Last weekend a platoon of CCF cadets from Royal Russell embarked on Exercise Wild Bush which is our annual 48hr fieldcraft exercise. Having completed kit issue and received orders the night before, we headed off to Hankley Common on Friday evening for a weekend of fieldcraft training. Arriving late in the afternoon the cadets received a set of orders from Major Lacey before patrolling to the harbour location.

The platoon swiftly organised their kit and food for the weekend, set up bashas (shelters) and then went to bed. Everyone took part in Sentry Duty overnight watching out for enemy patrols and keeping guard.

With reveille at 0600hrs, the first morning was a steep learning curve for many cadets as it was their first attempt at morning routine drills, a military phrase for washing, cooking and cleaning whilst in field conditions. After collapsing the harbour the platoon had morning lessons in navigation which was followed by a swift lunch.

Saturday afternoon cadets had a lesson in Six Section Battle Drills supported by a practical demonstration of a section attack from the Officers and SNCO staff. Later the platoon split into its 3 sections to have lessons in navigation, observation and our newly taught skills were then put to the test by the Hankley Freedom Fighters! (The enemy) as we assaulted their position.

That night cadets received Ambush orders to close down the Hankley Freedom Fighters supply routes. The Platoon persevered up a steep hill with their combat equipment and crawled into positions to avoid being seen by the enemy. The Ambush was led by Sergeant Cascarini (the Platoon commander) and supported by Sergeant Swain (the Platoon Sergeant). The mission was a great success, denying the enemy of their supplies and routes.

The next morning, with reveille at 0530hrs, the platoon completed their morning routine and prepared for a deliberate attack on a known enemy position which had been secured from intelligence found in the Ambush. Orders for a Deliberate Attack had been prepared over night by Captain Quick and delivered to the platoon the following morning. The platoon patrolled into positions with sections 1 and 3 providing fire support from the high ground which fixed the Hankley Freedom Fighters in place, enabling section 2 to assault the enemy position with a left flank manoeuvre.

Mission success and the enemy position destroyed thanks to Sergeant Harrison and Sergeant DeGuingand who were the Platoon Commander and Platoon Sergeant respectively.

On Sunday afternoon after very little sleep the cadets travelled back to Royal Russell to clean the rifles and equipment used over the weekend before heading home for hot showers and a dinner that wasn’t boiled in a bag!

Our thanks to the Officers and SNCO staff who gave up their weekend to take us away and teach us new skills and provide experiences to last a lifetime!

Sergeant Cascarini

Sergeant Harrison