At the recent Wing Field Day Cpl Goold was entered into the solo bugler category, coming away in First position and achieving one of the highest scores for the day.
His skills were recently utilised at a Letchworth Round Table event where representatives from far and wide were present. Of Cpl Goold’s performance George Ritchie a member of the Letchworth Round Table wrote:
‘They hit just the right note for us in our little ceremony, and everyone was really impressed by how it added to the occasion. You were a credit to your squadron’.
A donation was made to the squadron which Cpl Goold has asked to be added to the simulator fund.
The bank holiday weekend of the 27th to the 30thof May saw 1066 (Hitchin) Sqn take part in the Wing Exercise held at Longmoor (an Army Training Camp). The Camp itself is home to a variety of training roles and is based on 1783 hectares of wooded areas and wetland. Due to the size and variety of terrain the camp is the perfect host to one of the most challenging but one of the most enjoyable events in the Sqn calendar.
The weekend included numerous leadership exercises, micro navigation, puzzles, shooting on the no8 and the L98A2 cadet rifles, first aid, a confidence course and a 3 kilometre run. As there were so many events the training for them started months before hand so that everyone on the team knew what they could expect.
The 2011 Longmoor team
The weekend started late on the Friday night with a briefing and getting settled into our blocks. The next three days saw a cycle of leadership exercises and culminated with the 3 kilometre run. In total the weekend was a chance to show other squadrons what 1066 (Hitchin) Sqn is made of and a chance to make new friends, mix with old ones but most of all work as a team.
Thanks to the Cadets and staff who made this great weekend it was.
By Cpl Saville
One lucky cadet from 1066 (Hitchin) Squadron has recently been nominated for the Lord Lieutenant’s Cadet for Hertfordshire. Cadet Warrant Officer Henry Wisdom (18) was nominated for the post due to his hard work and commitment to the Air Training Corps.
He has racked up a fair few awards during his time in the Air Cadets including Best Cadet on a camp onboard HMS Bristol in 2009 and the Duke of Westminster’s Award – an award for nine of the top cadets from the Air, Sea and Army Cadets, which resulted in a fully funded three week expedition to South Africa and Swaziland.
The post of Lord Lieutenant’s Cadet involves accompanying Lady Verulam, Lord Lieutenant for Hertfordshire on royal duties and special events such as official openings and banquets.
CWO Wisdom is also a keen aviator and has completed a gliding scholarship in the Grob Vigilant motorised glider to solo standard along with a 12 hour flying scholarship at Tayside Aviation in Dundee on the Grob Heron. In April 2011, Henry was fortunate enough to receive a £400 bursary from the Spitfire Society towards his Private Pilot’s licence and more recently has been awarded another 12 hour flying scholarship thanks to the Air League.
1066 (Hitchin) Squadron’s Commanding Officer, Flight Lieutenant Honour Callaghan said: “This award is well deserved and a testament to the hard work which CWO Wisdom has carried out during his cadet career so far. He is a great ambassador and role model for the squadron and its members”.
CWO Wisdom said: “It is such a fantastic honour to have been awarded the title for this year. It really is a wonderful way to top off my cadet career and I very much look forward to conducting my various duties with the Countess of Verulam in and around Hertfordshire“.
The cadets at the squadron were delighted to see their new squadron bus which has taken years of fundraiasing to purchase with the help of West Herts Charitable Trust.
Lots of hard work through bag packs, quiz nights and car parking duties at Knebworth House led to the cadets raising over £17,000 towards a new bus. An application was then made to the West Herts Charitable Trust by the squadron committee and they kindly agreed to pay the rest of the cost for the new minibus and signwriting.
The new bus just proves to us all that with hard work and persistence a lot can be achieved by a team. We all look forward to using the bus in our squadron activities.
The evening of Saturday 26th March saw one of the most daring fundraising events, possibly in the Squadron’s history, daring because there was the possibility for a lot to go wrong. I’m glad to say that apart from a few changes in the events the event was an astonishing success which ran relatively smoothly. As with all events a great deal of planning was involved in both the concept and the running of the event.
The idea was pitched by the OC of 1066 (Hitchin) Squadron weeks in advance, as well as the idea of a flight simulator which is what the event is to fundraise for. The initial planning was done by a group of five cadets who meticulously made lists of what was needed and brainstormed what kind of events would be held. In the build up to the event, casino equipment was collected from within the Squadron thanks to the generosity of the staff and cadets.
On the night of the 26th March, cadets and staff turned up at 1630hrs to help set up the hall in which the event was being held and generally giving the place a glitz and glamour feel. Hundreds if not thousands of 1066 Sqn play money was used as currency on the night and it all had to be printed off and cut, mostly on the night but thanks to all the hard work, time and effort that was put into the Casino Night we managed to raise £329 and a thoroughly good time was had by all.
Peter Saville, who attended Casino Night, said: “The 1066 Casino Night was one of the most enjoyable fundraising events I’ve been to, as well as one of the most impressive.”
WORDS BY CDT CPL DANIEL SAVILLE
Welcome to the 1066 (Hitchin) Squadron News Blog.
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We have archived our previous achievements from our last blog onto our new site should you wish to read these.
BY INSTRUCTOR CDT FS SAMUEL JAMES
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“Sorry Mum but you can’t beat this years’ Christmas present!” These words coming from Cadet Abigail Cox (13) after enjoying an exhilarating thirty minute flight in a Sea King search and rescue helicopter. Cdt Cox joined eleven other cadets along with two staff members for the flight of their lives.
The day began with an early morning start, meeting at the squadron for a two hour trip to Wattisham Airfield. The twelve cadets and two staff members, who were split into two groups, were then briefed and kitted out with their helmets by staff from 22 Squadron.
Once the crew had received their flying brief, the first group was ready to take off and head for the skies. For the majority of the flight, the side cabin door was left open providing fantastic views of the local countryside. Cadets even had the chance to sit on the floor with their legs hanging out of the aircraft – strapped to a harness of course! Cpl Daisy Buck (15) said: “This experience completely blew me away!” Some cadets were also lucky to visit the cockpit during the sortie and to talk to the pilots.
Cadet Charlotte Hunt (15) explained: “The whole thing was amazing from beginning to end, from take-off to touchdown. The word ‘epic’ was used too many times to remember – I think it might become our new squadron motto!”
One of the staff members supervising the cadets, CI Luarina Nash commented: “It’s amazing what fantastic opportunities are available to 1066 cadets. It’s one of the best experiences of my life and I shall never forget it!”
Commanding Officer of 1066, Flt Lt Erica Vey, who organised the trip explained: “This opportunity was an amazing one for all of us and we are so grateful to the personnel at Wattisham for hosting our visit. Having the door open during the sortie and being able to sit with our legs outside of the aircraft during the flight was a superb experience and I know that we will never forget it.”
BY FLT LT ERICA VEY
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Over twenty cadets from 1066 (Hitchin) Squadron have just completed a one day bag-pack at the Waitrose store in the town. The funds raised from the event on Saturday 20th December will go towards the upkeep of the squadron’s minibus for 2009.
The first group of cadets started their bag-packing at 09.00 hrs and completed their shift at 13.00 hrs. At 12.30 hrs the second team of cadets arrived for their briefing, ready to take over from the morning cadets. They completed their shift at 17.00 hrs. The hard work by the cadets also counts towards their volunteering section of their Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.
Cdt Hope Wagstaffe (15) explains ‘it was really rewarding to be able to give something back to the squadron by helping out at the bag-pack. I felt it was a great success and we all worked well as a team.’
The squadron was able to have its recruitment display out on show and this attracted a lot of interest. The event looks to have raised over £800 which is a fantastic achievement.
Commanding Officer Flt Lt Vey said ‘the cadets all worked extremely hard and did a fantastic job of packing bags and helping customers with their shopping. Thank you to the store for giving us this opportunity and also to the staff and Civilian Committee who assisted on the day.’
Instructor Cadet Flight Sergeant Samuel James (18) said ‘we had a great day at this year’s Waitrose bag-pack with a good turn out of cadets. Lots of questions were asked by the general public and as always these bag-packs are a brilliant opportunity to raise local awareness of 1066 squadron, the ATC and to raise funds at the same time.’
BY FLT LT ERICA VEY
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Last week the Central and East Region Commandant Group Captain Brett Morrell paid a visit to 1066 (Hitchin) Squadron. The squadron was one of two units within Herts & Bucks Wing that he had chosen to visit this month.
Upon his arrival at 19.00 hrs Gp Capt Morrell listened to the thirty strong marching band play a variety of tunes. During the evening he spoke to Commanding Officer Flt Lt Erica Vey and Senior Wing Staff Officer Sqn Ldr Paul Mimpress. He also spent time talking to all the staff and thirty five cadets in attendance as well as observing project work being undertaken by the cadets.
At the end of the evening a final parade was held and Gp Capt Morrell presented 1066 squadron with the Vampire trophy for best squadron in the Wing for 2007. This was received by Instructor Cadet Flight Sergeant Lewis Stockwell (18) on behalf of the squadron. Other presentations included a handful of Wing blues for cross country, hockey and swimming, two promotions and a leading cadet classification badge. Gp Capt Morrell also kindly presented Flt Lt Vey with a book ‘First Light’.
Flt Lt Vey said ‘it was a great honour to host a visit by the Regional Commandant and for 1066 to officially receive the Vampire trophy for 2007. This trophy symbolises a lot of hard work and continued effort by the cadets and staff at Hitchin.’
BY I/CDT SGT SAMUEL JAMES
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Cadets from 1066 (Hitchin) Squadron Air Training Corps had an interesting parade night when they were recently privileged enough to experience a tour around HQ Number 11 Group Bunker which was constructed at RAF Uxbridge and was used to organise operations in the Battle of Britain during World War II.
Since then it has been fully restored to its former glory and run as a historic war museum. As the bunker is on an RAF stat
ion it isn’t easy for members of the general public to tour the bunker. So the squadron was certainly very fortunate to be shown around the facility by the Bunker’s curator who showed the cadets around and spoke on the history of the bunker and provided some fascinating facts on the plotting room and how operations were run during the Battle of Britain.
One of the cadets on the trip that evening, Instructor Cadet Sergeant Samuel James (18) said “This trip to Number 11 bunker was a very fascinating and interesting insight into how the Battle of Britain was run and organised. 1066 would like to thank Squadron Leader Paul Mimpress for organising the trip.”