The 5th July was the date of this year’s South and East Midlands Wing’s annual Wing Field Day competition at RAF Wittering.
After an early start, the cadets os 1461 (Wigston) Squadron, arrived and set up ‘camp’ for the day before starting to embark on the day’s activities, starting with First Aid.
The team retuned in good spirits, believing that they had done well. Shooting was next and having had a fair amount of practise, the team of three was feeling confident that they could do well. Unfortunately, things just went against them on the day and they returned feeling that they could have done a lot better.
Nevertheless, the Squadron kept their heads high and good spirits up as the day concluded with the Drill competition. Led by Cadet Flight(CFS) Sergeant Sur, the team had not had a lot of practise and so the general consensus was that they would either crumble or pull it out of the bag on the day. With the temperature rising and the inspection done, CFS Sur led the team out onto the parade square and the sequence began.
During the sequence the CFS kept her cool, along with the rest of the Squad and after a huge finish of “HAZAR”, the drill was done and the feeling in the team was very positive.
Final parade was only around the corner now and the tensions were mounting, along with the clouds and just before the Wing started to form up, the heavens opened and everyone was rushed into the hanger!
Final parade commenced, with the Wing paying complements to retiring Wing Executive Officer, Sqn Ldr John Hill, and tension was high. The annual results came, in which Wigston won both the Committee and Novice shield, Best Male and Overall Best Cadet in CWO Timson, the Rayson Trophy for Most Improved Squadron in the Wing and also second in the Auster Trophy, the annual competition comparing squadrons across an entire year on its various activities.
These were absolutely superb results that set the tone for the competition results. Cadet Corporal Palfreyman was announced as the winner of the Cadet Photography competition and, much to her surprise and delight, CFS Sur was awarded the best Drill NCO of the day; an absolutely incredible achievement considering it was her first year of doing it. The squadron also achieved a fantastic 2nd in the Drill, 4th in shooting, 3rd in First Aid amongst the other competitions.
The final results came and Wigston were announced an incredible 3rd place out of the 29 Squadrons in the Wing, a fantastic achievement for the Squadron!!
The Officer Commanding 1461 Squadron said: “I am so incredibly proud of my Squadron, the cadets and the staff. We have achieved so much over the past year and we will continue to grown from strength to strength over the next year. Today, I am a proud OC and I cannot wait to see what the next year brings. Well done 1461.”
CWO Henson
1461 Squadron