Five cadets, led by Lt Grieve, from TS Lord Nelson, Norwich Sea Cadet Unit, travelled 100 miles by mini bus to the Army Camp at Beckingham in Lincolnshire. Arriving at about 2030 they were booked in and shown their billet which was shared with cadets from other parts of the Eastern Area for a week-end of shooting.
They were woken up the following morning with the door crashing open and the sleep penetrating voice of Lt Grieve stating that if he was up, everyone is up. After making sure they were all awake he left the building with another crash of the door stating he would be back in ten minutes and they were to be washed, shaved and dressed ready to go for breakfast. breakfast was a nice leisurely breakfast of fifteen minutes they were marched to the classroom where the course was to be held.
Safety rules were explained alongside the do's and do nots. After lunch, they marched to the armoury where they collected the L81 target rifles and took them back to the classroom where they were taught how to assemble to back and fore sights and to fit them onto the rifle.
After a hard day's slog in the classroom they were allowed to relax for the evening. There was no shore leave as the camp is situated several miles away from civilisation, so they hung around the tuck shop and watched the TV. Turning in at 2300 they were advised not to mess about and get some sleep as the following day would be hectic and tiring.
Sunday started with the door crashing open at 0600 and Lt Grieve waking them up with "I'm up, everyone's up". After another leisurely breakfast, they collected the weapons from the armoury, and after a further safety talk they boarded the transport and went to the shooting ranges. The 400 meter range had been allocated but they were to shoot from the 300 meter position. They were divided into teams, one team were sent to the butts with the butts officer to learn how to 'work' the butts, they were shown how to use the machinery which holds the targets, how to 'mark' where the shots hit the target and where to stand when not employed doing this.
The rest of the cadets were directed how to set up the firing points and the safety communications were tested. After this was done they were shooting for the rest of the day rotating with the cadets from the butts so they all had the experience. All of the cadets had never fired this type of rifle before, and the shooting coaches were very happy when some of the cadets showed a huge potential for shooting at a higher level, which means that they may be invited to attend further training, with a possible chance of shooting at Bisley which is the premier shooting location in the world.
The course ended late Sunday afternoon and the Norwich Cadets returned to Thickthorn Services where they were met by their parents.
It was a very enjoyable week-end with lots of fun and cadets getting an experience they would not normally be able to have.