On Friday, 8th June 2007 eleven cadets and five staff members headed for the sunny south coast to take part in the Field Gun 100 commemoration, celebrating one hundred years since the first Brickwoods Field Gun Competition.

The event drew plenty of visitors, 18 teams competed for the coveted Brickwoods Trophy whilst around the establishment their were plenty of attractions, exhibits and entertainment. During the day displays by the Blue Eagle Helicopter team and the Red Arrows wowed the crowds with their fabulous flying skills and the 18 field gun teams ran in heats and showed the grit and determination that is synonymous with the field gun run from first thing to late afternoon.

The Window ladder team did a fantastic job, 3 of the team members were 'old hands' as it were, they have had the benefit of doing many performances over the years notably performing for the Queen on HMS Albion last year and in front of 20,000 people in Trafalgar Square to celebrate 200 years since the death of Nelson. The 3 new cadets on the frame, Lisa Farrell, Jordan Rowbottom and Stephanie Boucher did an excellent job, looking at the display the Commanding Officer said 'didn't they do a great job, the new cadets looked liked they had been doing the display for ages, I was pleased how things went'.


The 3 new cadets were each given a photograph from the Training Officer of them on the frame as a thank you for a great performance. During the day they put on lots of displays and towards the back end of the day they even performed at the request of a couple of Admirals. The Field Gun 100 day ended with us having free access to a small fair on the grounds, some live music from local bands courtesy of local radio and the night ended with a fantastic firework display that was second to none. It went on for over 20 minutes and everybody commented on how good it was.


During the day, we had a visit from ex-cadet Steph Murphy, Steph had just completed her part 2 training at HMS Collingwood and qualified as an Operator Mechanic - Warfare, in fact she only passed out on the Friday we arrived. Steph one of cadets up until last year used to be one of the main members of the window ladder display and performed for the Queen on HMS Albion prior to joining the Royal Navy. Steph told us how much she was enjoying her life in the Navy, she is looking forward to joining her first ship later this month - HMS Montrose and is keen to get on with becoming an officer when she joins the ship. Steph keeps up to date with what's happening at the unit as she is a member of our mailing lists. It was great to see her doing so well and we hope she keeps in touch and tells us how she is getting on.

Apart from a couple of minor problems like - two of he girls locking their room keys 'inside their room' it was a good weekend and everything ran pretty smoothly, we had good accommodation, were well fed and the entertainment was great. By 10am on Sunday morning the team were up, showered, packed and had eaten breakfast so we could head back early. The first transport with 3 staff in screamed away whilst the minibus and cadets fueled up, a mile from HMS Collingwood and the minibus displayed some curious knocking sound, we stopped and Petty Officer Andrew Saycell got under the vehicle to have a look when a police car rolled up to see what the bother was all about. After I explained that there was somebody under the van they looked surprised and asked 'does he know what he is doing', I said of course he does, he our ships buffer and deals with all our minor problems.

Unfortunately, this wasn't a minor problem but we couldn't find anything loose so we decided to head down the A27 instead of the Motorway to see if the problem re-occurs, it did re-occur and it did it with a vengeance. We got a couple more miles and it was making all sorts of noises so we headed for the nearest Halfords in Segensworth to park up and call out the AA. The AA arrived within 5 minutes and agreed the minibus wasn't going anywhere under its own steam and they would have to arrange transport. After a few hours of the AA messing us about trying to sort out enough transport for 13 people, we ended up with our minibus on one recovery truck, 1 staff and 6 cadets in another recovery truck and 1 staff and 7 cadets in a local taxi minibus, the taxi driver was surprised when we said Manchester please, he replied you do know you are in Portsmouth don't you!!!, but as it was on the AA we headed North albeit a few hours late.

It wasn't too much of a problem though, we only arrived a couple of hours behind schedule and two staff members didn't have to do any driving so it was a chance to catch up on some sleep. The Cadets even got out of unloading the equipment at the unit as by the time we arrived it had been done. All the cadets said what a great time they had and were looking forward to the next weekend event at Cheltenham Race Course later this month.


Images left to Right : Stephanie Boucher, Lisa Farrell and the Commanding Officer with Steph Murphy at HMS Collingwood

The Window Ladder Display will next be performing at Cheltenham Race Course on the 23th June 2007 to help the Severn District Marine Society celebrate the 25 year of the Falklands anniversary.

© Images and Story Copyright John Mottram Photography