The WCF congratulates members of 13 Company ACF, one of our military affiliates,  who received awards at the Annual Camp. 

The final parade saw 135 receive promotions and star level completion badges. Cadet Cpl Gleed was awarded Best Student on the JCIC.

135 det also received the Fletchers Livery pin badges to the envy of the other detachments ( see photo attached). Sgt Instructor Fenech also received his Jack Petchey Leaders award certificate and coin.

We were delighted to receive a report from Major Kaz Lorimer (O/C 13 Company SW London ACF RMR) on the Annual Camp of 13 Company, one of the WCF's military affiliates, and to hear that the cadets enjoyed activities such as abseiling and caving (ingeniously, using mobile units - even Covid can't stop the excitement!), laser tag and archery, as well as completing some of the more mandatory APC "Green" training.

Some of our NCOs  completed their Junior Cadet Instructors Cadre (JCIC) which means after completion they can support their detachment Commanders in the instructional side of detachment life.

The cadets also experienced 24 hours on a field training exercise and a day on the ranges shooting the cadet GP rifle.  See the gallery below for  photos.

While we were in the field we were lucky to host Colonel Chris Head from the First Fusiliers. It was also a delight to bump into Colonel Power of the Fusiliers (all the more so as he is a liveryman of the WCF) as he was inspecting RMR London.

With him in the photo was 13 Coy Staff officer Capt Nick Thomas, 13 Coy Training Sgt Major  SMI Alister Notridge and Acting Company Sgt Major SMI Brett Overington.

The Fletchers have been closely associated with 1921 (Lewisham) Squadron of the Air Training Corps since early 2008.  Liverymen regularly attend many of the squadron’s events and, since 2014, the Master Fletcher has made an award of a silver arrow to the cadet who has best displayed the virtues of the Fletchers’ motto “True and Sure” throughout the year.  The silver arrow is now regarded as the top award for the cadets to aspire to.  Similarly, the cadets regularly support Fletchers events by providing formal guards for livery dinners and, notably, in 2012 marched with the Company in The Lord Mayor’s parade when Past-Master Fletcher Sir David Wotton was elected Lord Mayor.

We are very proud of our Air Cadets!  1921 (Lewisham) Squadron is very active and regularly excels in London ATC Wing competitions beating many, if not all sometimes, of the 32 other squadrons in the London area.  They have an excellent record for bringing on their youngsters and achieving promotions to the highest cadet ranks by age 18.  Lewisham is the only squadron in the country in the past 10 years to have had 3 cadets awarded flying scholarships in a single year – a credit to the superb flying simulator that they have built for themselves.  Currently, there is a waiting list to join the Squadron!

In recognition of this longstanding friendship and cooperation, in Dec 2016 the Fletchers and 1921 Squadron became formally affiliated - marked by an exchange of illuminated manuscripts.  

1921 Squadron cadets were celebrating this weekend, after finishing third in the largest London Wing Field Day in recent years.

The cadets made a massive effort to participate in all but one of the competitions, and scored healthy points across the events to take third place overall out of 27 competing Squadrons. The drill team, led by Cpl Tom West, had put in huge numbers of practice hours, and their final sequence showed just how hard they had worked. The final points score placed Cpl Tom West in the top four of the London Wing Drill NCOs. Elsewhere on the parade square, the banner team placed 6th among some incredibly high quality competition, as the Squadron’s senior NCO team showed off their sequence.  

In the Conference Centre, the band teams also turned in some exceptional performances. A last minute change to the performance schedule saw the ensemble team place second in the Wing, while the fanfare, solo drummer and percussion teams scored creditably under the circumstances. Our thanks to CWO Sarah Owens – last year’s national champion, and now studying at Trinity School of Music – for her work in coaching the musicians on Squadron.  The aviation aspects were well represented, too, with the Squadron team scoring well in the aircraft recognition competition, the aero modelling with a winning diorama, and the photography competition where we finished second. 

The teams were well supported by Commander Eltringham RN and Captain Goodall RN, of the Worshipful Company of Fletchers, who joined us for Wing Field Day to celebrate the achievements of all. We thank them for their continued interest in the Squadron, and support of our aims – we hope to continue to live up to the high ambitious of the Worshipful Company! 

As part of the final parade, Wing Commander Gale was delighted to be able to approve his first promotion, as FS Peter Situ-Amoo – graduate of this year’s Junior Leaders course – was promoted to Cadet Warrant Officer in front of London Wing. Our sincere thanks to Wg Cdr Gale, and Sqn Ldr Loxton for being able to make that happen! Finally, as the team gathered to celebrate the result, we were delighted to be able to promote Cpl Tom-West to Sergeant in recognition of his outstanding leadership of the team. 
  
Congratulations to all of the cadets and their training staff for an awesome result – let’s keep focusing on what we can achieve together! 

The Fletchers are also extremely pleased to be associated with 135 RRF Detachment of the Army Cadet Force, who on occasion have provided a Carpet guard at some of our events.  The photos show the Cadets at Installation of the Master Fletcher Adrian Scott-Knight in April 2015.  We are also pleased to have sponsored another Fusilier cadet units parachute jump in 2015.