Page 184 - The Rifles Bugle Autumn 2019

Yeovil Platoon Salamanca Company pose with the newly unveiled Peoples’ Memorial – The Poppy of Honour – in Cale Park , Wincanton, in memory of the fallen in the Great War
Somerset fielded two 35-mile teams in the 2019 Ten Tors Challenge. Dartmoor is notorious but one team completed the event in fine style; conditions on Saturday and an increasingly hot Sunday proved no barrier. The determination of those taking part should not be understated – well done! The Cosford Marches, a very different beast, did not go quite so well but taking part remains key and people will be back next year!
Three cadets returned to the Royal Windsor Horse Show and again competed in front of HM the Queen. The team of LCpl Will Field, LCpl Ted Field and Cadet Molly Rucklidge competed in the Land-Rover Services Team Jumping Championships, finishing a marvelous 3rd overall out of 28 entrants. This was a
brilliant result as they were the youngest team by far. With 2Lt Kara Zalewska acting as the driving force greater challenges seem to be on the books.
In October 2018 many cadets from Somerset joined 5000 other cadets to tour WW1 battlefield and marked the centenary of the Armistice. At the end of May 2019, 52 cadets and instructors went to Normandy to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Two days were spent travelling to and from Normandy and one day was allocated to battlefield tours. First stop was GOLD Beach where the only Victoria Cross awarded for actions on D-Day itself was won by CSM Stanley Hollis. The cadets then visited the German Battery at Longues-sur-Mer and OMAHA Beach. Cadets marvelled at the precision of operations at Pegasus Bridge and later visited the CWGC at Bayeux.
Finally all the separate cadet parties arrived at Arromanches-les-Bains for a moving Drumhead Service overlooking GOLD Beach and the remains of one of the Mulberry Harbours before the trip came to an end.
Shooting, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme and Cadets in the Community continue to be highly successful areas of activity for Somerset ACF. The opening of Richardson Lodge at Yoxter marking the untimely passing of our former Commandant, Paul Richardson, was a particularly moving event. The Poppy of Honour was further manifestation of community engagement. The foregoing is but a tiny part of the complex, challenging series of events that our cadets have enjoyed. Our website tells the bigger picture: https://armycadets.com/somer- setacf
Somerset Cadet Bn (The Rifles) ACF in conjunction with Wessex Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Association opened the Richardson Lodge at Yoxter Cadet Training Centre
182 CADET FORCES
THE RIFLES
WITH 2LT KARA ZALEWSKA ACTING AS THE DRIVING FORCE GREATER CHALLENGES SEEM TO BE ON THE BOOKS