Page 6 - Cadet Review Summer 2023

Coronation Events
ROYAL
GARDEN
PARTY
Lieutenant Commanders Gorman and Green, with PO Green
Lieutenant Commander (SCC) Jacqui Gorman RNR and WO2 (SCC) Sally Green RNR, the Commanding Officer of the York and Hull units respectively, were both honoured to receive an invitation to a garden party to celebrate the coronation at Buckingham Palace on 3rd May.
Lt Cdr Gorman took her husband Robert, whilst WO2 Green took her husband, Lt Cdr (SCC) Derek Green RNR who is the District Officer for North and East Yorkshire district.
It proved to be an experience travelling by tube in uniform; however, the long walk from the tube station to Buckingham Palace proved to be a bit of a challenge for Lt Cdr Gorman.
Both the King and Queen were in attendance together with the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh. None of us got to speak to them but did see them from a distance. We enjoyed a wonderful choice of sandwiches, cakes and ice cream.
It was an honour to receive the invitation in recognition of our years of volunteering with the cadets.
CORONATION
DAY PARADE
By Flight Sergeant Amy Parker
I was lucky enough to have been selected to attend the King’s coronation on Saturday the 7th of May; and was the only cadet from Central and East Yorkshire Wing to take part in this prestigious event. Obviously, due to the immensely large scale of this event, there was a lot of strict organisation and planning involved, with cadets coming under Operation GOLDEN ORB.
My journey to the coronation started with the train down to Peterborough station, to be picked up by coach and taken to RAF Wittering. Once everyone was briefed and uniform was inspected, we had our final brief of the evening which entailed timings for the King’s coronation day, however it meant finding out we had a 2am start on Saturday morning to get the coach into central London.
Saturday morning’s early start meant we left RAF Wittering around 3am, travelling into central London to Wellington Barracks. After a brief at the Barracks, we were placed in the stands near the Marble Arch. This was a surreal moment
as we had one of the best views of the procession and parade elements of the day. Following the completion of the parade, we formed up on the Mall along
with other cadet forces, and police escorted us all the way down to Buckingham Palace gates. This was one of the highlights of my day, and it was an unbelievable experience to have had, standing at the open gates of Buckingham Palace.
Overall I am so lucky to have been selected to be in attendance at the coronation, alongside other extremely high achieving cadets in the organisation, and to be a part of such a big event like this is one of my biggest achievements within my time in the RAF Air Cadets. I met so many great people within the organ- isation and have made great friends for life through this honoured experience.
In position at the Marble Arch
The cadets had a prime view of the balcony
6 CADET REVIEW SUMMER 2023