Page 61 - RADC Bulletin 2021

HISTORY
75th D-Day Commemorative Jumps into Normandy
Ms R Rhodes, former LCpl in the RADC
When I offered my Parachute Regiment veteran father, Colin Edwards, a father/ daughter parachute jump for Fathers Day 2018, I didn’t expect to gain my military B Wings and eventually be jumping from a Dakota into a World War II Drop Zone for the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
When he opened the card my father was very excited and was straight on the phone with a fellow Parachute Regiment veteran, who runs the Pathfinder Parachute Group, to get us booked onto the next military B Wings Course held at Tegue Airport in the Netherlands.
Once I had approval from my SDO
and cleared medically fit, despite being downgraded for an ongoing medical
issue, and sane to jump from a perfectly serviceable aircraft, I booked leave. In September 2018, prior to the anniversary
of Arnhem, my father and I drove over to Holland to join a group of like-minded people, who will forever be called the “wind sock appreciation club”, to throw ourselves out of planes. On arrival we met several course members from many different services, including Belgium, American, Polish and French Armed Services.
The morning of day one on the course included a safety brief, paperwork for insurance and a lesson on how to read the ground once in the air. After a quick lunch break and a lesson on what to do if there is a malfunction in the air, we were tested in the harness. The instructors, Roy and Ian, would show laminated cards of possible malfunctions whilst another course member mimics the wind by shaking the harness. This was repeated until the instructors were confident we all knew what to do should a
malfunction arise. In pairs we then learned the components of and how to pack a parachute working, father and daughter made a great team.
Day two was more ground training with
the hope of getting the first of five qualifying jumps later that day. The ground training
for day two included learning landing and dragging drills. To learn the landings we all ran and jumped off a block about 3ft off the ground while the instructors assessed and gave directions on what we could do better. The dragging drill was also quite physical and a really good laugh. We worked in groups of 3 and pulled each other in a mock harness until we released one side of the clips mimicking being dragged along the ground post landing. By lunch time the weather had become extremely windy, well above what was safe
to jump in. This was when the “wind sock appreciation club” was formed.
For only the second time since Pathfinders
RADC BULLETIN 2021 59