Royal review and garden party
6 July 2010
On July 6, as part of this year’s historic celebrations, London saw hundreds of youngsters from all four cadet forces parade past His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales on The Mall.
Coming from all over the UK, cadets from the Army Cadet Force, Air Training Corps, Sea Cadet Corps and the Combined Cadet Force formed up on Horse Guards Parade and marched along The Mall to Buckingham Palace to mark the 150th anniversary of the cadet movement. The Prince of Wales took the salute outside Clarence House, accompanied by the new Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans, Andrew Robathan; Chairman of the Army Cadet Force Association, Major General Malcolm Wood; and Assistant Director of Youth and Cadets, Colonel Murdo Urquhart, among others.
The parade was accompanied by a breathtaking flypast by the famous Red Arrows that, uniquely, were carrying some very lucky and very excited passengers. While preparations for the parade were being made, a small group of cadets from each of the four cadet forces were at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire being briefed on passing over Buckingham Palace in true style – in the back of a Red Arrow Hawk aircraft.
Meanwhile, back in the grounds of the Palace the garden party began with a short ceremony performed by the cadet forces under the command of Army Cadet Under Officer, Rachel Tresman, from Surrey ACF. Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, The Earl of Wessex, The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and The Duke of Kent were in attendance.
The cadets were called to attention by Rachel, who said: “It is a huge surprise and enormous honour to be the Parade Adjutant on this very special occasion. I am so fortunate to be in the cadets in the year that we are celebrating our 150th anniversary and would like to thank the Army Cadet Force for all the opportunities they have given me since I joined six years ago.”
Col. Trevor Richmond is the Commandant of Lincolnshire ACF; he is now 66 years old and took part in the centenary celebrations in 1960 as a cadet. He spent time relaying his experience to Rachel. He said: “I was fortunate enough to be one of the four chosen to represent our county. We were all full of excitement. It’s a memory I’ll never forget.”