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On Sunday 26th September Poole Sea Cadets are honoured to have been asked by the Poole Branch of the Royal Air Forces Association to attend the Annual Service to commemorate the Battle of Britain at St James' Parish Church at 6.30pm.

The Honorary Chairman, Mr Michael Davis, said, "The intention, last year, to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle and to incorporate the 80th anniversary of the Dunkirk Evacuation and the 75th anniversaries of the end of the war in Europe and the Far East was thwarted by the pandemic; the service planned for September will commemorate these anniversaries. The presence of Poole Sea Cadet's Standard would be especially welcome".

Poole Sea Cadets will be delighted to join with the Cadets of the Poole, Parkstone and Wareham Squadrons of the Air Training Corps and local Army Cadets too. The Mayor and Sheriff of Poole will be in attendance.

The Battle of Britain fought in the skies over Southern England, including Dorset and Poole, in the summer of 1940 is widely recognised as having been decisive in thwarting an intended invasion by German forces and any thought of surrender. Spitfires, like those pictured, and Hurricanes would have been a very common sight at that time to residents.

It is not always remembered that the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy was involved in the Battle of Britain. No less than 57 naval pilots - known as "The Few of The Few" - took part, with Sub Lt 'Dickie' Cork even being the legendary Douglas Bader's wingman in 242 Squadron.

Don’t forget that next Saturday 4th September at noon, our Commanding Officer Reece Oliver and Joel Nurser will start the mammoth task of ascending Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon by 08.00 on Sunday 5th.

These are the three highest mountain peaks in Wales, Scotland, and England and they have set themselves a target time of a mere 20 hours.

They will cover 23 miles in distance and ascend a total of 3064 meters. To achieve their aim, they are going to have to average a walking/climbing speed of 5 km per hour!

Their driver between those mountains will be Jasmine Hughes. The driving route is 462 miles long, and takes around ten hours in total, in good traffic - the first section from Fort William to Wasdale Head is five-and-a-half hours, and the second section from Wasdale Head to Llanberis takes around four-and-a-half hours.

Let’s hope the weather is favourable to them all.

We must reward their tenacity as their intention is to raise funds for the Unit to help us all maintain our many activities.

If you can, please donate to Poole Sea Cadet’s Three Peaks Challenge the details of which can be found on GoFundMe.com:
gf.me/u/zfi2vz

Poole Sea Cadets recently played a prominent part in a wreath-laying ceremony in Poole Park to commemorate the 76th anniversary of the end of World War 2.

In front of the Civic leaders of Poole, Bournemouth, Christchurch and BCP Councils our buglers accompanied the poignant dipping of the military standards in salute.

The Branch President of the British Legion welcomed the VIPs, VJ Veterans and members of the public to the memorial saying, “On behalf of the Charter of Trustees of Poole and the Poole Branch of the Royal British Legion I would like to welcome everyone to this year’s wreath-laying ceremony to commemorate the 76th anniversary of the ending of the second world war in the Far East otherwise known as VJ day, and to pay our respects to those who lost their lives during that campaign. After the Exhortation there will be a one minutes silence and then the Mayor of Poole will be invited to lay the first wreath”.

The President of Poole Royal British Legion subsequently cited the Exhortation, “They shall grow not old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them”.

The President of the Broadstone Branch of the Royal British Legion cited the Kohima Prayer.

“When you go home, tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow we gave our today”.

The “Poole and the Second World War on Poole Quay” event, co-ordinated by the Society of Poole, was a triumph with thousands of spectators attending the packed location.

Poole Sea Cadet’s award-winning band was honoured, after months of enforced hibernation, to both lead the parade of standards and then play several time-honoured and emotional tunes. Their enforced lay-off from public duties over the past few months certainly hasn’t blunted their musical prowess in the slightest.

One seasoned retired naval officer was moved to say, “I thought the band was excellent at the VE/VJ celebration on the Quay – well done to all of them. The rendition of Heart of Oak was superb, and the buglers deserve special mention for the Last Post/Rouse”.

Poole Sea Cadets currently number 60 in total, with another 60 on the waiting list. They are all aged between 10 and 18 years of age. There are relatively few Sea Cadet bands in the country and ours is certainly an attraction where recruitment is concerned in Poole and the surrounding area.  

After months of enforced hibernation, our award-winning band is proud to be contributing to the “Poole and the Second World War on Poole Quay” event on Sunday 15th August (1pm to 5pm).

Poole played a key role during the war, the flying boats connecting us to the world, Dunkirk small boats, raiding parties, D Day trials and being one of the largest embarkation points for D Day itself. The Society for Poole is organising an educational exhibition which commemorates the 75+1 anniversary of the end of the war and depicts some of the stories of the town.

Whilst there won’t be iconic aircraft, such as the Spitfire pictured here, the prestigious event is being held in aid of the RAF Association, RN Association, and the Royal British Legion.