that he can use forever.’
All of the cadets at the Stratford unit were keen to explain why he is very deserving of his new rank.
Able Cadet Barnaby Edwards, 17 years, began by saying. ‘Sir is very caring and trustworthy but you can still have a laugh with him.’
Whilst 12 year old Cadet Daniel Payne said ‘He just gets cadets and the things we say. He makes cadets fun.’
Cadet First Class Love, who has been a cadet for 3 years, said ‘If you have any problems, Sir will sort them out. He listens to everything you say. There are just too many good things to say about him!’
TS Gurkha has many exciting plans for the future with Lt Edmunds in charge but he continues to focus on the cadets themselves, saying ‘I will carry on commanding the unit and give the cadets the best instruction I can with all the knowledge and experience I have gained from my own Sea Cadet development.’
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