Saturday September 5th 2009 in the Desborough Suite, Maidenhead Town Hall
| 155 Squadron celebrated the 70th Anniversary of the formation of the unit, originally as the Air Defence Cadet Corps on July 5th 1939. The evening was a combined reunion and annual awards ceremony. The Rt Hon Theresa May MP and the Deputy Mayor of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, Councillor Catherine Bursnall were the guests of honour. In total there were nearly 100 cadets, staff and their families who watched the presentation of awards, diplays by the Squadron and enjoyed the sounds of an 18 piece big band. |
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The awards presented on the evening were:
Best Probationer award - Cadet Britton
Robinson Trophy for Endeavour - Cdt Barnes
Best Cadet award - Cdt Hardick
Marksman Award - Cdt Hardick
Communicators Award - Cdt Margerison
Scholastic achievement - Cdt Pillow
Sporting achievement - Cpl Bunce |
L to R Theresa May MP, Cpl Jordan Bunce, Cdt Maxwell Hardick, Cdt Micayla Britton, Cdt Joshua Barnes, Cdt James Pillow, Flt Lt Paul Bennett & Cdt Sam Margerison
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Theresa May MP and Cadet Hardick with the Graham England memorial salver |
Guests enjoying the evening |
During his time with the squadron, Tony helped many cadets pass their Meteorology and Air Navigation subjects as part of the corps syllabus. He also ran "O-level" Air Navigation courses. He was a cadet himself before he joined the Royal Air Force. |
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Peter Partridge, and ex ATC cadet who now lives in Cookham gave talks to cadets and guests about his experiences in the RAF, including how he was trained to
fly the DC3 Dakota to recover gliders from the ground whilst airborne. He brought along a working model of how this worked, which was used to demonstrate
the complexities of the difficult task. Peter also brought along memorabilia from his cadet and service days as well as a number of light-hearted anecdotes to educate and inform guests. |
Details about the awards
The Best probationer award is presented to cadets who have been at the unit for less than 12 months. They are assessed on their enthusiasm, bearing and how they perform in their first class classification tests. The main input for deciding this award is from Roy Ballard, who runs the first class cadet training, assisted by other staff members. The trophy, in the form of a wooden shield, was kindly presented to the Squadron by the RAFA Windsor & Eton Branch.
The Robinson Trophy for Endeavour was presented to the Squadron by the former Mayor of Windsor & Maidenhead, Councillor Robinson. It is presented to a cadet on the unit who may not excel in any particular area, however shows a great willingness to take part in a wide range of activities and also has a very good attendance record. They have potential to do well in the corps and gain lots of experience through the events that they attend.
The Best cadet award is presented in memory of ex Cadet Graham England, who was tragically killed in a private plane crash whilst serving as a Phantom pilot with the Royal Air Force in Suffolk. Graham was an example to cadets on the unit, always being well turned out, leading by example, participating in a wide range of Squadron and Wing events and carrying out his duties as a Cdt Sergeant. The award is presented to a cadet who shows the same enthusiasm for the corps as Graham did in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s.
The Marksman award is presented to a cadet on the unit who has achieved one of the ATC marksman qualifications within the past 12 months.
The communicator’s trophy was introduced to the Squadron in 2007 in recognition of the pioneering work done by Maidonians in field of telecommunications and takes the form of a Morse Code key. The award is presented to a cadet who shows aptitude for or attains one of the formal ATC radio operators qualifications during the past 12 months.
The scholastic award is presented to a cadet who has done well with their formal classification exams during the past 18 months.