News

Harrogate Sea Cadets were honoured to be invited to take part in the D-Day 80th anniversary Commemoration Event at Knaresborough Castle on Thursday 6th June. 

Our cadets paraded alongside cadets from the Air Training Corps and Army Cadet Force, with a VIP inspection, before marching from the Castle Keep to the War Memorial. There, a Service of Remembrance took place, led by Rev. Garry Hinchcliffe, and wreaths were placed at the Memorial. 

The evening ceremony culminated with the International Tribute and Lighting of the Beacon.

Beacons and Lamp Lights of Peace were lit across the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and UK Overseas Territories, with special Lamp Lights of Peace lit on each of the five beaches in Normandy, at 9.15pm local time, to coincide with the lighting of beacons.

The Normandy Landings, often referred to as D-Day, took place on 6th June 1944 and was the largest seaborne invasion in history. Along with the associated airborne operations, it marked the beginning of the liberation of France and western Europe.

The Royal British Legion have a very interesting '10 Things You Might Not Know About D-Day' page if you want to learn more. 

We are thrilled to announce that one of our cadets achieved remarkable success this weekend at the Eastern area sailing regatta in Thrapston. Cadets from a wide range of locations across our area, from Scarborough in North Yorkshire to St Albans in Hertfordshire, competed in this exciting event.

Oscar sailed solo in the Open Zest category and impressively won three out of four races. His outstanding performance has earned him a spot at the national sailing regatta in Southport this September, where he will compete against the top sailors from across the country.

Huge congratulations to Oscar and well done for all your hard work and dedication. 

It was another perfect weather evening on Friday for our cadets and volunteers at the lake. The gentle breeze made it the ideal night to have the sailors out - and give our cadet's arms a break from rowing. 

Keep an eye on our social media accounts for lots of great pictures from the lake. 

Four of our volunteers were honoured to be invited to the annual HMS Cleopatra Old Shipmates Association Reunion Dinner as part of their Reunion Weekend in Harrogate this month.

The dinner raised funds for the Old Shipmates Association and was held at the Cedar Court Hotel.

Our Unit is TS Cleopatra, named after HMS Cleopatra. 'TS' stands for 'Training Ship', harking back to the days when young sailors would join up as cadets before they were able to join the Navy as adults. 

PO Freer who attended the event said:

"It was an honour to meet the sailors that served aboard the various HMS Cleopatra's. It was a fabulous evening."

The last HMS Cleopatra (F28) was a Leander-class frigate. She launched on 21 March 1964, commissioned on 1 March 1966 and was decommissioned on 31 January 1992. She was the sixth HMS Cleopatra of the Royal Navy, the first was a 32-gun Amazon-class fifth-rate frigate built in 1778 and launched in November 1779.

Pictured: PO Freer and Mike Langford, Area Chair Eastern, District Chair NEY and Unit Chair Harrogate