Proud Heritage
The CCF exists in some 500 schools throughout the country. Our aim is to develop transferable skills & qualities which will be useful in later life. These include leadership, responsibility, self-confidence, initiative, reliance, team spirit, & pride in one’s appearance and Contingent. Activities incorporate varied & interesting training with a military bias: training may include s
hooting, military exercises, outdoor pursuits, personal development exercises, obstacle courses, & visits to Regular Army units. Although there is no obligation or expectation that a Cadet who joins the CCF will go on to join the Armed Services, all of this provides background knowledge of the British Army, in particular the Corps of Royal Engineers, whose cap-badge we are privileged to wear (our affiliated unit is 135 Geographical Squadron, 42 Regiment RE, based in Ewell). CCFs can have Army, Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, & Royal Marine sections, but we have only an Army Section at present. Cadets engage with pupils from different year-groups & social groups, especially since our Contingent recruits not only from St Benedict’s, but also from the Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School in Greenford. All Recruits start at the same level, wiping clean the slate of their existing achievements & friendship groups, allowing each to develop his or her own talents in a new & challenging environment.
“As a parent it’s not easy bringing up teenagers in this modern world, with all its distractions. The CCF demonstrates that the teen years can be worthwhile, positive and fulfilling - there’s no price on that. Massive thanks to all the staff who give up so much of their free time to support & scaffold our young people.”
(CCF Parent, July 2019)
St Benedict’s School CCF was founded on January 24th 1930 as an Officer Training Corps, & has been in continuous existence since then, though under several different titles. At first we were part of the 2nd Cadet Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, but in 1948 the organization was re-named the Combined Cadet Force. At the time one of the Contingent staff was a former Irish Guardsman, and so the unit wore the badge of the Irish Guards until changing cap-badge to the Royal Engineers a decade ago. We are proud of our past, & each year group is named after old boys of St Benedict’s and Cardinal Wiseman:
Teeling Troop: ‘Recruits’, usually Year 9s, in their first year in the CCF. The Troop is named after brothers Ambrose & Luke Teeling, killed on 25 September 1914 & 08 November 1918 respectively- our first and last casualties in the Great War. Wilding Troop: Cadets in their second year, usually Year 10s. This Troop is named after Patrick Wilding, Head Boy of St Benedict’s in 1942, who was killed in action in Italy in 1944 whilst serving as a platoon commander in the Rifle Brigade. Casey Troop is named for Chris Casey, a former pupil of Cardinal Wiseman School, killed in Iraq whilst serving with 1st Battalion, Irish Guards, in April 2007. Ward (HQ) Troop: Cadets in various years whose duties are to support & facilitate the work of the other Troops. Lt-Col Stephen Ward OBE, MC (Royal Engineers) was killed in action in Rangoon in May 1945.
