Page 19 - QARANC Vol 18 No 2 2020

The Gazette QARANC Association 17
locations on a Figure 12 target. Points were given to teams depending on their grouping and whether they were on target. There was some very good shooting during the day.
Alongside the four team stands, individuals from each detachment competed in a unit bake off using only a field kitchen. Tasked to produce their own design of cake to represent the Croix De Guerre, each detachment had only two hours to prepare, bake and decorate their cake. With no electricity and only a metal container on top of a gas oven the teams had to concentrate to ensure their finished cake didn’t have a soggy bottom! There were some very talented individuals within this stand as the finished cakes were impressive. Members of the unit were very excited to be able to taste each cake once they had been judged by our Honorary Colonel - Cara Charles Barkes who had also joined in with some of the competition stands and our Commanding Officer - Colonel Farmer.
This concluded the Saturday aspect of the competition and once everyone had eaten enough cake, the unit headed back to Fort Blockhouse to get ready for the evening function. The evening function was held in the Officers’ Mess. Everyone enjoyed a buffet followed by an impressive and informative presentation about the history of the unit from the PSAO of A Detachment, Captain Harril. The presentation was extremely interesting and allowed all individuals to understand the history behind the Croix De Guerre.
The final day of the competition was held on the Sunday. Each team had to allocate eight individuals to compete in
the final event - the stretcher race! After a vigorous warm up from the PTIs, the first two teams, A and D Detachments, were ready to compete. The race involved attending to a casualty and treating their injuries. Three individuals had to run one at a time, to the end of the rugby field and back to collect two emergency care bandages and one tourniquet to treat the casualty. While this was occurring, an individual within the team was tasked to send a full 9 line medevac request correctly to ensure timely casualty extraction. Once the request had been sent, and all injuries treated, the team was allowed to start the casualty extraction through the stretcher race course. This included two cam nets where team members had to crawl while pushing the casualty through as quickly as possible, obstacles where the casualty had to go over the top and channel lanes. The final push was at the end where the team had to sprint with the casualty to the finish line. Once a full ATMIST (proforma for effective handover) had been given correctly by one of the team members, the timer was stopped.
The first heat was won by D Detachment and the second heat was won by C detachment. D and C Detachment then competed again in the final with D Detachment as the overall winners of the final event. Once the final event had finished, the unit spent some time raising money for Macmillan, raising approximately £400.00; an amazing achievement for a good cause.
The weekend was brought to a close with the final scores. The winners of the competition who received the
highest score over all five stands was D detachment. The CO presented the medals with ribbon to represent the Croix De Guerre. The winner of the unit bake off was C Detachment who produced a really impressive cake version of the Croix De Guerre medal. Members of the unit were also presented operational and general service medals as well as commissioning scrolls by our Honorary Colonel - Cara Charles Barkes.
Overall the weekend was a considerable success with the unit really coming together with a competitive spirit. It was constructive for the unit to be involved in a competition that not only improves their knowledge and skills but represents a piece of the unit’s history.
Lieutenant Samantha Gardiner D Detachment, 243 Field Hospital