Page 154 - Bugle Autumn 2014

Rifles cadets take top honours in news of the world final
Two teams of Rifles Cadets from Durham ACF made it through to the finals of the national News of the World small-bore competition at The Lord Roberts Centre, Bisley in April. At the end of rounds one and two, which are fired at home locations, the team from Durham Detachment was lying slightly ahead in first place with the Chester-le-Street “A” Team just a few points behind. The Chester-le-Street “B” Team was in third place and by virtue of this had already won the trophy for the highest place “B” Team.
The ACF competition for the News of the World Trophy was a competition of how many rather than how close as
Durham Detachment got their revenge for their 19-point defeat by Chester-le-Street last year. Try as they may, Chester-le- Street could not keep pace with Durham Detachment, who eventually finished 22 points ahead to win the trophy.
The two Durham teams also represented the ACF against the Air Training Corps in The Punch inter-services final, which is shot concurrently with The News of the World. The Punch started as a very close event with the scores closely matched after detail one and the ATC in the lead over
the ACF by only two points. The ATC won the second and third details by a larger margin and, although the ACF pulled back a
couple of points in the fourth round the final score left the ATC in first place with a lead of 34 points. Cadet Serjeant Hedley from Durham was awarded a silver medal for the second highest individual score.
The Shell Trophy competition always produces an exciting final and this year was to be no exception. The match is shot over two stages, the first being a knockout stage to decide which teams will represent each service in the final. The final round is always a high-pressure event with little room for error. Nevertheless, the ACF team of BM Gray, Sjt Hedley and Cpl Newton kept their cool and managed to clear their targets in the fastest time of the day to win the trophy.
Durham ACF top shot selected for British Cadet Rifle Team
Cadet Regimental Serjeant Major Taylor Mason, a Rifles cadet from Durham Detachment, has achieved the ultimate accolade in cadet shooting and has been selected
for the British Cadet Rifle Team “The
140,000 cadets of the Army Cadet Force, Air Training Corps, Sea Cadet Corps and Combined Cadet Force. Competition is
Athelings” to tour Canada in August. RSM Mason will shoot in matches
against the Royal Canadian Army Cadet
National Shooting Team and will also
shoot in the Dominion of Canada Rifle
Association Meeting at Connaught Ranges, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. This is the main civilian full-bore target rifle competition, which attracts top marksmen from around the world. It is the equivalent of The Imperial Meeting held annually at Bisley in the UK.
Being selected for The Athelings is no mean achievement. The squad of 18 cadets is selected from a total of more than
Being selected for The Athelings is no mean achievement
fierce, particularly from those CCF schools where shooting is a recognised sport and professional coaching is readily available. Nevertheless, after five years of hard work and training, RSM Mason was selected as one of only three army cadets to make the team for 2014.
He travels to Canada on 31 July for three weeks. As well as the shooting competitions, he will also
participate in cultural visits such as the parliament buildings in Ottawa, various museums and a visit to Niagara Falls. He will also undertake a 5 day camping and canoeing expedition in the Algonquin National Park.
We wish him every success.
152 CADETS
THE RIFLES
Durham ACF’s winning teams pictures with the News Challenge Trophy and Shell Trophy. Back row (L-R) B M Adam Gray, Cpl Adam Sayers, CSjt Luke Collins, Cpl James Walker, Sjt Thomas Booth and Cpl Matthew Newton. Front row (L-R) LCpl Kane Storey, Sjt Mark Hedley, LCpl Kathryn Burnell and LCpl Yves Hughes