Army Cadet Force Battlefield Tour & Armistice Commemoration

[Gareth Davies]

If any of you have been on the Somme this week you may have seen a number of Army Cadets out and about.  On Saturday I took 900 cadets out there for the day, on Monday it was 700, yesterday it was a mere 500, but the numbers go back up tomorrow and finish with 1000 of them out on Sunday.  If you see us please do come and say hello.

[DavidOwen]

It made our local BBC news, keep up the good work!

[Gareth Davies]

Yes, East Midlands today had a crew out at Thiepval on Saturday and it went out last night. I thought it was a pretty good piece.  There is hopefully something on Good Morning Britain on BBC tomorrow morning and possibly ITV too.

[Steven Broomfield]

Kids today, eh?

[Gareth Davies]

The East Midlands BBC coverage is here:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0bp0llz/east-midlands-today-evening-news-24102018

 

 

[gillchadwick]

Were the Cadets at the Menin Gate on Wednesday evening yours?

[Gareth Davies]

No. A couple of counties decided to do their own tours.

[IPT]

On 25/10/2018 at 14:54, Gareth Davies said:

On Saturday I took 900 cadets out there for the day, on Monday it was 700, yesterday it was a mere 500.

 

 

My Goodness.  It'll take forever to write that many letters to the next of kin. 

[EAST YORKSHIRE]

11 minutes ago, IPT said:

 

My Goodness.  It'll take forever to write that many letters to the next of kin. 

I like that!!

[gillchadwick]

48 minutes ago, Gareth Davies said:

No. A couple of counties decided to do their own tours.

Whoever they were ,they were a credit to their cadet force.

[Scalyback]

Do keep up the excellent work with the cadets Gareth. Contact with regular and ex-regulars does inspire them and educate them. 

 

At the beginning of the summer I crossed paths with the Canadian cadets on the exchange programme. Chatting to the 2IC of the party we discovered we attended the same Canadian cadet camp in the 90's. The Canadians a credit to the country and cadets in general and meeting UK cadets of any Corps they tend to be the "good guys". 

 

 

 

 

[Gareth Davies]

I have just got back from my fourth day trip in 7 days. We leave camp at 5am. I’m pretty tired. But the cadets are having a great time.

[Owen D]

My youngest son went today .

Some photos on here on the Wilts ACF Facebook  page.

https://www.facebook.com/pg/WiltsACF/photos/?ref=page_internal

Edited 28 October , 2018 by Owen D
typo

[chaz]

Were you at Serre road  around dinner time today? Came out from the lane opposite and a bus of cadets standing outside. Don't suppose a march up the lane?

[Gareth Davies]

2 hours ago, Owen D said:

My youngest son went today .

Some photos on here on the Wilts ACF Facebook  page.

https://www.facebook.com/pg/WiltsACF/photos/?ref=page_internal

 

I hope he enjoyed it. We had 1000 cadets out there today.

2 hours ago, chaz said:

Were you at Serre road  around dinner time today? Came out from the lane opposite and a bus of cadets standing outside. Don't suppose a march up the lane?

 

Yes, we had people up there today. 

[johntaylor]

Hi Gareth, we passed several coachloads of cadets at the Ulster Memorial Tower on Friday.  If I'd known you were there I'd have come and accosted you!  Congratulations on helping the next generation to understand what took place there  I can't think of a better person to guide them.

 

John 

[Gareth Davies]

Thank you John. The whole thing has been a great success. 

[joe19612]

Been following on Twitter. Great pictures and good to see some many cadets on the battlefield.

 

Joe

[Owen D]

Son is now back home.

Just had a look at his photos & videos.

It was a great experience for him & it only cost us £30.

 

[Gareth Davies]

I’m really pleased to hear that he had a great time. 

[caulkheader]

Just been shown on BBC South now, what an experience for them!

 

Dons tin hat;

dissapointed to see so many wandering around with hands stuffed in pockets though,  i know, i know, its an age thing.

[Gareth Davies]

It was bloody cold yesterday.

[chaz]

On top of Redan Ridge decided to go home, wind cutting through us, even the shell left on the wall looked cold.

Strange feeling there yesterday, we were looking at a house below, near Beaumont British and while walking around we heard voices but no one about, talking to the prospective buyer she said they were sat in their car Saturday , no wind about and the car started rocking!

 

pity we never had the opportunity to visit the Somme when I was in the air cadets, years ago. Good work Gareth

[Gareth Davies]

1 hour ago, caulkheader said:

 

Dons tin hat;

dissapointed to see so many wandering around with hands stuffed in pockets though,  i know, i know, its an age thing.

 

The current jacket has fleece lined hand warmer pockets. It would be pretty daft not to use them when its cold.

3 minutes ago, chaz said:

On top of Redan Ridge decided to go home, wind cutting through us, even the shell left on the wall looked cold.

Strange feeling there yesterday, we were looking at a house below, near Beaumont British and while walking around we heard voices but no one about, talking to the prospective buyer she said they were sat in their car Saturday , no wind about and the car started rocking!

 

pity we never had the opportunity to visit the Somme when I was in the air cadets, years ago. Good work Gareth

 

The wind was bitter, especially when I took my group up to the NZ memorial above Longueval. But my partner in crime (a police officer from South Wales) spent the whole day in just a short and a tweed jacket. I had four layers on!

[pjwmacro]

Well done Gareth. Great stuff.