SEA CADETS WW1 BATTLEFIELDS TOUR : 15 – 17 FEB 2026

Report by Commanding Officer Portland Sea Cadets

On a cold Sunday in the middle of February, 49 very excited Cadets and Cadet Force Adult Volunteers (CFAVs) from Portland, Weymouth and Yeovil Sea Cadet Units met at 0430hrs in the rain in a pitch black car park in Weymouth, and boarded a coach to Dover to commence a World War 1 Battlefields Tour.

A lumpy sea crossing to Calais was followed by a road journey through France to the outskirts of Ypres in Belgium, for the first visit of the tour which was to the Langemark German Military Cemetery. A biting wind with driving snow added to the solemness of the location, and all were moved by the graves and inscriptions on the monuments. After checking in to the hotel, everyone was free to explore Ypres town and most experienced the Belgium waffles!

The evening brought one of the key highlights of the tour, with the Cadets and CFAVs proudly representing Sea Cadets during the daily Remembrance Ceremony service at The Menin Gate in front of 500 members of the public. Leading Cadet Lily, who had initiated the trip, laid a Wreath on behalf of Sea Cadets, Able Cadet Lewis said the Exhortation and Able Cadet Austin said the Kohima Epitaph. The Cadets looked so smart, and it was a fitting end to a long but enjoyable, moving and interesting first day.

Day two started with a journey back to Northern France to visit the Vimy Ridge Memorial, which is a bright white, dazzling limestone Canadian Memorial over 100ft high set on the highest point of the ridge that the Canadians battled to occupy, and which the Cadets found really impressive by its size which they said seemed to fill the sky! Then the tour went back to Ypres to Hill 62 Sanctuary Wood Museum with a trenches tunnel system, followed by the Passchendaele 1917 Museum which was incredibly interesting with all its dug out shelters and underground passageways.

The final visit of the day was to the Tyne Cot Cemetery, where the Cadets identified the Missing soldiers from their local towns of Portland, Weymouth and Yeovil recorded on the Panels of the Tyne Cot Memorial. The Cadets formed up to hold a simple Ceremony with a minute’s silence to commemorate the fallen, with CPO Damien Hawkins bugling Last Post and Reveille, and Able Cadets Lewis and Austin again saying the Exhortation and Kohima Epitaph. The scale of the Cemetery certainly captivated everyone, with the sheer volume of the sacrifices that the individuals buried there had made. In their free time that evening, the Cadets chose to again watch the evening’s Menin Gate Ceremony, which that time had a Bag Piper playing, and they found it really interesting to be able to watch it from a Spectator’s perspective. It had certainly been a full on day!

The final day started with a visit to In Flanders Field Museum in Ypres, which tells the story of the Belgium Invasion and which the Cadets were really engrossed in. The final stop of the tour was to Talbot House in Poperinge which was used as a soldiers retreat to give respite from the front line fighting. In the attic of the House is a small chapel, which held a real sense of peace and which gave just the right sentiment for the end of what proved to be a highly successful and educational WW1 Battlefields Tour. It will certainly live long in the memories and in fact the Cadets are still talking about it 6 weeks after the event!

The Cadets and CFAVs of Portland, Weymouth and Yeovil Sea Cadet Units would like to thank Wessex RFCA for your generous funding support of £50 per person, which certainly reduced the cost of the tour to an amount that was accessible to all who wished to participate. And the tour most definitely delivered upon its aim to provide a comprehensive learning experience that encompassed historical education and personal development.

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