RAF Field Weekend
St Edward’s Field Weekend this year included a variety of activities in which pupils learned new skills, explored military history, and strengthened their teamworking abilities. Sixth Former Gathoni Nesbitt and Fifth Former Sade McNichols-Thomas, attended the RAF section weekend events and review their experience.
Last weekend, the St Edward’s RAF Cadets visited two different museums in order to grow our knowledge of the RAF and its history. At the Imperial War Museum in London, we were able to observe history through the various objects within the museum, dating from the First World War to the Second World War and the Cold War. The Holocaust Memorial Galleries were particularly impactful as we walked through Germany and the countries invaded before, during, and after, Nazi occupation. The galleries were filled with personal stories and items as well as informative pieces that contextualised events. It was incredibly compelling and moving. The Fourth Form Cadets learned a lot from the trip and they thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I believe that anyone who has the chance should visit the museum to garner a deeper understanding of mainland Britain during the wars. In future, I hope that Teddies can organise a trip where we can see how the imperial nature of Britain and her colonies affected her history and armed forces as the IWM did not acknowledge this, and it is very important, especially as Teddies hosts an excellent CCF programme.
On Monday the RAF Cadets travelled to London again, to the Royal Air Force Museum which is a huge exhibit in different hangers enabling you to walk through the different stages of the RAF from its formation on 1st April 1918 until the present, showing the growth in technology and the building of planes. The RAF Museum was a direct link to what we are doing as a CCF section and allowed us to view all the vehicles utilised as well as what past cadets trained with. This gave us a great appreciation of the enhancement of our society and technology. We went through all six hangers in the museum and were tasked with the job of filling out a questionnaire on the many different planes and their differences. The Fourth Form Cadets split their flights into two and travelled around to see who could fill the most questions correctly. This deepened our understanding as it forced us to take more time reading and learning each individual description of the vehicles which I believe collectively grew our interest in them.
Pupils at the RAF Museum with the Avro Lancaster
During our visit to the RAF Museum, we were able to go to a workshop titled ‘The Pilots of the Caribbean’ a play on the popular film franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean. During the presentation we learned of many Black and Caribbean men and women who participated greatly and, in essence, affected the direction of the world wars. We posed the question whether the representation of Britain’s History was truly fair, as well as the reasons behind the way it is now, and learned briefly of Robbie Clarke, Trevor Edwards, Lillian Bader, Sam King and others. We were encouraged to research further on these people as well as many other remarkable figures who have not received the recognition they rightfully deserve for defending Britain. It was an amazing workshop that we really enjoyed.
The workshop at the RAF Museum ‘The Pilots of the Caribbean’
All in all, it was a great field weekend allowing the Fourth Formers to get closer as friends and learn a great deal about teamwork as well as more about the RAF.