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16th September 2005

Air Raids over Bedford

134 (Bedford) Air Defence Cadet Corps (The forerunner of the ATC) was reformed for one last parade this week. 134's HQ was sent back in time to 15th September 1940, the peak of the Battle of Britain. The sound of Spitfires and Messerschmitt filled the air. On the radio, Glen Miller was playing alongside BBC news reports detailing the days losses. The windows were blacked out, War time propaganda posters adorned the walls and ration cards had been issued. Even the photograph of the Queen was replaced with a picture of King George VI. Everything was now ready for the squadrons annual Battle of Britain evening. 

The cadets arrived, wearing their Winston Churchill hats which would form the basis for a competition later that night. The evening started with an introduction from AWO Taylor, who outlined what the Battle of Britain was about and pointed out that many of the pilots were the same age as our oldest cadets are now, with little more flying training. This then lead into a Battle of Britain Documentary to show the cadets more about this important time in history.

Cadets Churchill, Churchill, Churchill,  Churchill and Churchill

When the Documentary had finished, the cadets were shown an original World War 2 propaganda cartoon with Popeye fighting against a German submarine, They cheered and clapped as Popeye victoriously won his battle.

It was now 20:00 and on a normal evening canteen break would follow. To continue the theme, the staff had prepared a visual demonstration of war time rations. During the peak of rationing, One weeks rations for one adult consisted of:

• Eight ounces of sugar
• Eight ounces of butter
• Two ounces of tea
• Two ounces of cheese
• One egg
• A Shillings worth of Meat - perhaps a pork chop and four sausages
• Four rashers of bacon

AWO Taylor later commented "To see the rations laid out, it really struck home, how little food they had to survive on, and it makes you think of how much food we now throw away"

After the demonstration, the cadets had to each produce their own ration cards, to get their portion of bread, butter and a choice of either jam or spam. It turns out, unsurprisingly that jam won hands down on popularity.

The canteen break was briefly interrupted with an air raid siren, the cadets managed to squeeze into the Anderson shelter in a little under a minute. They waited nervously as the sound of bombs dropped nearby, but as soon as the all clear was sounded the evening could continue.

It was now time for the Winston Churchill hat and impression competition. This was a hotly fought contest. with many excellent and different entrants After a lot of deliberation, Cadet Tye was announced the winner.

The evening was concluded with a brief audio diary from some Battle of Britain veterans, who recalled their thoughts, emotions and fears of the period.

The cadets thoroughly enjoyed the evening, but also learnt about the importance of the Battle of Britain and the upcoming remembrance parade.