PONTEFRACT IN 1952

22nd August 1952
Cadets Were Bombed - With Flour!

The 5th Cadet Battalion K.O.Y.L.I. returned home on Sunday after a week in camp at Skegness. Situated on about 30 acres of pasture land, the camp was approached down a long avenue of trees and was about 15 minutes walk from the sea. Training was entirely on fieldcraft subjects and was conducted among the scrub and thorns of the sand dunes. A demonstration attack was made by a party landing on the beach from the sea with support from a hired aeroplane making bomb attacks with bags of flour.

In the field sports, the Battalion took second place on average, although achieving seven wins out of 12 events. Opportunity was taken to play the semi-final tie of the cricket championship, the Battalion being successful in beating the 2nd Battalion Yorkshire and Lancashire Regiment by five runs. Quizzed by a visiting officer, one Cadet Sergeant gave the answer "Smashing!" when asked how he liked the food, the camp and the town. As the officer turned away the Cadet volunteered the further information "The girls are smashing too, Sir!"

As the Battalion travel on Sundays, it is not possible to hold services on those days, so a drum-head service was held on Thursday morning, the Roman Catholics going to their own church in town. On Tuesday the senior boys were taken to the rifle range, where some good scores were made. A small party visited an aerodrome on Friday, but it was not possible for any of them to make a flight. The journey home was marred by a mishap when a portion of the train containing the Battalion became detached at Doncaster and the mistake was only just noticed in time to prevent them being taken to Sheffield. Road transport waiting at Hemsworth station went to the rescue, but it was quite late by the time the contingent reached Pontefract.