The Medway Towns Field Gun Crew
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(thumbnails are only part of the full size pictures!)
Armed Forces Day Chatham 2009
In the 25th Anniversary year of the closure of Chatham Dockyard the National Armed Forces Day was held in Chatham Historic Dockyard on Saturday 27th June 2009.
There were displays & stands from many organisations (regular forces, reserve forces, armed forces associations & cadets) but, none were more spectacular & impressive than the Field Gun competition between Medway Towns & Sheppey Sea Cadet Units.
Medway put in a good effort but, suffered a cadet malfunction during one of the runs when one of our crew over-heated & was unable to complete the run. Sheppey went on to narrowly win the other 2 runs & win the competition overall.
The arena provided by the Dockyard was well below the standard we asked for, being too short & too narrow to run 2 crews simultaneously & above all, an apalling running surface.
This was the first public event at which we had been able to fire our 14 pounder Field Gun since acquiring it. Both the CPO's had a whale of a time playing with it (safely).
Thank you to Alison Deppe for providing the unit with the original Armed Forces Day photographs which have been used for this section.
2006 - 2008
We have participated in public Field Gun displays & competitions between 2006 & 2008 but, have not got photographs enough to make a worthwhile addition to this page.
T200 IFOS 2005
(The Shake & Break Hellboy Tour)
For the 200th anniversary of the battle of Trafalgar (in which Admiral Lord Nelson & his fleet spanked the Spanish/French fleet good & propper) the Sea Cadet Corps were tasked with providing a Field Gun competition at Portsmouth's International Festival Of the Sea (IFOS). The gun's crews were formed from cadet volunteers from all over the country, Trainers from West Kent (Medway & Sheppey), a PTI from Reigate & a 1st Aider from Bangor, NI.
The cadets & staff were accomodated & trained in Browndown Camp, Gosport. Our resident 'Nursey' was kept busy with scrapes & bumps on a daily basis & our PTI kept the 2 crews (Ajax & Exeter) in fighting fit condition with daily workouts.
During a break in training, the crews took part in the International Fleet Review (IFR) onboard the Type 42 Destroyer HMS Exeter. They were given guided tours around the ship & lunch from the Junior Rates Galley.
There were plenty of ships to see, from many nations, in every colour (as long as it was grey!). There was a safety boat in the water at all times in case somebody fell into the water.
The Portsmouth Action Field Gun 2001 crews wowed the crowds in between our crews runs (I'm sure that's how it went anyway). Thankfully the PAFGA were kind enough to provide us with shelter & changing facilities. They did try to turn their gun upside down like the Ajax crew did but, were unable to do so.
After it had been determined that there would be no further runs (due to the number of injuries), awards were given out. A Golden Ball for the cadet which the cadets had voted as having been the greatest team player. A Little Ted* for the cadet nominated by the trainers. A rubber spanner & a belt for two other deserving crew members.
A big thank you to Portsmouth Action Field Gun 2001 for their hospitality!
Take a look at their site by clicking on the link above (& tell them where you heard about their site).
*The three tenets of Field Gun: Teamwork, Effort and Discipline. It's amazing what a Little Ted can do!
Detling Steam Rally 2005
The annual Steam spectacle at the Kent County Showground, Detling, near Maidstone took place on Saturday 20th & Sunday 21st August. Sheppey unit managed to provide a full crew plus spares & Medway only just scraped together a minimal crew.
During practice (at their unit), Sheppey's limbermen decided to break their limber pole handle. They then went on to break another during practice at Detling & yet another during a competitive run.
Due to injury, Medway were forced to reshuffle & retrain their crew several times during the weekend. The final run would have been a win for Medway had it not been for a failure on the part of their Trainer. The end result was 3 wins for Sheppey & 1 draw.
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