1349 Woking Squadron

          It has to be said, I was more than a little apprehensive when I stepped out of my door on the 24th of July to get in the car to go to Guildford Spectrum where I was being picked up. Whilst it was my second summer camp, and my fourth weeklong camp in total, I had always known at least one other cadet who was going, but I was tackling this alone. While there was that underlying sense of dread, growing more prominent by the second, there was an overriding feel of excitement, as there always is at the start of something like this.           

RAF Boulmer (pronounced Boomer) is right up North, nearly on the Scottish border. It was going to be a long ride to get up there; a long ride with people I didn’t yet know. It was a wonder, therefore, when I got onto the coach and saw a few familiar faces. Cadets from 323 and 328 squadrons, who I’d spent time with on THE. We arrived, after seven or so hours, having left at 5am; we arrived at RAF Boulmer, which is in the middle of nowhere, quite near the Northumbrian coast. We got organised, and our kit was collected from the coach, and we were put into our rooms for the week. And what rooms! They were nicer than some Travel Lodges, I’m sure. We each had our own room, which I never would’ve imagined. In each room, we had a bed, sink, desk, chair, two wardrobes, and plenty of cupboard and shelf space. Once we had got all of our affairs in order, we were told to get into blues, and get outside, as we would be doing a Fam-Ex, also known as a ‘familiarisation exercise’. This involved walking around the base, answering questions on certain areas, such as ‘what is the gate-guard?’ or ‘how many car parking spaces does the Station Commander have on the base?’ as you can tell, some were easer than others.  

RAF Boulmer was one of those camps where so much happened, you sort of lost track of it all, and it all blurs into one big lump of fun. This is great when it happens, but afterwards, when you are trying to tell people about it, it does rather distract from the point. So, do please forgive me if I seem to skip out big chunks of the day.  

Then, it was dinner on the first day. It’s strange, because I’m used to eating at around 7 o’clock, but you just seem to slip into the whole ‘eating dinner at 4’ sort of thing. And the JRM was nearly as nice as the rooms. The whole base, we found out later, had been newly re-vamped, so all of it was clean, and neat, and pristine. By now, I was beginning to get to know a few more people; in fact, almost the whole JNCO team was from 11F. There were cadets from all over Surrey Wing though, but no one Squadron overrode the whole thing, which meant that everyone got to know each other quite quickly, which was nice. In the evening, we all got changed into civvies, and walked down to one of the local beaches for the evening. Quite a few people, myself included, decided to go into the sea. It wasn’t a good idea. It may have been the end of July, but it was the North Sea, and it was like ice! The staff organised a game of volleyball, we tried football, but it wasn’t very easy, so we gave up in the end. We walked back up to the minibus, where the staff were with a drink, hotdog and burger for each of us. Lights out was at about 2300 each night, and up at 0700, which should’ve felt like a lie-in, but for some reason, it didn’t.

There was quite an entertaining incident one night, when one of the corporals sleepwalked into one of the sergeant’s bedrooms. Trust me, the sergeant learnt to lock doors after that. The first three days were in greens, which, while fantastically fun, was rather annoying, because I’d only brought enough greens kit (socks, t-shirts, trousers, etc) for one day, but, somehow, I managed to deal with that. Sunday was a rather good day. The cadets were split up into two groups: those who were qualified on the L98 A2, and those who weren’t or were but needed a reminder. I joined the latter group, as I needed a reminder because I hadn’t shot the rifle for quite a long time. We were trained up to the level at which it would be safe for us to shoot. We had lunch at the mess, and afterwards, were split up into two groups again: those who wanted to do an RAF fitness test, and those who didn’t. Once again, I joined the latter, and me, along with the rest of my group, went back to the billets to get changed into civvies. We had an officer with us who knew the area well, as he had grown up in Alnwick, just four miles down the road from where we were staying. He took us on a walk through the small village of Alnmouth, bought us an ice cream, and then took us down to the beach, where we walked along and he told us about the history of the area since he’d grown up. We had dinner back at the main base, and were told to get changed into sports kit. The sports hall was impressive. It was huge, and along one wall was a row of exercise bikes worth about £3000 each. We went onto the second basketball court of the main hall, and were taught the rules of Swedish longball. It was the second time I’d played, and was just as fun. We just managed to beat the first team, 32-30. 

Monday was the shooting day. We started the morning with the live range, and a shooting contest. For most of it, I was in the lead by quite a way, then, just before we finished, a cadet from 323, Robson, pipped me to the post with a 57mm grouping! Only 1mm better than me! I was rather annoyed, and had another go, but t’was not to be.After lunch, I had a chance to redeem myself with a shoot on the DCCT range. The dismounted close-combat trainer is a piece of kit that I love. It allows you to shoot to your hearts content, but without having to worry about shooting anyone, misfires, negligent discharges, in fact, it eradicates all bad points of shooting that I can think of. Again, though, only one person, a certain Corporal Brooks, beat me. Again, if I’d got one more target, I would’ve drawn with him.  The radar visit on Tuesday was a thing to remember. Unfortunately, I cant disclose it’s location exactly, or even what it looks like, but it was very impressive, and the amount of detail that you get on the screen is incredibly surprising, as you don’t realise just how many aircraft fly in British airspace all the time. In the afternoon, once we’d got back from the radar site, and the weather had brightened up a bit, we packed some civvies into a bag and headed up to the fire section at Boulmer. Now, I’d never been on a fire section visit before, so it was a slight shock when we were told to get changed into civvies, because I thought ‘well, this must be for a reason’, and so it was even more of a shock when I got hit in the back by a jet of water being fired from a high-pressure hose! You get used to it in the end, and the bright sun helped us to dry off a bit. We all got to have a go with the massive hose, and we spent a while having a water fight with the smaller ones. We had a hose-rolling competition as well, and guess who won that? Yes, my flight! We were all pretty pleased. After that, we got changed back into greens and went down the hill to a small low-ropes course, where we had a go at a few of the activities. This was where I developed the nickname ‘Elmo’, as one of the adult sergeants felt that I looked like the small, fluffy, red sesame street character. One of the tasks we had to complete was to get everyone from one side of an over-sized spiders web to the other, without touching the spider web, and only 1 person could go through each hole. We managed it in the end, with a few bruises and grazes. Another of the tasks was a trust exercise. Each of us had to stand on a platform about 5 feet off of the ground and fall backwards, letting the rest of the 11-strong group catch you. The first person to do it, having been caught successfully, looked like a ghost. He was shaking, and you could tell he was terrified. I went last, and, because its me, I didn’t keep my body straight, but sat down, meaning that it was harder for them to catch me, and I also stuck my elbows out, injuring the two people who had to catch that particular part of me. Great.

That evening, we went to an indoor water park, one of many that seem to be scattered across the North of England. It was huge, had at least seven flumes, including ones you could go down with someone, ones you could go down in rubber rings, ones that flung you through the air, and a section of the pool that flowed like a river and went outside, though that was very cold. It was a great place to let off steam and get to know people even better.   

On Wednesday, we went to visit the military Air Traffic Control centre at Boulmer. It is deep underground, and able to operate even if there’s been a nuclear attack, I think. We saw the pictures from the radar centre that we’d visited the previous day, once things like clouds, birds, boats and mountains had been filtered out. I really admire the Air Traffic Controllers, because you have to be good at what you do, and as someone who didn’t understand anything about the pictures or the language they used, I was dead impressed. That afternoon, we went to Spade Adam training centre. It is a huge area, used by the military for practising manoeuvres and general training in the field. We did some cam and concealment exercises, and a task that I first encountered on Pathfinder this year. You have to look in a set area from a given point, not moving from that point, and you have to look for objects in the area that stick out. The winning team is the team that finds the most. Unfortunately, my flight didn’t win that, but we did learn an awful lot. The night that night was great. We joined up with some cadets from Northumberland, and then we split up into groups, and were told that we had to find bits of intelligence in specific locations around the training area. It was incredible, and we only got lost once! Of the four groups, in the end, we came second, which we were happy with, but it would’ve been nice to win. We said goodbye to our northern comrades and set off back to Boulmer, finally getting back at 2330.  

We were all looking forward to Thursday. Thursday was the day when we got to decide the fate of London. We shipped off to room near the ATC centre, and were told to sit around the edge in our flights. We were going to take control of two opposing countries, the United Kingdom and the fictional country of Ruskistan, and the Ruskistanis would send a preliminary invasion force of aircraft to bomb London. It was a great game, mapped out on a huge screen on the floor. Our air units were shown in red, and the UK’s in blue, and it was our job to reach London and bomb it. First we had to come up with a plan – mine was chosen, splitting into 3 sections, 1 with 2 fighters, and the other two with 2 fighters and a bomber each. The game progressed, and finished with the crashing of the last Ruskistani aircraft crashing inside the M25, killing thousands. We were commended on our actions, and were taken to one side and told that the game had to be swung in favour of the UK, because otherwise we would’ve crushed them, and I was complemented on the plan. All in all, a great morning.

That afternoon, we had final parade in front of the Station Commander, which was a great honour. We also had the drill competition, which went really well, and due to a miscalculation, we were told that my flight had won. Unfortunately, as I said, it was a miscalculation, and it turned out tat the other flight won by 1 point. There seems to be a recurring theme here. On Friday morning, we got dressed into blues and went to 202 sqn, the RAF northern search and rescue squadron. We were given a tour of the aircraft, but were unfortunately not allowed to fly because of the service time left on the aircraft. That afternoon, we went into Alnwick, and wandered around for a bit, buying little nick-nacks and having a bit of a laugh. We went to Alnwick castle as well, where they filmed some scenes from Harry Potter, and looked around the staterooms. We were surprised to find a soft toy of a certain fat Scottish character from the Austin Powers films. In the evening, we had the disco, an event that I always look forward to on each camp. I try to be the first on a last off of the dance floor, and I managed it this time! Spending two hours on your feet is not recommended, however, because you r dancing gets progressively worse, until it dissolves into running around in circles, and jumping every no and again.  

Saturday. The last day. Seven days after we had arrived, it was already time to go. It hadn’t felt like seven days, more like two, but, alas, t’was time. We had the award ceremony, and the winner of the best cadet award surprised no one, but somehow I managed to get the best turned-out cadet! No idea how I did that. The way back was very relaxed. It was upsetting, as it always is, but there it was.  I came back a better person, with new friends, and new experiences.                                                

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. Since the beginning of summer the B.O.B project team has been working hard on and off the squadron to produce top quality work to present to cadets and adults alike. Every week the team puts up information about the battle, such as civilian defence, roles of the observer corps, and aircraft recognition, then for the week it is left on the board so cadets can freely read up on events happening '70 years ago on the day'. Everybody on the team is really excited to show the cadets and parents what we can produce and so on Thursday 16th September, at the squdron, we shall hold an event at which all may come and tour the squadron. Reading up on events and objects of the past to honour those who fought for our country back in the day. We have many willing cadet vounteers who shall aid with the tour, dressing up and making the night even more entertaining for everyone as they show off their drama skills whether they are a refugee or a RAF Pilot. The project is many weeks in and the team of cadets and NCO's have all provided work for the squdron, all of which will be used in the tour, planning for the evening has taken a lot of time and effort and for this we must all thank Mr. Siggers who has played a huge part in the success of this project. The rest I shall leave for the night (16th) so if you wish to see what your fellow cadets have been up to then you must turn up, it shall be a fantastic evening when the squadron will be full of pride.

On the 15^th July at 22:00 hours 20 cadets and 4 members of staff from Surrey Wing departed R.A.F Northolt for a 10 hour coach ride to Camp Heumensoord, Nijmegen to take part in the 100 mile 4 day march along with 7,000 other military personnel and 37,000 civilians. However 2 of our cadets: Sgt Suleman and Cpl Williams would be marching with an ACF team, another 2 cadets Cpl Lugg and Cpl Shine would be marching with No. 1 Welsh wing ATC and unfortunately Sgt Daniels (ATC) would be marching with 600 Sqn R.A.A.F. 

After a few stops along the way we arrived at camp Heumensoord on 16^th July about 08:00 hours and were shown to our accommodation which was a section of a huge marquee with only thin wooden walls to separate all the teams. Our “home” for the next week consisted of several bunk beds with surprisingly comfortable mattresses and a table and some benches. We quickly put our kit by our bunks and then went off to have a tour of the camp when we were shown were all the facilities were and the massive mess hall. Then our team leaders: Fg Off White and Fg Off Campbell were summoned to a team leaders brief which took forever but as soon as they got back we had our brief got our ID cards and went off into Nijmegen town for a tour and to spend some time. We used the special military shuttle bus from the camp to the town and we got into Nijmegen about 13:30 and spent all afternoon and evening there having an amazing time soaking in the atmosphere and having a party! We got back to camp about 21:00 so we could get all our kit ready for bed and have some time to work out if we forgot any uniform or anything, thankfully I had remembered everything.

On the 17^th July we were woken up at 07:30 for breakfast which this year was made by a contractor to the Dutch military so it was actually quite good. Then we were told to make a day sack as we would be taking part in a mock evacuation of the camp at 09:00 which turned out to be quite fun as we ended up having a water fight on the way back! We were formed up and taken to the southern rally point which was about 1.5 miles away and then told to sit in a field for about an hour and a half which was a bit bizarre!  Straight afterwards we went into Nijmegen for the usual antics of having a party!

Monday 18^th July was similar to Sunday 17^th as we had breakfast at about 07:30 and went into Nijmegen for 10:00. We have good relations with London wing so we went to the park to play some football with them and chill before our 100 mile march begins!! Unfortunately the weather had been the best part of 30 degrees since we got there so playing football almost made me faint! We arrived back to camp at about 15:00 to start preparing kit for the marches. Some people were sewing on patches and others were getting their bags ready but it was still about 32 degrees! We went to dinner at 17:00 and were told that because of the heat everything had been put an hour back to try and get the marchers finished before the hot mid-day sun. This meant having to march out at 3:30!! But because of the heat it made it very difficult to go to sleep so most people ended up going to bed at about 21:00 and not getting much sleep at all!

Tuesday 19^th July was our first march day and I was very excited to get started. We got up bright and early at 2:30 to be formed up by 3:00 and because Surrey is the best we were first out and first in line of the WHOLE British Military Contingent!! The commander of the contingent was Brigadier Watson the commander of European forces would take the salute each day as we marched out of camp. I was surprised to find that even at those early hours people were out cheering us on which was amazing! We had an awesome upbeat first leg with everyone in high spirits as we got to the first checkpoint of the marches. Mid way through the second leg someone hung out a poster saying “don’t worry just 3 ½ days to go!” which kept moral up nicely as we went along. The rest stops were very quick but you soon forgot about your aches and pains as you went through the towns and people were playing music and cheering you on. Once we got onto the last leg it really started to get hot and thankfully the staff bought face flannels so we wetted those and put them on our heads to keep us cool. We got back to camp and marched into the beer tent at 12:30 relieved that the first and hardest day was over and we walked off back to the billet to go have a shower. The showers were nice and warm but I couldn’t relax yet as I had to get my bag packed and kit ready for the next day as I had the privilege or I thought it was of carrying the flag.     

Wednesday we were first out again but this time it was 4:30 we marched out. The flag proved to be hard to walk with as I tend to forget that I had a 4 foot flag on my back so I was always hitting trees or something and it got on my nerves a little so I decided this would be the one and early time I would walk with the flag! The team morale was as good as ever but mine was bad. This is because there was a gap in our squad when we formed up so someone had to fill it leaving me at the back on my own for almost all day with no one to talk to which sucked! However thanks to the Dutch being crazy about these marches they kept my spirits up with the music and cheering. Like Tuesday we got back to camp pretty early about 13:30 and showered and got our kit ready for the next day. However for some reason I felt absolutely drained of energy so as soon as we got back from dinner I flung myself on the bed and went to sleep and the next thing was I had to get up for the next day’s march.

Thursday was a good day as we were due to march out at 5 so we could have a sleep when we got back from breakfast which was good. During breakfast we were told it was a possibility that we could be taking part in a prestigious Canadian memorial parade at checkpoint 3 which would be amazing if I got picked! We were quite tired by this point and because of this we weren't first out but we were at least near to the front which was good. This had to be our best day morale wise as we were so close to the finish we just wanted today to be over. However there weren’t many people out on the streets to cheer us on compared to the other days but we kept our morale up with banter and singing. There was one hill which was packed with marchers and as we got to the top racing the Germans up we saw how many people really were taking part. There were people in the road for as far as the eye could see and it continued like that until the next checkpoint! As we got to the third checkpoint we saw the Canadian memorial and it was time to pick the cadets who were to take part as there were only 7 needed. The final pick was myself, Cpl Carlin, Sgt Wilkins, Flt Sgt Origo, Sgt Bellamy and Cdt Doyle, we would be wreath bearers for high ranking officers and NCOS and I had the pleasure of being Brigadier Watsons wreath bearer so I wanted to impress. The whole parade took about 1 ½ hours so the others got a long rest to say the least. As the parade finished Fg Off Campbell came over to congratulate us on a successful parade and we had made the Air Cadets proud which made everyone smile. The last leg was a strange leg because there was no one out in the town we were marching through it was as if we were late or something however we still made it back to camp in a good mood at 14:20. We then continued with the usual routine of showering and getting kit ready before dinner and bed.

Friday, the last day we were due to be out at 4:00 again this was good because it meant we could finish the marches by mid-day which we were all very excited about. By this time we were very tired and the staff said we were going to have a relaxing day so we slacked and ended up in the middle of the contingent which wasn’t good. But as we marched out of camp the Dutch showed us how crazy they are about these marches as I had never seen so many people in one place to cheer on some people walking! This craziness continued all day with people lining the streets and it got even crazier on the third leg when we were going through the town, people were cheering and screaming I had never seen anything like it! It was packed, the town was by a river so there were even people on boats! As we got onto the last leg everyone started to get very excited about finishing and the Dutch had put up stages and tunnels to which everyone was crazy at and it was so enjoyable to walk through I forgot all about my aching feet  and just soaked up the atmosphere! This day we would have to march another 5 k with the whole British military contingent through Nijmegen to a bus stop so we could get back to camp. The march past was if I’m honest a good experience marching with regular soldiers but a bit of a waste of time because I’m sure most people would have preferred to go straight to camp. Throughout the last day we had been practicing a Jarhead type routine for when we got to the beer tent thankfully all the practice paid off when we did it as it met lots of cheers from especially the Americans.

We all received our medals and had a big group hug to congratulate everyone as some people had done it multiple times like Sgt Bellamy 3^rd, Fg Off White 8 and Fg Off Campbell 8!  We got back to the billet at about 14:30 and packed our bags ready to go home. At 18:00 we got the shuttle into Nijmegen and had the party of our lives with London wing. The banter between the two wings made the trip for me.

This week had been the best week of my life and I would highly recommend it to anyone because it’s just the most amazing thing you will ever do!            

In the ATC, sport is a massive part of your life. You don't need to be particularly good at anything to represent your squadron at a Surrey Wing event. As long as you dont sink, you swim for woking, and as long as you dont collapse, you'll run for them too, it's all in good fun. But sometimes, you might even find that you're a bit of a wiz at chucking a spear across a field, or kicking a ball into the back of the net, and progress through the competition levels; which is, exactly what happened to me, and I loved it.

On the Friday 18th June, around 5 o'clock, I made my way, free of charge (as the tickets get paid for by the ATC) on my own all the way up to London Waterloo. Scary, if I'm honest, never been to London on my own before. And caught the tube right the way out to Ruislip Gardens, the station that is prettymuch on the doorstep of RAF Northolt. Why was I there? I was about to begin a 5 hour coach ride to RAF Cosford, to represent London and the South East Region in the Air Training Corps Athletics Championships. Good Times!

Unfortunately, and the staff decided to tell me this as we entered Birmingham; which was really nice of them, that I couldn't actually compete in my events, because I'm 2 months too old for my age group. Oh Lovely! So I'm in the middle of Birmingham on my way to an RAF station where I'm going to do nothing all day, and then have another gruelling 5 hour coach ride on the way back...Nope, I was wrong, I was still needed!

The girl who was meant to throw javelin in my, now correct, age group, hadn't showed up. Yay!. So I'd be throwing it instead. Now as happy I was that there was still purpose for me to be there, I couldn't help but pick up on a flaw in the plan... I have never picked up a Javelin in my life.

As we arrived at RAF Cosford, we made our way straight to the gym, grabbed a judo mat and whipped out the sleeping bags, as it happened to be about 1am, and we all knew it'd be a long day tomorrow. The girls were up at around 6am, ready, washed and prepped for breakfast at 7, which was absolutely lush; and gave us more chance to socialise with the cadets from other regions and wings who were all brilliantly friendly. We went immediately over to the athletics track, and the days events ran surprisingly smoothly. The best part was, Javelin didnt actually go all that badly! Yes I didn't come first.. Or second.. or even third. I came 5th out of 6. Purely because this Irish CWO was in the same position as me, and i nabbed about 50cm on her throw. Success!

The day finished with a parade of athletes, and a salute from a lovely ginger group captain who chatted to us throughout the day's events. He was standing in for Air Commodore, as he was unable to make it for some reason or another, great shame. Anyhow, then we got changed out of the Region Kit, back into smart clothes and suits, and boarded to coach homebound, those 5 hours were possibly the quickest 5 hours I think I've ever lived through. It was brilliant, the whole of the LASER team was friends by the end of it, and we laughed prettymuch the whole way home.

Back at RAF Northolt, we all split up, probably never to see each other again, but full of good memories of the day just gone. I caught the train with about 12 other cadets that were headed to different places across London and the south east,  most of them to middlesex and a couple of us back to Surrey.

I was awarded the Region Blue for representing London and the South East at athletics, which I am hugely proud of, and if I'm honest, was one of the only reasons I decided to get on that coach to Cosford. Any cadet can represent their squadron at wing level, but its those that go to region and corps that really stand out. It was an utterly brilliant 24 hours and I can only hope I'll get chosen to go next year, the people I met were savage, I'd do it all again any day.

 Cpl Suppa

Annually the Woking Aircrew Association host a fly-in at Fairoaks Airport. The purpose is for old friends to get together, with all the veterens having the opportunity to go for a flight in one of the aircraft. Woking Squadron assists with this event, by providing logistical support and manpower.

Myself, cdt Roff, Cdt jeffery and a number of corprals gathered at the cafe by the main enterance of Fairoaks airport at 1730 hours. Our mission was to fly 50 members of the public and elderly people in 1 and a half hours. We were all given a board with a number on. My number was 9. On the wall of the cafe, was a board. This board was were we picked up a little note with who we would be taking to and collecting from our aircraft. The aircraft i would would be escorting my passengers to was a BARON! When the flying stared at 1800 hours, i waited untill my aircraft was ready, i then fouind my first group of passengers and escorted them to the BARON. Then just before my plane took off, a chinook from 27 Squadron turned up and was a big hit to the public. I only had 1 group, so at the end, after i had escorted my passengers back to the saftey of the cafe, the C.O took us by minibus to go and sit inside the chinook! After about 10 minutes, we went back to the cafe, grabbed our meal tickets and sat down and had a chumly meal in the cafe. All over, it was a fun evening and as we left, we got many praise and comments from members of the public who enjoyed the evening. Well done to everyone that took part!