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Canoeing, 'Cockle Shell Heroes', River Gironde, Bordeaux, Jul 2011, ID 1175

Guernsey ACF and Elizabeth College CCF

GUERNSEY CADETS MAKE COMBINED OPS WORK

Guernsey Cadets from the ACF and CCF combined to complete a Duke of Edinburgh Award Gold Expedition by retracing the journey of the original Cockleshell Heroes.

'Of the many heroic raids .... none was more courageous or imaginative than Operation Frankton'

With these words to instil a sense of awe and determination, the 10 cadets consisting of 3 Elizabeth College CCF and 7 from the Guernsey ACF following the route taken by the Cockleshell Heroes, set off for their four day expedition from Royan to Bordeaux. For Cadet Martin Doherty from the Guernsey ACF, this was the culmination of 15 months of planning and preparation after he had the typically over-ambitious original idea for the Guernsey Detachment's first DofE off-island expedition.

The cadets and adult volunteers worked with Mrs Cathcart, the Guernsey Award Manager who agreed to this being an Open Award Unit expedition. The training paddles made good use of the local waters with an excellent 'make or break' training expedition over the Royal Wedding long weekend. Cadet Levi Turian showed initiative and resourcefulness by pre-positioning his own crab pots en route. The spider crabs, plus seashore foraging meant that the Volunteer Adults enjoyed a marvellous Bouillabaisse supper - hint for Cadets doing DofE, prepare a fine meal for your Assessor if you want to impress!

The day of departure from Guernsey dawned and having overcome several transport pitfalls over the previous weeks it came to has everyone got their passport ahem! (we shall mention no names).

The next day the team arrived in Royan and took the ferry across the mouth of the Estuary to visit the new Memorial unveiled last year to the memory of these courageous men. A talk to the cadets by one of the ACF instructors with regards the location of the Commando’s launch and their first night stop just inside the mouth of the estuary, then back on the ferry to Royan and the start of their expedition. Leaving Royan in good spirits the team paddled up the estuary to Bordeaux over-nighting in the small village of Mortagne-sur Gironde. The walk down from the campsite to return to the kayaks at the waters edge in the morning was interesting. The night before, the tide was high and little of the landing slipway had been visible. With the tide out and the slipway fully exposed, the mud bank below was visible. We overcame this by using seal launches and set off again. Although little headway was made in the first hour as the tide was yet to turn, we pressed on and with the rising tide and ENE wind the distance soon began to mount. We stopped for lunch on the mudbanks just above the Nuclear Power Station at Blaye and the call of “I don’t want mud with my tortillas thanks” was soon to be heard and remembered. It was however a great experience for the cadets, and impressed on them what the sucking mud effect is like and how difficult it would have been for the commandoes to have carried their kayaks over the mud flats to and from their lay up positions.

Back on the water and soon Cadets Finnerty and Yerby decided to take a dip capsizing beside the outfall of the nuclear power station at Blaye. This was not part of the Risk Assessment and fortunately they recovered! Blaye had an amazing campsite in the Citadel, and as it was Bastille Day, there was a fireworks display in the evening.

Leaving Blaye the next morning, the aim was to get past the mouth of the Dordogne, hopefully to land on the end of the Ile Cazeau before landing at St Louis de Montferrand. On the map this looked like a good place to try and in fact as the land team discovered was the only place with a slip! This was an interesting exit with fast flowing currents and the landing point being invisible to those on the water, until a local let a member of the backup team into his fishing hut on stilts and a fluorescent jacket was flown to indicate the landing area.

Day 4 and the end day for the expedition. For the land team, their task was to take the minibus and trailer and backup vehicle onto the waterfront in Bordeaux and locate the exit point of the original cockleshell heroes just below the old submarine pens. The paddlers had to wait for the tide and the final leg ending in Bordeaux. A stop on route to investigate and examine two old Second world war marine wrecks and the Pont d’Aquitaine loomed above them. As a team, with paddles flashing triumphantly, they made their way past the waterfront of Bordeaux. Once housing ships, now home to shops and smart cafes and restaurants, they rafted up alongside a ferry pontoon and lifted the kayaks onto the quay. They had arrived at Place Frankton, the end of the expedition and the furthest point reached up river by the Cockleshell Heroes.

Apart from the ten cadets that took part, the team consisted of 2 instructors from the Guernsey Detachment ACF, who were responsible for the logistics and facilities and also ensured that the history of the event was covered. And on the water, travelling behind the cadets were 2 instructors from the Elizabeth College Combined cadet Force.

The cadets would like to thank the generous support from the Ulysses Trust without which this expedition would not have been possible, as it allowed us to make the trip accessible to the mixed group by providing the additional equipment required and enabling us to subsidise the travel costs of the event.

Lt Col Aplin, the Supervisor, was very impressed by the teamwork and task focus of the group.

“Paddling 20-25 miles each day up the largest estuary in Europe is a marvellous achievement for a group of cadets and speaks volumes about the effectiveness of Syllabus and Core Values of the Cadet Movement; 'Young Achievers on the Move' and the other Service tag lines really do make sense after such an expedition. Plans for next year have already been launched!”

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