Page 90 - Wish Stream Year of 2017

in Ex ALLENBY’S ADVANCE: 6 days of bat- tling through adverse weather conditions and physical fatigue to prove leadership in the most challenging circumstances. Highlights included returning from an ambush in the early hours, having marched through sideways rain to find flooded shell scrapes and sodden kit – a situa- tion which never fails to boost morale.
Moving on from Offensive Action, cadets looked at the Defensive environment, and with that came the infamous ‘digging exercise’ also known as Ex SLIM’S STAND, where officer cadets spent 36 hours digging two and four-man fire trenches. A physically demanding exercise but through good morale and good weather, the exercise was mostly an enjoyable experience - even with an extraction march in full CBRN kit. In order to pre-
pare for the CBRN environment, officer cadets were given the opportunity to experience an air-delivered chemical attack first hand. A Sat- urday morning trip to the gas chamber proved a surprising source of entertainment, with enthu- siastic singing ringing out from the chamber as cadets competed to see who could hold out the longest before succumbing to CS gas.
Away from the field, the Intermediate Term has given cadets an opportunity to shine in academia, the highlight being Ex NORMANDY SCHOLAR, in which cadets walked through various battles fought during the Normandy campaign and were given the opportunity to plan as commanders did over 70 years ago. Coupled with enjoying some French culture during evening meals, it was a hugely enjoyable part of the term.
Waterloo Company Morning Prayers Address
OCdt Judith Mattock
We sung at the start ‘I vow to thee my country’, a beautiful and well-loved hymn. It explores the greatest of sacri- fices that we may be asked to make, or that we may ask one of our soldiers to make. It reflects on how God is with us; that though this may not seem to be the protection and safety that our families have in mind, that he is there.
The VC citation of Capt N. Chavasse shows an act of true sacrifice. We learn of his never-ending love for his men. He supports, rescues and devotes himself to them. He lives out John 15:13 to the very last moment. This reminds us of the possi- ble consequences of our future actions. While in Normandy we visited a memorial and were able to reflect on the individuals laid to rest there. We focused on the inscriptions upon the headstones ranging from, ‘We will meet again, Mum’, and far too many simply, ‘Known unto God’.
Each day we make sacrifices, not nearly on the same scale as these men and women did. But without these smaller sacrifices we would not be able to follow in their footsteps. From little sleep,
family time, and knees that function; it is often the smallest things that have the biggest impact.
As parents and relatives, you make great and often unnoticed sacrifices, mainly in the form of time with your loved ones and when you do get to see them on Academy weekends, they spend most of it asleep. Alongside this we are good at making you slightly more worried due to our futures, our ability to get through the course, from the random bruises we show you and the overall condition of our feet. We thank you for listening as we try and explain the week without using acronyms, and for understanding when we describe the day in just one word, or when we make no contact in over a month, only to forget that 0600hrs on a Sat- urday is too early for a chat. Without your love, support and hope we would not have made it this far. Thank you for making those sacrifices, which are bound to get ever larger.
For our directing staff, it is said that you rise an hour earlier than we do each and every day; you often lose weekends and gain what at times must seem like 64 strange and slightly bonkers children. Occasionally getting things right, and
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