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A Cold Weekend at RAF Debden
Beyond a light fall of dry, powdery snow, the promised severe weather failed to materialise for the Seniors' weekend at RAF Debden in Essex.
This training area is based around a disused wartime airfield with concrete runways, taxiways and roads dominating the landscape.
We arrived in the dark on Friday night after a delayed start. Cadets and staff erected Bashas in Pevril's wood and established routines before sending out a number of night patrols.
Saturday's daytime activities were split between live firing on the range and reconnaissance missions to locate enemy positions and routes; the enemy was made up of Upper Sixth NCOs.
In the evening, patrols and skirmishes were followed by a full scale ambush on the enemy from a strip of woodland near the eastern end of the main runway. Temperatures dropped overnight and, just as a dawn attack on the enemy position was over, wind blown snow started to fall; this soon gave way to freezing rain.
More information gathering about enemy movements allowed the exercise to finish with a platoon strength attack, across open ground, on the enemy position.
Well done to all of the cadets: they responded well to all challenges and coped admirably with the weather conditions.
Arial photo of RAF Debden in 1946
