966 (Wallingford) Air Cadets

966 (Wallingford) Squadron has recently won the Marshall Trophy for 2010/11.  This is a prestigious award which is presented to the Air Cadets squadron judged to be the best in the Thames Valley Wing. The award is particularly notable as 966 Squadron is, comparatively, one of the smaller squadrons in the Wing and had to beat off stiff competition from some of the much larger squadrons who have won the trophy in previous years.

The Commanding Officer, Flt Lt Churnside said ‘this trophy reflects the collective achievement of each and every cadet and staff member.  It has been awarded to Wallingford because we have achieved the most as a unit, from the 26 squadrons in Thames Valley Wing.’

The competition is based on a number of different criteria, which range from flying through various activities such as the number and level of Duke of Edinburgh’s awards that have been gained.  The squadron’s particular strength this year was the high number of cadets who, at 16 years old, have achieve their solo gliding wings with 2 cadets having completed flying scholarships in powered aircraft.  The squadron currently has 7 cadets who have flown a glider solo and another 4 about to embark on a gliding scholarship to achieve their solo wings. The squadron also gained a number of ‘Wing Blues’ this year when 966 cadets represented the Wing in various sporting activities, including swimming, hockey and cross country runing. 

Polly Vacher MBE, the Squadron’s Honorary President, said ‘I am  thrilled and delighted at the achievement and congratulated all the cadets and staff who made this award possible’.

Colin Dalton, the Mayor of Wallingford, said ‘This is fantastic news; the Town Council are delighted and proud of our association with 966 Squadron and congratulate them.  Yet another great achievement by volunteers and the young people of our Town.’

Following its success the squadron has accepted the nomination of the Officer Commanding Thames Valley Wing, Wg Cdr Fisher, to be entered for the Lees Trophy which is awarded to the best squadron in the Air Training Corps.

On Saturday 10 December the Squadron held its annual Dining In Night at the Masonic Hall in Wallingford.

VIP guests of the Squadron were its Honorary President, Polly Vacher MBE and her husband Peter, the Mayor and Mayoress of Wallingford, Colin Dalton and Sandie Clemas and 966 Sector Commander, Sqn Ldr Chris Breward and his wife.  The Commanding Officer, Flt Lt Tom Churnside and his wife, Caroline, also welcomed members of the Squadron staff and over 30 cadets and their guests.

Following an excellent meal the traditional passing of the port took place in readiness for the toasts, the first of which was the loyal toast proposed in time honoured fashion by ‘Mr Vice’.  On this occasion, Cdt Ruben Godwin-Suttie, being the youngest member of the Squadron filled the role of Mr Vice.

Flt Lt Churnside proposed a toast to the Squadron followed by a run down on what the Squadron had achieved during the year, largely as a result of the work put in by various members of staff to whom he expressed his appreciation.

Sqn Ldr Breward then gave a broader picture of changes within the Corps finishing on a much lighter note with a rendering of cracker jokes!

It was then time for the awards of the year to be presented by the Honorary President, Polly Vacher, who was supported by Flt Lt Churnside.

The awards and recipients (left to right) on the night were:

Cpl Tamara Simmons – Rush Court Fete Cup – for efforts in community enhancing and charitable events.

Cdt Chloe West – Endeavour Cup – for the best effort in Adventure Training and Fieldcraft exercises.

Cdt Alison Farrand – The Wings Trophy (Polly Vacher Award) – for the best first year cadet who it was thought had truly embraced the ethos of the Corps.

Cpl Sally Evans – the Efficiency Trophy – for being the Squadron’s most effective cadet NCO.

Finally, Sgt James Hupe accepted the Flight Shield on behalf of the cadets of B Flight who were the overall winner of the interflight competitions for 2011. Flt Lt Churnside noted the closeness of this competition with B Flight wining by only a fraction of a percent.

Following the presentations, Mr Vice, as tradition dictates, dismissed the ‘top table’ to the lounge.

There then followed a further rendering of cracker jokes by the newly formed double act of Warrant Officer Jon Barker and Mr Vice, after which the rest of the cadets and guests retired to the lounge to allow the tables to be cleared and removed from the floor.

For the second part of the evening, the cadets assembled in their respective flights for a medley of alcohol free mess games, supervised as always by Warrant Officer Barker who was ably supported by Cpl Rik Walsh, Sgt Andy Morely and CI Jon Holroyd.

As a warm up, the first game involved the cadets racing successively down the hall to rotate three times around a free standing pole before returning to their flights.  The floor being polished allowed bare feet to win over socks and tights, the wearers of whom found stopping quickly by the pole was somewhat difficult!

The second challenge involved transporting a coin the length of the room without using the hands and depositing it in a glass.  Various parts of the body were used to ‘clench’ the coin including some very novel methods best left to the imagination!

There then followed the ‘empty glass on the head’ game.  The object being that cadets assemble in their flight rows with a glass of coke each.  The first cadet drinks the coke as fast as possible before inverting the (hopefully!) empty glass on their own head.  The person behind then follows suit until the end of the row.  This was won easily by A flight who finished well in front of B Flight who claimed their delay was due to a mysterious complaint called ‘bubbles up the nose’.

The Warrant Officer then demonstrated the art of a tug of war whilst sitting on the floor.  This involved two teams, each joined by arms around the waist, pulling on a central wooden staff whilst attempting to shuffle backwards on the floor.  Following the cadets, various guests plus Flt Lt Churnside and Sqn Ldr Breward joined into what was an entertaining event with the winners lost in the ensuing hilarity.

The final game was the traditional ‘aeroplane event’ where various (usually the lightest) cadets from each flight are ‘propelled’ horizontally around the room by their team members whilst making occasional stops for ‘refuelling in flight’ via a tube and funnel whilst still horizontal.  On this occasion, the beer normally used for refuelling, was replaced by water!

The evening concluded by a short address from the Mayor of Wallingford who thanked the Squadron for inviting himself and the Mayoress. He also made special mention about the standard of 966 Squadron cadets who he said were a credit to the town.

A selection of photos from the event can be found here or on the ‘Photos’ page of this website.

On Sunday the 11th September cadets from 966 (Wallingford) Sqn attend the Andrew/Wilding Service, to pay respect to the memory of Flying Officer John Wilding RCAF and Flight Sergeant John Andrew RAF.   Both were members of the 426 “Thunderbird” Squadron RCAF.   They died on the 9th September 1944 when their severely damaged bomb laden Halifax aircraft crashed on the Crowmarsh side of the river.  Their deliberate action of staying with their stricken aircraft and guiding it to an uninhabited area saved the Town of Wallingford.  Cadets attending were the Banner Party (Sgt Payne, Cpl Evans, Cdt Woollard and Cdt Cox) plus Cpl Harrington and Cdt West.All girls except for Sgt Payne! On arrival we put up the banner in the car park and then marched to the monument where we formed up opposite.

Lots of people turned up to pay respect. Poppy wreaths were laid by representatives from the RAF, the Canadian Air Force, the RBL and the Town Council.

The service was led by the Rev David Rice. We had a minute’s silence to think about the ultimate sacrifice of Flying Officer John Wilding and Flight Sergeant John Andrew, we were also mindful of the victims of the 9-11 terrorist attacks in America 10 years ago on that day.The service finished with the Lord’s Prayer after which we marched back to the car park to disband – just as it started to rain heavily.All together, a thought-provoking afternoon.

by Cdt West

On Thursday 7 July, 966 (Wallingford) Sqn Sector Commander, Flt Lt Breward, assessed a lesson presented by Cpl Evans to five cadets as the final part of her Method of Instruction course. The lesson was based upon the Maintenance section of ACP 34/3 (Aircraft Handling). Following the lesson both Cpl Evans and the attending cadets were debriefed by Flt Lt Breward. A member of the class, Cdt Allen, thought ‘the lesson had been well presented and was easy for everyone to understand.’ Following a further interview with Cpl Evans, Flt Lt Breward concluded that she had satisfactorily passed the final part of the Instructor course and was entitled to wear the yellow lanyard. Cpl Evans is the first cadet from 966 (Wallingford) Sqn to be awarded the Instructor yellow lanyard under the new examination/assessment system.

Later in the evening a Birthday Surprise had been planned for WO Barker. The Cadets had filled the stores room up with balloons and when he opened it up at canteen he was greeted with a cavalcade of balloons followed by cadets and staff singing happy birthday to him. The evening was concluded by a communal bursting of the balloons in the drill hall. Cdt Woollard thought that ‘the surprise was a great idea and it shows how close we all are as a Sqn and how we all care about each other’.

Fourteen cadets and six members of staff from 966 (Wallingford) Squadron attended the annual North Moreton Air Pageant organised by Polly Vacher who is also the Squadron’s Honorary President.

This year, courtesy of Wg Cdr Jason Appleton, who commands 28 (AC) Squadron at RAF Benson, the cadets and staff were transported from Benson in the Merlin helicopter which was scheduled to be part of the event.  The short flight was uneventful until the arrival when the down draught of the helicopter blew away two gazebos which were pitched a little too close to the landing site! Following this dramatic entrance the cadets were soon briefed by Polly about their duties of the day which mainly involved helping with event activities such as handing out programmes and crowd control.

One of the many aircrafts on display was the Piper PA-28 Dakota in which Polly became the first woman to fly solo over the North Pole, Antartica and the seven continents.

Following the pig roast at midday the event started by a superb flying display of model aircraft by the Newbury and District Model Aircraft Club.

Next there was an exhilarating aerobatic display by a Pitts Special followed by a more sedately pre-war De Havilland Rapide.  After the Red Arrows had flown past, the Tigermoth display team put on a spectacular display of formation flying with their vintage aircraft.   Then an unusual event – a glider display set to the classical music of JS Bach!

Of all these aircraft the highlight of the day was the flight of the only surviving Hurricane which had seen action in the Battle of Britain.  This aircraft had been found in India and eventually after 6 years of lengthy negotiations by Peter Vacher brought back to England and restored to its former flying self (without armaments!).

The event was brought to a close with a celebration skydive by a recently married couple and finally the departure of the Merlin.  The cadets were used to ensure the large crowd of people who had gathered to watch this departure were kept at a safe distance as the aircraft started up before, they themselves, boarded for the return trip to Benson.

A very successful and enjoyable day and thanks should go to Polly for the invitation and to Wg Cdr Appleton and his crew for the excellent transport arrangements!

Photographs of the event have been posted in the ‘News-Photos’ section of this website.

On the 25^th June, 6 Cadets from 966 Sqn manned a stand at Armed Forces Day which was held in Wallingford Town Centre.

The main event was a ceremony unveiling a new plaque on the town hall marking the award of the freedom of the town to The Rifles.  This was carried out by the Mayor of Wallingford, Colin Dalton, and the honorary colonel of the regiment, Brigadier Nigel Mogg.

At 11:00 there was a fly past by a Puma and Merlin helicopters.  The Puma from 230 Sqn, RAF Benson then landed in the Kinecroft.  The air cadets were asked to help secure the area for its landing and later departure.  During the afternoon a number of cadets had a chance to sit in the cockpit of the helicopter and have the controls explained by the pilot.

As well as the air cadets also represented on the day were the RAF Reserves, Royal British Legion, Help for Heroes Charity, the Army Cadet Force and the Rifles.

Overall, it was an enjoyable and successful day.

by Cpl Evans

On behalf of 966 Squadron, Flt Lt Churnside, accompanied by his wife and Cpl Evans, attended Wallingford Town Hall on the evening of 29 June for the presentation of the cheques from this year’s Wallingford Vehicle Rally fund raising. The principle recipient was the charity SeeSaw which was presented with a cheque of £2981, which was a record amount for the event.  In appreciation of the individual effort put in on the day by other organisations, cheques for smaller amounts were also presented to 966 Squadron, Wallingford Sports Trust, the Methodist Church, and the local Fire Brigade.  The contribution made by the Wallingford Town Council was also recognised and ex-Mayor Bernard Stone received a cheque on behalf of his charity, the Rifles Benevolent Trust. Following the presentations, Mark Brett, the new Chairman of the Rally, cordially invited the Squadron to attend next year’s event on 13 May 2012.