HRH The Prince of Wales took the salute at a Royal Review in the Mall to celebrate 150 years of the Cadet Forces in the UK on Tuesday 6 July. Amongst the 1500 cadets on parade were the Thames Valley Wing party consisting of cadets from 155 (Maidenhead) Squadron, 1861 (Wantage) squadron and 1460 (Banbury) Squadron.
The parade marched from Horse Guards Parade down The Mall to Buckingham Palace, past Clarence House, where The Prince took the Salute in honour of the anniversary. Above the parade was a special flypast by the Red Arrows over Central London down The Mall and over Buckingham Palace with a handful of lucky cadets from across the Cadet Forces enjoyed a trip in the Royal Air Force Hawk aircraft as part of the celebrations.
Following the parade, a garden party was held at Buckingham Palace to honour cadets and volunteers both past and present, and was attended by HRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, HRH The Earl of Wessex, TRH The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and HRH The Duke of Kent.
Flight Lieutenant Nigel Furlong, boss of Wantage Squadron was amazed at the spectacle ” Tuesday was a fantastic day, the air cadets in general and the Thames Valley cadets in particular were awesome, our cadets were in the ATC honour guard and cadet Phoebe Lane was introduced to HRH The Prince of Wales. As someone involved with the ATC as an adult volunteer since 1991 I have never experienced anything like this with the ATC and certainly not as a cadet in the early 80’s”.
The Royal Review and garden party form the centrepiece of Cadet150 celebrations taking place throughout 2010, marking 150 years of Cadet Forces in the UK. And the event pays tribute to 131,000 cadets and 25,000 adult volunteers who make up the Cadet Forces, and to those who have served in these organisations in the past.
