Page 15 - Cadet Review Autumn 2021

Mirfield Air Cadets celebrate
a wedding in the ‘family’
Bowcliffe Hall is a stately country house, once home to the aviation pioneer Robert Blackburn and is the base of the West Yorkshire Lieutenancy: what more appropriate setting for the marriage of two past Lord-Lieutenant’s cadets. July 4th saw a large gathering at the Hall for the wedding of Flight Lieutenant Felicia Doubell and Flight Sergeant Alexander Nordoff.
Although not planned as an “Air Cadet Event” given the background of the happy couple it was no surprise that a large proportion of the congregation were current or past members from the extended ‘family’ of 868 (Mirfield) Squadron where they had originally met. A testament to the long-lasting relationships and friendships that can be fostered by membership of the cadet forces.
In their time as cadets Felicia and Alex had enjoyed similar and very successful careers: amongst their many achievements, both were Cadet Warrant Officers, both were Lord-Lieutenant’s Cadets, and both had been nominated for the Dacre Sword/ Brooch - Alex also had the North Region Nomination and Felicia was nominated in successive years
by South & West Yorkshire Wing and Surrey Wing (during her first year at university).
The cadet involvement did not stop there, Felicia was given away by her father, Flight Lieutenant Peter Doubell (officer commanding 868 Squadron, where her mother is also a Civilian Instructor) and her senior bridesmaid, Charlotte Stringer, had been a fellow cadet. Alex’s parents, David and Vicki, had also been long-term supporters of the Squadron on the Civilian Welfare Committee and his Best Man was David Rogers, another past cadet of the Squadron. Even the wedding speeches did not escape the Air Cadet influence as they were delivered under the able (and humorous) control of Warrant Officer Simon Kelly from Mirfield Squadron.
In their time as cadets and staff, Felicia and Alex had come to know Bowcliffe Hall and had been among the supporters from 868 Squadron for two
A testament to the long- lasting relationships and friendships that can be fostered by membership of the cadet forces.
Garden Parties hosted there by Dame Ingrid Roscoe during her time as the Lord-Lieutenant of West Yorkshire. Small surprise then that independently each of them featured the Hall highly on their list of possible venues for their big day.
Despite the constraints imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, and some rather wet weather later in the day, the whole event carried through almost exactly as originally planned and over one hundred people plus Alex and Felicia’s two dogs, Sirius and Orion, were present during the day to offer their best wishes to the new Mr and Mrs Nordoff!
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