Summer Camp Germany 2010
A party of Cadets & Staff from Norfolk & Suffolk Wing recently journeyed to The British Garrison Headquarters at Rheindalen Germany for a week to experience life in the Forces abroad. The Main Party, consisting of 48 Cadets and 6 staff from the Central & East region, flew out from Stansted Airport straight in to not one, but three, thunderstorms which forced their aircraft to divert and meant they were very late arriving at the Joint Headquarters Germany (JHQ) in the small village of Rheindalen which is a suburb of Monchengladbach in the north of Germany. However after a good nights sleep the cadets & staff were eager to explore their new surroundings and enjoyed a famex and a day using the latest in laser training Aids on the indoor range. This equipment is used extensively by troops preparing for operational deployments around the world and the cadets proved to be dead eyed with it.
The Next day saw a visit to the city of Cologne and its magnificent cathedral built in the 1800's. It, like St Pauls in London, was mostly untouched by the Second World War and the Cadets were able to see for miles from the bell tower some 200 metres up. The main part of the city however was redesigned after the war and is very new.
The next day was spent at an adventure centre in the Netherlands taking part in High & Low rope courses and some tunnelling. The cadets having to work as teams to complete the exercises including the dreaded "leap of faith" from the top of a 15M high pole in to a cargo net The next day was for many the high light when they again ventured into the Netherlands , this time to Arnhem and the chance to visit the "Bridge to Far”. The day started with a short visit to the British war cemetery at Oosterbeck the village where the British set up their HQ. This proved to be very moving for all especially when they read about the young children of the village who from 1944 to the present day continue to tend the graves of these brave servicemen by placing flowers on every one each September. Then a short journey into the village to the Airborne Museum in the actual British HQ of the time. The cadets were able to see equipment and hear first hand stories from veterans which again left some visibly moved. Then it was time to visit the bridge some 8 km away in Arnhem. The structure is imposing and dominates the landscape from ever view. Again the party was struck by the welcome they received from the local Dutch people when they realised that the party were British. After a long day the party returned to JHQ for an early night !
The cadets enjoyed a swimming trip in Monchengladbach and the chance to practise their classroom German in the shops the next day along with Go Karting in the evening. The last day was spent at Ooverloon again in Holland but it was to the National War Museum this time. set on the site of a large tank battle in Sept 1944 there was much for the cadets to do and see including original vehicles and equipment recovered from the area after the battle. There was the chance to walk around the wooded battle field but most declined as there were literally hundreds of people on bicycles doing a sponsored ride for charity everywhere!
Just a few Kms from the museum is the German war cemetery for all dead Germans from 2 wars in Holland. With 32,000 crosses to mark graves this made for a sobering end to a very interesting day.
With the next day being return home day the week had literally flown by. New friendships had been forged and appetites whetted for more adventure with the ATC. Squadron Leader Kevin Green who was Camp Commandant for the week commented that the cadets were exemplary in all they achieved all week.”Making friends quickly is never easy but these lads & lasses from all over C & E Region showed how its done and I hope they remember the trip for a long time to come"
