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THE
GOLDONIAN On the 31st July, forty cadets were able to attend the annual Battalion camp. which this year was held at Dibgate, near Folkestone for one week and proved to be a very good camp indeed. The weather and training were excellent, and the food was good, in fact it was one of the best camps we have ever attended. During the week two field exercises were carried out, one twelve-hour and one twenty-four. bivouacs were built and cooking was done in the .field. Although the twelve-hour exercise was for junior cadets, they were so keen that they managed to get on the twenty-four one as well. Altogether these exercises were greatly enjoyed and much was learned from them on how to maintain one's self in the field. A day on the Hythe ranges was laid on and several of the senior cadets were able to live fire the .303 Bren and .303 rifle with good results. A visit to Deal to see the Royal Marine Tattoo was enjoyed and the display was equal to the Royal Tournament displays in London. Several visits to the Hythe School of Musketry Museum were laid on and these proved to be very interesting. Excellent service was provided by the NAAFI, and there was television in the evenings and off-duty trips into Folkestone, all very enjoyable. There is a possibility that we may get two weeks' camp on the Isle of Man next year, and we all hope that this possibility will materialize. Since our return from camp we have settled down to our winter training programme, and the Army Kinema Corporation are again co-operating in sending us monthly training and documentary films. This is a great help which we very much appreciate, as much can be learned by the eye and ear. We were visited by the Officer Commanding the local T.A. unit for the second time this year and we hope this will bring results with regard to obtaining help from adult T.A. instructors. For nearly fifteen years we have only had spasmodic outside help, and it is a tribute to our boy N.C.O.s who assist me with training, that we are able to carry on. This also applies to the Corps of Drums. Cadets Hatch, Gee, and Bainton are playing for the Battalion at football, and the team are doing very well at the time of writing.
We shall be hosts for the Eastern Command Boxing Finals on 7th January,1961. We won the inter-battalion senior and junior swimming contests, also the inter-pre-services swimming cup on the 16th September. The boys who represented us were: Cadets Beresford, Warner, Peek, Upchurch, Ball, Justice, Antonio, Poole and Rath. On the 4th December we shall be fifteen years old, and we will be holding our anniversary supper on Friday, 2nd December, as that is the nearest date to our parade night. During the period 4th December, 1945, up to date, we have managed to play our part as a Company in the training and sporting activities of the Battalion and have had many successes. Our average strength of seventy all ranks has been maintained and in spite of many difficulties we have cause to look back with pride on our efforts. Many ex-cadets have gone into the Services and are doing well and it is a pleasure to receive letters from all theatres of military service from the many old members of the Company. I would like to close these notes by expressing my thanks to all ranks for their loyalty and keenness over the years, and to wish all ranks a very happy Christmas wherever they may be, and trust that the coming year will be a happy one. A. P. CULVER, Captain, O.I.C From Company notes The Goldonian Winter 1960 |
On the occasion of the visit of Her Royal Highness The
Princess Margaret, on Tuesday, 18th October, to open the new MacAndrew
wing, the Company provided