Swynnerton easter Camp 08

I gave Cpo Qaiser the job of writing a short account of what happened at this camp and he returned an essay, although very pleased with his efforts I do have to say that whoever reads all of this deserves a medal!

Over the Easter holidays, cadets from the School's CCF contingent sacrificed three days of their holiday to put their military training to the test, in three days of intensive field training at Swynnerton Training Camp in Staffordshire, where they were joined by cadets from our sister units at Kings and William Hulme.

As soon as the cadets reached the Camp, their military training was put to the test. They had to quickly and efficiently organise themselves into their platoons, and familiarise themselves with the people they would be eating with, sleeping with, and training alongside over the next few days. For myself, this was the time for me to begin to mould the sections together, and to make sure that everyone trusted their section and platoon commanders implicitly. While not always an easy task when combining cadets from multiple units, this was achieved without a hitch, setting 2 Platoon up to be one of the better organised platoons for the camp. Once the four platoons, numbering a total of over 140 cadets, had been organised, they began the 3 kilometre “deployment tab.” This was essentially a tactical patrol down several roads and across open terrain, ending with the company setting up a defensive position while the platoon commanders selected a location for their platoon harbours, where they would spend the next few days.

That night's activities consisted of consolidating their camp craft skills, with cadets having to build their own “basha,” essentially a sheet of tent material pegged into the ground and held slightly above the ground on one side. This was to be their shelter during the nights. The newer cadets then got their first taste of Army ration packs, lovingly referred to by the older cadets as “rat packs.” Despite their sometimes grizzly appearance, most agreed that they were in fact quite good, provided you tried not to look too hard at what you were eating. Personally, I was treated to the wonders of “chicken with herb dumplings,” which was rather nice until I reached the large lumps of semi-heated chicken at the bottom. It was at this point that I made a mental note to leave my meals on for an extra minute or two in future, as nothing puts you off your meal like a large piece of half cooked bird. After this, the cadets were given demonstrations about night time military activities, such as sentries, and the correct responses to flares and ambushes. After the training had finished, the company settled down for sleep at around 2330, with the younger cadets not quite knowing what to expect the next morning. There were a few comments made about the weather, with the air temperature going just below sub zero, but I was proud to hear that not a single member of my platoon actually complained about it or wished they were somewhere else. Confident in my platoon's ability to apply themselves, I drifted off to sleep at sometime around 0100. I would have got to sleep earlier, but my platoon runner kept chewing on his sleeping bag and making some rather bizarre noises in his sleep, and I had to take the time to convince myself that, no, I was not going mad, despite what some people keep telling me.

At 0630, the company was rapidly awoken by the order of “stand to.” We then had to scramble out of their sleeping bags, and man their assigned arcs, in case there was an imminent dawn attack. Once the order to stand down came, the platoon commanders were briefed on the day's activities. The cadets were to be given more training, some of which was a lot more enjoyable than others. There was a stand entitled “camouflage and concealment,” where the objective was to hide from the other half of your section in a patch of forest. It turns out that Birkenhead developed a bit of a reputation on this stand for, well, not cheating per se, rather creative interpretation of the rules. It seems that at first, there was no boundary areas specified, so some of the Birkenhead cadets decided to run fifty metres, cross a river, and hide on the other bank. Given the thickness of the undergrowth, this made them close to invisible. Needless to say, those running the stand had some choice words to say about the “intiative” shown by those cadets.

The highlight of the training came during the evening, where those cadets who did not have a shooting proficiency badge were able to shoot on a 25yd outdoor range. Those who did, were lucky enough to use a piece of equipment that even most regular soldiers do not see. Called the “Dismounted Close-Combat Tactics Trainer,” or DCTT, it was essentially a large projector screen occupying a wall, with three fully automatic rifles on a firing point ten metres away. These rifles were a bit different though. They were connected up to a complicated computer network, that enabled the users to accurately shoot targets as they appeared on the projector screen. The cadets were guided through several scenarios, ranging from a night attack on an enemy supply depot to close quarters combat in the streets of a village. The best description I heard of the DCTT was from a Kings cadet, who described it as “an arcade game on steroids.” If you can imagine the shooting games at your local games arcade, but played with top of the line British Army equipment, then you have an idea of the fun that was had on the DCTT. Happy that my platoon's marksmanship and weapon handling skills were up to scratch, I then guided them back to the platoon harbour where I briefed them and began to rehearse for that night's exercise – a platoon level ambush against an enemy section.

Ambushes are a rare treat for cadets, as they tend to involve a lot of ammunition being used, along with the use of pyrotechnics for added effect. There is also the added fun of being able to shoot at someone you know. In this case, the cadets were firing at the OTC Officer Cadets assisting on the course, and a certain Sergeant Thelwell, made all the more conspicuous by the fact he was the only person wearing a hood. From my vantage point, it seemed that a good two thirds of the fire my platoon put down was aimed in his direction, culminating with a dramatic death worthy of the finest of action movie stars. After the end of exercise safety procedures had been dealt with, we patrolled back to the harbour area, arriving at close to midnight, where we immediately got to sleep. I had also briefed the cadets on what was to come on the next day. They were to firstly clean weapons, cook breakfast, then break down their shelters and prepare to move our for a platoon attack against an enemy location early next morning.

Following the usual stand to, the company dutifully set about its tasks. It took about an hour and a half for everyone to be ready to move off, at which point they were issued ammunition and did a final kit check before patrolling to the target area. The location being attacked was a narrow valley between two ridge lines, flanked by trees, with very little cover to be found. The attack began with 1 Section advancing forwards ready to attack the first pocket of enemy, and secure a forward area. After this, I gave the order for 2 Section to advance forwards, and assault the second position. 3 Section engaged the last remnants of the enemy, showing a worryingly large amount of aggression on the fight through. I was unsure whether I was meant to be impressed, or worried. I was forced to watch all this unfold from about fifty metres behind the lines, where what I was doing could basically be summed up as directing traffic. In reality, a platoon commander would be even further than this back, as apparently we are too valuable to get shot early on. Personally, I found myself thinking back to when I was one of the Corporals leading a section and fighting the enemy head on, but I did find there to be some definite perks to being in a command position, particularly when the hail stones started and I was able to take cover under a rather nicely situated patch of trees.

With the exercise concluded, and the camp drawing to a close, the younger cadets did a written examination to obtain their proficiency badges, to show what they had learnt over the few days, while the senior cadets had the job of cleaning close to one hundred weapons. Not the most enthralling of tasks, but thankfully it did not take long. With all the kit cleaned and packed away, there was what seemed like a never ending march back to the platoon harbour, where we did a litter sweep of the area we had been occupying, and stowed our equipment aboard coaches and headed for home. Despite the exertion of the past few days, very few of the cadets went to sleep. Most sat there excitedly recounting events from their platoon attacks and ambushes, and looking forward to doing it all again next year.

 

Written by S Qaisar