Page 117 - The Royal Lancers Chapka 2018

REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL LANCERS (QUEEN ELIZABETHS’ OWN) 115 My Last Remembrance Sunday as an Army Cadet
My name is Kieran Johnson and I am a corporal in the army cadets at Market Deeping. I have been in the army cadets for four years and 2018 is going to be my last remembrance parade with the cadets because I am hoping to secure a place at Army Foundation College, Harrogate with the Army Air Corps as a trainee aircraft technician. I wanted to wear The Royal Lancers No. 2 dress as that is the regiment that my detachment is affiliated with. I had asked permission from my officer commanding, Major Clare although I did not think that I was going to be able to wear it as I am not the most senior cadet at my detachment. However, my detachment commander Sergeant Richard Pearce spoke to the of- ficer commanding in support of my request. To my amazement he let me as it meant so much to me as I have a lot of family members that have served in the armed forces and also because it is the cen- tenary of the end of World War 1. I used all my earnings from my weekend job to purchase all the parts to the uniform. After a lot trying I lost all hope in wearing it as I could not find the buttons or the Prince of Wales’s badge. Then after being referred to a lot of different people, my father came into contact with Major Watson who very kindly supplied me with them. This meant so much to me and I would like to thank him for the great opportunity to wear it in support of the people who lost their lives and those that are still with us who gave their today for our tomorrow.
KJ
Sergeant Richard Pearce and Cadet Corporal Kieran Johnson – Market Deeping ACF
Nottinghamshire Army Cadet Force
Another year seems to have flown past and the relationship of D Squadron, Nottinghamshire ACF and the Royal Lancers, (Queen Elizabeths’ Own) has went from strength to strength. Highlights including six staff attending and teaching cadets on a weekend exercise in challenging conditions along with a visit to Catterick for the senior cadets back in October.
Starting with an exceptionally cold weekend in March whilst the squadron was completing some progressive training and assess- ment with the cadets, we were greeted with the Beast from the East, as it was names by the media. The weekend challenged both the soldiers and the cadets with temperatures hitting -10 degrees and constant snow flurries. The cadets, armed with a steely determination to impress the visiting Lancers, persevered and endures some icy conditions to conduct a number of de- liberate attacks to defeat the enemy. So much so that it forced Sergeant Walker to issue a compliment; “I’m really impressed with the cadets, I’m sure some of the soldiers at the regiment would have wrapped in these conditions, but all the cadets are
Cadet RSM Pooley commands a Spartan during a regimental visit in October being driven by Cadet Sergeant Taylor and in the gunners’ seat Cadet Lance Corporal Joy
Members of C Squadron Royal Lancers on the March exercise with additional volunteers and adult staff – ATE Beckingham
still here and cracking on”. The exercise included a show and tell element from one of the regiments’ snipers and a number of lessons delivered by junior troopers to some of the newer cadets.
Further interaction came with the Regiment when we attended the Operation TOSCA medal parade in October which included a hands-on session with the Scimitars and all of the weaponry available to the regiment as well as a night vision CQB (dry, sad- ly) lane through the squadron office. The cadets even had time to meet the Colonel of the Regiment ahead of the parade before running off to ransack the PRI shop.
In terms of individual merits in the last year, of all the four dif- ferent cap badged units within Nottinghamshire ACF, cadet sergeant major was selected as not only the regimental sergeant major but also as the Lord Lieutenant’s Cadet by Sir John Peace. Finally, Major Steven Price who has been the squadron leader and an ever-present member of the unit for a number of years, responsible for driving forward the relationship with the regi- ment, has now moved onto fulfil a role at Battalion Headquarters and we wish him all the best. However, with Lance Corporal Lowe as a liaison between the regiment and the cadets we look forward to working even closer together over the coming year.
JL