Page 42 - Mercian Eagle 2016

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Ex SURVIVAL BAYONET Cpl J O Cherry, 4Pl
Last year, I and the other Section Commanders from B Company were asked by the Company Sergeant Major to conduct a survival package over a two day period to be delivered to the Company. Between us we were all in favour and excited as it was a first for a lot of the lads and us.
I used what knowledge I had gained from a previous course in the Jungle to formulate the training. After a couple of hours brainstorming ideas we decided to break the package down over a two day period covering four main topics; food, fire, shelter and water. We each took a subject.
We had the expertise of two survival experts from 23 SAS (reservists) who helped
Demonstrating shelter building
out through the duration, however not getting too involved but offering knowledge and experience where necessary to make our lessons as good as they could be. They stayed with us throughout and assisted on our lessons, all the Section Commanders appreciated their help.
The food exercise involved the sourcing of animals for the demonstration and subsequent gutting in preparation for consumption. The fire exercise involved various techniques on how to make
fire with minimal resources in arduous environments. The water stand posed the biggest challenge as our knowledge was limited so the survival experts educated us
Fire making
with various filtration techniques and also the capture of rain water. The shelter stand became the most labour intensive and time consuming to create as we had to build the demonstration shelters. We used various techniques from man-made aids and completely natural materials.
Overall it went extremely well from both commanders and students as we all learned very much. Personally I think it should be taught more often, providing there was ample time for planning and preparation to ensure maximum training value.
Food preparation
Chester Marathon Sgt J Hodgkinson, 5 Pl
On the 2nd October 2016, six members of 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment took part in the Chester Marathon. The six individuals were Major Agnew (OC B Malta Coy), Sgt Hodgkinson (5 Pl B Malta Coy), Pte McGlough (5 Pl B Malta Coy), LCpl Weston (6 Pl B Malta Coy), SSgt Smith
(2 MERCIAN attachment – PT Corps) and LCpl Green (D Dragon Coy).
The event commenced at 0900 when
we crossed the starting line for the 26.2 mile event. The event itself was very well resourced with 5,000 runners taking part. This was not including the individuals who were there on the day to help sponsor and promote the event. This included members of the Royal British Legion along with other outside agencies such as the St Johns Ambulance crews who were responsible for the medical plan throughout the day.
As we were running there was a fantastic atmosphere from the local public who lined the route to encourage the runners and give maximum support to those who were
All members of The Mercian Regiment completed the marathon with respectable times...
2 MERCIAN team
involved in the race. There were also various live bands dotted around the villages as we were running round and several checkpoints where people were issuing bottles of water and energy drinks as well as sports gels in order for the runners to remain hydrated throughout the race. Amongst the people within the race there were various running clubs who took part.
As we approached the finish line, each individual felt the physical and mental strain of what a marathon has to offer and it was safe to say that everybody was glad to finish the race. All members of The Mercian
Regiment completed the marathon with respectable times and were awarded medals at the finish line for our efforts. The person who completed the race in the fastest time was Pte McGlough, with a time of 3 hours 45 minutes. Throughout the race he showed the physical robustness and determination required of an infantry soldier.
In summary the event itself was a fantastic experience and all members of The Mercian Regiment really enjoyed the event. The support from the public was amazing and once we finished the event we all felt a sense of pride and achievement from it.
THE MERCIAN EAGLE