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12th September 2006

Time Machine

On Thursday 7th September 2006 eleven cadets from 134 (Bedford) Squadron travelled back in time to the summer of 1940. With Spitfires, Hurricanes, Messerschmitts and Stukas in the skies above the Battle of Britain was being fiercely fought. Luckily for the Bedford cadet’s life on the ground was much safer.

The reality was that the group were asked to assist the Warrant Officers & Sergeants Mess at DISC Chicksands in Bedfordshire with their annual Battle of Britain ball. Basked in glorious late summer sunshine the garden of the mess had been set up to resemble a 1940’s RAF Airfield with both authentic displays and specially constructed props. The centrepiece being the Operations tent complete with a plotting table that acted as the entrance hall.

The cadets were tasked with a number of duties. Cdt Scott Pickering, 15 years, assumed the role of a wartime bobby wearing a policeman’s uniform and maintaining a watch from the squadrons’ sentry box as the guests arrived. Inside the tent Cdts Gilbert and Soroko presented female guests with floral buttonholes to wear on their ball gowns before proceeding past the plotting table manned by a number of other cadets.

The whole evening was further brought to life with the sights and sounds typical of an RAF Wartime airfield. Periodically the air raid siren could be heard warning of an imminent attack by the Luftwaffe, a fire tender was on hand complete with bell and pump ready to put out any fires caused by German bombs. But probably the most evocative sound was that being generated by a Rolls Royce Merlin engine similar to those used by the RAF’s Spitfires, Hurricanes and Lancasters of WW2 as it was run up to full power on a test rig.

Commenting on the evening, AWO Oliver Browne said, “After months of planning it was great to finally see this evening events taking place, this has been a great opportunity for the cadets to see how the services remember key dates in our military history and it has reinforced our already strong professional relationship with DISC Chicksands”.

The last duty to be performed by the cadets of the evening was the lowering of the Ensign in a formal ceremony as the sun set. At precisely 1908hrs and 45 seconds a lone trumpeter began to play the last post, Instructor Cadet Flight Sergeant Antoni Otulakowski slowly lowered the ensign. Corporal Ryan Bubbins performed the salute and as the last note was played and the Ensign reached the bottom of the flagpole a Tornado GR4 from RAF Marham in Norfolk performed a low level flypast with split second precision, a thrilling tribute to the pilots of the Battle of Britain who Winston Churchill called ‘The Few’.