Tony Ginman, our Senior Warden, and myself visited TS Wizard last Thursday on one of our summer visits to our cadet detachments. Having visited 56 (Woolwich) Air Cadets a couple of months ago it was time to jump onboard Wizard for a catch up with our Sea Cadets.

Once we were signed in by a very efficient cadet on security detail we were ushered into the Ward Room by WO2 Michael Somogyi RMR who is currently in command. Time for a cup of coffee and a chat before meeting the cadets on the main deck.

Cadet numbers are relatively constant with about 20 cadets out of a unit establishment of 30. A number of the more senior cadets having reached their age limit and have moved on, but with new younger recruits joining and progressing through their initial training hopefully their numbers will be maintained or better still increase. They are stretched when it comes to their adult numbers which are currently down to three but Michael is confident that they will get past the challenges and is doing everything he can to move forward.

With the cadets on parade, we were invited onto the Main Deck for parade and flag raising which marks the start of training for the evening. We had a quick ‘behind the scenes’ tour of Wizard to look at what had been achieved since the flooding and roof collapse. It was good to see how much had been done but like any ship, once you get to the end of the work its time to start again!

Back onto the main deck for the first task for the cadets, under the guidance of Lee Clark RNR. Working in teams the object of the task was to create the longest continuous strip of paper from one double page of newspaper. Command and control, essential to ensure the teams worked together, how wide a strip could be to get the longest possible length but without being too thin that it snapped! I walked the lines, counting my steps, 10 paces each (about 30 feet) by the smallest margin of about 1-2 inches I declared the winners nearest to me on the left.

Outside to the second group, where they were engaged in some basic drill. These were recruits new to the unit and included one young man with a disability, who was joining in and training alongside his fellow cadets. The light level was very low at this time, so a photograph of this activity was not practical.

Back to the Wardroom for a final chat with Michael and Father Lee before last parade. All the cadets were formed up on Deck. Tony was asked to present berets to two newly qualified recruits, after which he thanked the OC and all the cadets for a very informative and enjoyable evening. He went on to say how much he was impressed by the enthusiasm, discipline and energy they put into their training.

The Senior Warden’s final duty of the evening was to present WO2 Michael Somogyi RMR with the Lightmongers annual donation to the sea cadets, wishing them well and looking forward to his next visit as Master Lightmonger.

Our current Master Peter McVeigh is due to visit on the 10th October when he will present the award to the Lightmonger Sea Cadet of the Year 2024.