Page 116 - The Royal Lancers Chapka 2018

114 REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL LANCERS (QUEEN ELIZABETHS’ OWN) Lincolnshire Army Cadet Force
Lincolnshire ACF (2 Squadron) participates in the nationwide Armistice 100 initiative
In October 2018, 20 cadets from Bourne Detachment, Lin- colnshire ACF attended the nationwide Armistice 100 initia- tive that saw cadets from every corner of the country travel to France to pay their respects on the 100-year anniversary of the end of World War 1. For our cadets the journey started at Bourne bus station where they boarded the coach and said goodbye to their families. The adventure took the cadets five hours south to the military base in Folkestone which would be their home for the next three days. The real travel started very early the next day with a 0300 wakeup call, shocking most the cadets. It was a sleepy group of children that boarded the ferry that would take us to Calais. Upon arrival we joined our tour guide and headed south to the first stop, the British front line.
The cadets visited the graves of the Devonshire Lads that were buried in the line that they defended, “Devonshire holds this line still” is engraved over the entrance. This was very moving and the tour guide was brilliant at portraying the events that took place in the trenches and the courage the young warriors showed by going over the top of the trench. Our next stop was a German graveyard that was equally as moving, there was hun- dreds of plain crosses all lined up. It was sad to also discover that the Jewish German soldier’s gravestones had been removed later, on the orders of Adolf Hitler, the whole experience was harrowing. The final stop before the trip home was Thiepval Memorial where we met up with the 1000 other cadets in at- tendance at the time and paid our respects to the fallen with a minute silence.
Bourne Detachment ACF
“It was a real honour and a privilege to be able to visit. It was devastating to see first-hand the list of names on the memorial” – Cadet Lance Corporal A Shaw, 15 years old.
All the cadets had a brilliant time it was both educational, har- rowing and a very fun experience. It was a group of very tired cadets that travelled home the next day. The event was captured with The Times newspaper and Staff Sergeant Cooper and three Bourne cadets were interviewed and screened on televisions, ITV East Midlands Today news programme.
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