Field Day 2015
On Monday 20 and Tuesday 21 June all Year 10 pupils and a large group of Year 12 pupils took part in the annual CCF Field Day. Exercise FULL STOP is the culminating exercise for Year 10 pupils – all of whom have served with one of either the Eastbourne College CCF sections – Army, RAF or RN. Members of the Army and RAF sections deployed to Pippingford Park while the RN section travelled to Portsmouth
At Pippingford Park, a nearby army training area, the cadets set up their shelters and prepared their own evening meal (burgers and sausages cooked on open barbecues – under staff supervision). They would spend the next 28 hours working in small sections, each led by a Year 12 NCO. After a hearty meal they then took part in a night patrol, designed to get them used to moving and working in a team under the cover of darkness. All were tucked up in bed by midnight and were back on the move again at 6am the next morning. A sharp rise, kit packed away and then it was a short move to the breakfast site where they were met by a hearty hot breakfast supplied by the Eastbourne College caterers. Following this, each section visited six stands where they were tested on teamwork and leadership in a range of activities ranging from air-rifle shooting, first aid, command tasks, flag capture and building rescues. The winning section was Section 2-1 of B Company, consisting of James Allan, Matt Bergg, Martin Chow, Charlie Edwards, Drummer Jonty Flett, Ben Foss, Euan McGreevy, Benjie Meek, Oliver Morss-Davies, Hugo Najbor and Sitong Zhang. They were led by Lance Corporal Robbie Meikle and beat the other ten sections to win.
In second place (and winners of their rotation of six stands) was Section 3-2, led by Corporal Natasha Gale and made up of Prue Barnes, Beatrice Convert, Roisin Dixon, Millie Howitt, Rosie Kremer, Jennifer Li, Polina Mironova, Lilly Porter, Bianca Pulze, Georgia Stork, and Madeleine Taylor.
Congratulations must go to Cpl George Williams (RAF Section) who was recognised as the best junior NCO on the day.
LCpl Natasha Gale (Army) was named as runner up. Best Cadet was Marianne McMurdo, with Jakob Huhn as runner up.
All section commanders were praised for handling the challenge of leading a section of cadets on a night mission and through a tiring day of activity.
Meanwhile, in Portsmouth, the RN section broke with normal tradition by chartering five sailing yachts and two motor cruisers – part of the CCF national fleet. Divisional Officer Harry Byatt skippered his own yacht as he had passed his RYA Day Skipper Certificate last year. A number of the College CCF officers skippered yachts along with three external staff from CCF HQ.
The College group arrived in Portsmouth at 3.30pm on Monday 20 June and, after a safety briefing, the boats were rigged and set sail for Cowes on the Isle of Wight. With a south-east wind as they left Portsmouth Harbour, very good progress was made for the first hour. All the yachts had spinnakers or cruising chutes raised making a colourful vista. After an hour, the wind dropped and it was necessary to switch on the engines. With one engine overheating, the afflicted boat had to be towed the final two miles.
On arrival in Cowes, the cadets had some free time to sample the culinary delights of this prestigious yacht-racing mecca before retiring to sleep on the boats. After breakfast ashore, they left Cowes and sailed back to Portsmouth, again with light winds.
An excellent two days’ sailing with the cadets fully involved in all activities.
