Sea cadets on parade at Cenotaph

The 36 cadets and 12 staff enjoyed a fun-packed schedule with Sunday’s parade at the Cenotaph in front of the Queen and the Prince of Wales the pinnacle of the trip.

The team travelled down on the early hours of Friday by minibus convoy to Sea Cadets HQ. While there, they had lunch with the Captain of the Sea Cadet Corps, Capt Phillip Russell RN before enjoying a tour of the building.

The afternoon was spent at the Tower of London, while Leading Cadet Brandon Palmer and two staff members went to the Royal Albert Hall for the Royal British Legion’s Festival of Remembrance rehearsal’s meeting the other participants, the Royal Marine Band Portsmouth & the stars of this years performance Michael Ball, Alfie Boe and Alexander Armstrong.

The pace didn’t drop for the second day – 10 cadets joined Palmer and staff for a day at RAH helping to sell programmes and acting as wheelchair orderlies for older patrons for the day’s two performances with the Queen and Royal Family attending the evening show.

While the Royal Albert Hall was the hottest ticket in town, the cadets in attendance had some of the best seats in the house, directly opposite the Queen for the evening’s performance. We all swelled with pride as LC Palmer led out the standards perfectly.

Sunday was an early start for everyone as we headed to Whitehall to form up for the parade.

Cheered on by the huge crowds, TS Scarborough led the cadet contingent past the Cenotaph and round to Horse Guards where HRH Prince Charles took the salute from the proud Commanding Officer S/Lt Natalie Davies RNR.

After the parade was dismissed the ship took the opportunity to march up the Mall to Buckingham Palace for a photograph.

S/Lt Natatie Davies RNR said: “The cadets did the town proud and I have never been so overwhelmed with pride.

“The amazing weekend was a culmination of a lot of hard work from everyone at TS Scarborough, each one will remember this experience for life and I’m honoured to be the Commanding Officer of such a fantastic team.”

Cdt Kirsten Davenport said: “I felt so proud marching through London with so many heroes that were so friendly and really made us feel part of a team. They were all so interested in what we were doing and at the end congratulated us on our marching.

“After the parade was finished our staff decided to march us up to Buckingham Palace. I had never experienced anything like it.

“The tourists treated us like we were movie stars.”