History

HISTORY OF THE ARMY CADET FORCE

 INTRODUCTION

  The Army Cadet Force is the oldest youth organisation in the country, dating back to 1859‑60. As can be expected of any organisation more than a hundred years old, its fortunes have varied considerably, and its progress to the present happy state of full acceptance and support has been erratic.

  THE BEGINNINGS

  The cadet movement is generally held to have started in the general alarm caused in 1859 by the expectation that France would invade this country. The British Army was in disarray in the aftermath of the Crimean War and the Indian Mutiny, and the Government launched the Volunteer Force with a call for 100,000 recruits to be raised and organised on a territorial basis. Many volunteer battalions formed cadet companies, usually drawn from the sons of volunteers, and some public schools, notably Eton, Harrow, and Rugby, raised their own cadet companies outside the volunteer organisation.

  These early cadets were probably quite unofficial, and it was not until 1863 that Volunteer Force regulations gave authority for all volunteer battalions to raise cadet companies. Only military instruction was to be given, and it seems that the sole object was to provide pre‑service training for boys who would automatically join the volunteers when they reached the prescribed age.

  The heat gradually faded from the French problem, and there was a change in the cadet philosophy. The National Rifle Association had been formed in 1860, and the school cadet companies became rifle clubs within the NRA in about 1870. This was a time when social reformers, stirred by the effects of the industrial revolution, sought ways to improve the drab lives of young people, and open cadet units gradually became adopted by social welfare organisations between 1870 and 1880. It seems likely that non‑military activities were introduced at this period.

  Two notable cadet units with a particular place in ACF history were formed about this time. The 1st Manchester Cadet Battalion started in 1884 and has continued without a break until the present time, and Miss Octavia Hill, the great reformer who probably started the youth movement, as we know it, raised the East London Cadet Corps, which still exists as the 1st London Cadet Battalion The Queen's,

  The Volunteers disbanded in 1908 and the Territorial Army formed. An Officers Training Corps was started for universities and public schools, and many cadet units at these establishments merged into this corps, while open cadet units were formed into the Territorial Cadet Force.

  There was a big expansion in the cadet force during the 1914‑18 war, and many additional units, some based on large firms, and were raised in Durham.

 THE MIDDLE YEARS

  After the 1914‑18 war the cadet movement entered into its most difficult period. Faced with an economic crisis in 1924, the Government slashed public expenditure, and such grants as the cadet forces had were withdrawn. The Boys' Brigade, which had been part of the cadet movement up to this time, left the organisation and became independent. The Boys' Brigade was originally formed in 1883 in Glasgow to hold the interest of Boys in Church loyalty. Similarly, the Church Lads Brigade was formed in 1870. These movements formed part of the current cadet spirit on Training and Discipline and were probably quite separate movements within the National Cadet Organisation. Small grants were restored in 1925, but many units had closed down. Others continued, but received another blow in 1930 when all official recognition was withdrawn, and the British National Cadet Association was formed as a private body to provide a focal point for units, which were able to carry on with private support. Few non‑school units were left, however, when recognition (but not grants) was restored two years later. In 1936 the Church Lads' Brigade followed the example of the Boys' Brigade and left the cadet movement. In the 1939 it was decided that all commissions required previous service in the ranks, and the Officers' Training Corps in schools and universities became the Junior Training Corps.

  The cadet movement had received a severe battering between the wars. It was depleted in numbers but high in spirit, and in the face of all difficulties it had retained a foundation upon which to build the structure, which was to come,

 WAR

 The early months of the 1939‑45 war were a matter of shadow boxing. The Allied Forces were behind the Maginot Line and the Axis's Forces behind the Siegfried Line, making occasional threatening gestures at each other from the protection of these massive fortifications. This period of the 'Phoney War' as it became known, ended with stunning suddenness when the enemy launched the blitzkrieg. In a matter of weeks nearly all Europe, from Norway to the South of France, was secure in German hands. The British Expeditionary Force, miraculously evacuated after its fighting withdrawal to the Channel ports, was back in this country weakened and almost disarmed. The analogy with 1860 was inescapable: the Army in disarray and the threat of the invasion. 1860 brought about the birth of the cadet movement: 1940 was to bring about its expansion to undreamed of heights.

  The expansion was ordered in 1941 and was put in hand by county Territorial Associations. Units sprang up almost overnight, many of them based on boys' clubs, which provided recruits, premises and sometimes leaders in one package. There was a great air (often a cheerful and agreeable air) of improvisation in the early days, and some units were virtually private armies. The title 'Cadet Force' was changed to 'Army Cadet Force'. Officers were commissioned by Lords Lieutenant. Clothing was produced with a rapidity, which would earn medals now, but it was some time before arms were issued. Rifles, Lewis guns and Browning guns were borrowed from the Home Guard, which had been formed in 1940, but it is worth noting that the cadets never developed the close association with the Home Guard which their predecessors in the 19th century had had with the Volunteers. The pre‑war Certificate 'A' examination of the OTC was adapted and renamed 'War Certificate 'A" and became the training aim. And, with half the nation in uniform of one sort or another, there was a never-ending flood of recruits. It was during this period that Colonel Sir Laurie Edwards, Commandant, motivated the cadets of Durham, and established the reforming of 19 battalions in 1941.

  Gradually this spirited but often unruly force was brought under closer control. Most companies (as detachments were then called) were organised into battalions, often 800 to 1,000 strong. County regiments, to which battalions were badged, provided permanent staff instructors. Capitation grants had been introduced, and TA Associations put finance on a firm basis. Regular Army units with their war commitments, could give little help with training (though permanent establishments such as Infantry Training Centres gave valuable assistance with camps and courses) and the main professional support was provided by 'Travelling Wings', each consisting of about half a dozen officers, WOs and NCOs drawn from a variety of units and arms. By 1944 the ACF had shaken down into a well‑organised body providing many recruits for the forces, a fairly high proportion of whom became officers and NCOs

MATURITY

 At the end of the war, the ACF was tremendously strong and in great heart. Many officers wondered whether the historical repetition of expansion would be followed by the repetition of cuts, but sighs of relief were heard in 1947, when the Government announced its plans for the reconstitution of the Territorial Army and at the same time affirmed its support for the ACF. Over the next ten years the movement shed some of its fat and fined down into a more streamlined and effective body. The Junior Training Corps in schools became the Combined Cadet Force, and a hundred ACF school units transferred to it. Some open companies closed and some of the older leaders who had given fine service retired. Permanent staffs were appointed at county levels, and the War Office decided that now was the time to chart the future. The Amery Committee was appointed to review the ACF.

 The Committee reported in 1957, and it was clear beyond doubt that the future was assured. New and more generous financial support was recommended, a clear directive on training given, new establishments were laid down, and the ACF received its first Charter.

 Now things moved rapidly. In 1959 Frimley Park was opened by the Ministry of Defence as the first National Cadet Training Centre. Regular Army support was stepped up and TA affiliations were made more meaningful, with more and more cadets (now organised into detachments) wearing badges other than those of the county regiments. In 1960 the ACF received the accolade when HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, now appointed Colonel‑in‑Chief, presented the force with its Banner, which was passed from County to County and paraded through the whole country in what was the ACF's Centenary Year.

The ACF is organised into 61 counties with 1,712 detachments parading over 42,000 cadets.

Durham ACF currently covers an area of approximately 1,100 square miles from the Tyne in the North to the Skerne in the South and from the coast in the East to the Pennines in the West.

There are 31 Detachments presently which have a combined strength of just over 1,000 cadets.

The County is split into 4 administrative Company’s A, B, C and D which are based at South Shield, Washington, Durham and Bishop Auckland respectively.

The County is administered by a permanent staff of 7 headed by the Cadet Executive Officer, Major Steve Ramsey, who reports direct to the Commandant, Colonel Bill Gracie TD.

Each Company is commanded by a Company Commander who has a staff of 4 to assist in the running of the Company.  Each Company has 7 detachments except A Company who have 8 with a further one suspended for the moment as follows:

 In addition the Borneo Band have formed into a Detachment.

 The County takes pride in its participation in activities as diverse as first aid, sport, adventure training and the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.

 Outreach – a programme for disadvantaged young men and women – chooses a different school to help each year and, understandably, its assistance is always required.

 BTEC for cadets has been introduced this year and Durham ACF Borneo Band is among the best military bands in the Country.

 In addition, the County has had a particularly successful year.  Its major achievements have been as follows:

• Fully manned with Adult Instructors.

• Nearly 1100 Cadets.

• 3 Master Cadets, all selected to attend the Claire Shore Competition later this year.

• 6 Cadets visited Canada for 6 weeks last summer.

• 4 Cadets out of a national group of 12 have been selected for an Expedition in East Africa in 2005.

• A total of 714 Officers, Adults and Cadets attending Annual Camp in Germany.