TS St Albans Changes the Guard at Buckingham Palace!
April 2007
The preparations for St Georges Day this year proved to be the highlight of TS St Albans ceremonial activities to date. It started with an invite from London Area to join them on their St Georges Day parade on the Cenotaph in Whitehall, an invitation hopefully in recognition of our reputation, abilities and recent successes in drill.
We extended this invitation to our oppo’s Mansfield SCC, with whom we have shared some great times on the water and hope to continue this relationship. Unfortunately they couldn’t make it to London and missed out on an opportunity that must be experienced at least once in a lifetime. Hopefully we can maintain our training partnership and share some more good times this year.
Our CO decided to use the Friday parade night before St Georges Day as our annual inspection and prize giving evening, giving him the chance to inspect everyone’s uniform and turnout and allow parents to see the cadets at their best. It also gave the chance for the lucky cadets selected to attend the St Georges parade to stay over for the weekend and have some ‘serious fun’.
A superb Friday night was had with Brigadier General Lindile YAM, Navy & Army Advisor for the South African Defence Force who inspected the ships company, presented promotions & awards and gave a speech indicating his desire to establish a cadet service in South Africa based on the traditions and cultures of the SCC and aspiring to the performance of the cadets at St Albans.
Congratulations to all of the Cadets who won awards this year, particularly LC Lucy Parker who earned her promotion to POC and won The Jack Day trophy for Best Cadet, you all performed well and should continue as role models for your colleagues to follow.
Brigadier Yam has since invited staff to join him on a commemoration parade in Portsmouth later this year when he will unveil a memorial to 800 South African soldiers killed when their ship SS Mende was sunk off the Isle of Wight on way to fight in France in the First World War. Sir, many thanks for your time with us and your kind invitation... We will be proud to attend.
After staying up into the early hours performing various cleaning and kit repair stations 25 lucky cadets (including three guests from Herts & Ware who attended our inspection with District Officer Lt Cmdr Nice) prepared themselves for parade in London.
Near Trafalgar Square we joined approximately 100 Sea Cadets from London Area and a similar number of Army Cadets and ATC before marching behind an excellent (if not fast paced) ACF military band along Whitehall for a church service and wreath laying at the Cenotaph, watched by thousands of public. The parade was excellent, even if the heat got the better of some of our cadets who were treated by St Johns Ambulance Brigade – next year make sure you eat and drink well before turn out.
On conclusion of the parade we had a quick snack before re-forming and marching as a unit up Whitehall, through crowds of public and into Downing Street for a photocall outside probably the most famous door in the country, No10. Unfortunately Mr Blair was not present but the Police officer on duty gave us a quick chat about the building and managed to obtain a brochure revealing the grandeur inside.
Next we marched back through the security gates of Downing Street and the throngs of admirers back up Whitehall to visit the Household Cavalry at Horseguards. There, the ‘Corporal of Horse’ in charge closed off the gates and held back the tourists as we paraded for more photos in the quadrangle before being shown around the stables and meeting some of the Horseguards. Some lucky cadets even managed to put on the guards boots, helmets, swords and curassiers (breast plates)... None got on any of the horses but we did get some expert advice on spit & polish!
After this we were invited by Major Andy Green of the Grenadier Guards and Commandant HQ London District into the historic buildings of Horseguards. He had thoughtfully layed on some welcome refreshments (thank you sir) and arranged for Major Mattison to give us a guided tour and amazingly informative presentation on the awesome history of the buildings. Despite bribes (or were they rewards) of £5 each from Major Mattison I apologise for the impromptu deliveries by Cdts Bowe and Fergusson – although amusing, they were tired and unprepared and will be better next year !!!
It was awesome to think that we sat at the very desk presented to The Duke of Wellington by his soldiers before the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 and used by various generals to plan wars and strategies ever since, including the First & Second World Wars and the current Op Telic in Iraq. We also sat in the chairs (could they be thrones?) used by the Queen and the Royal family to watch the formal parades on Horseguards Parade Square over the centuries. Many, many thanks to Majors Green & Mattison for this compelling and fascinating – never to be forgot immersion into history.
After marching through St James’s Park we stopped for lunch in the Naffi at Wellington Barracks before marching to the final location of the day….
As we approached the Queen Victoria Monument (or Wedding Cake – as it’s more commonly known) at the top of the Mall we dominated the roads and marched as a detachment with extra pride and swagger through the immense crowds of tourists and visitors and through the opening gates of Buckingham Palace. Members of the public were heard to call out to others that the ‘Changing of the Guard’ was happening and thousands of photographs were taken that will now be being viewed around the world.
Once on the Palace parade ground we halted for more photographs and a security briefing from Police Sergeant Erika Bell and her staff. In full view of the massed crowds we then marched past the armed Household Division Footguards and into the Royal Palace quadrangle where we received an informative briefing about the 700 rooms in the Palace and the Royal activities and protocols.
Next we emerged back onto the parade ground as the Footguards changed their sentries and were then taken on a guided tour around the rear of the Palace (that actually used to be the front !) and the impressive formal gardens. Finally we split into divisions and were taken on tours of the security sections and the Palace Armoury, run by the Metropolitan Police. A lot of time and effort was given by Sgt Bell and her team (including our co-ordinator PC Alex Garty (ex SCC)) and we pass on our huge gratitude for this amazing experience.
The formal day ended with a tired march back to Wellington Barracks and our transport back to St Albans. We had been on our feet for over 8 hours and had marched approximately 4 miles through the streets of central London. The unit presented itself extremely well and received numerous appreciative comments. Thousands of photographs will be circulating worldwide, all showing TS St Albans at its very best…… Well done.
Despite an awesome, tiring, serious day, after a few hours recuperation and a decent meal we were ready for an evening of fun. Having changed into civvies we recovered with a quiz and a game of football outside, then prepared for a night exercise…. Split into divisions one team made their way deep into Verulam Park for an escape and evasion exercise. Two younger divisions then set up ambushes on anticipated routes and after a quiet time waiting both successfully sprung their traps. All teams then learned the benefits of night vision, field signals and formations in search of each other before finishing in the early hours of the morning.
After a decent ‘lie in’ we woke to a glorious sunny day and a good hearty breakfast. We then made our way to the Park sports fields for a basketball and football tournament. The day ended with a very welcome visit to Westminster Lodge Swimming Pool where we all had a great time on the slides, chutes and in the pool.
Throughout the weekend Mr Buck took hundreds of photographs of our experiences, 700 pictures of St Georges Day and our historic visits alone, plus more of our inspection. A select few have been printed as specimens of the quality and content and are available for viewing at the unit or on the website. He has kindly reproduced these photographs onto a DVD that the unit are selling for £5 each. These discs are highly recommended to all cadets who attended this amazing weekend and will be guaranteed to be viewed time and again for years to come, undoubtedly leading to many comments of “I’ve been there” or “I remember the time when…”
April 2007