Sunday the 18th of September saw the annual gathering of RAF and Air Cadet personnel in memory of the conclusion of the Battle of Britain. The parade, which always takes place in the centre of High Wycombe, comprised three of the Air Cadet units that surround the town, as well as regular officers and enlisted personnel from the Air Command headquarters statiion, RAF High Wycombe.

There were approximately sixty five air cadets on parade, as well as many uniformed and non-uniformed staff from the organisation. As usual, the commanding officer's of 332 (High Wycombe) Squadron and 1811 (Marlow) Squadron as well as our own commanding officer, Flight Lieutenant Brett Shepherd, laid wreaths in remembrance of those brave pilots who gave their lives during the world war two battle.

The parade was conducted under the critical eye of Warrant Officer Ian Showler, the Station Warrant Officer at RAF High Wycombe, who ensured that everything went according to plan. And as usual, the event was well supported by VIP's, many of whom also laid wreaths in remembrance. It was very gratifying to see a good audience of members of the public, who all stopped to watch proceedings and observe the minute of silence.

The Church service that followed the wreath laying ceremony reminded us of the bravery of those airmen in 1940 and made the point that the courage that they displayed during those almost siege-like conditions was aspirational for us all. 871 (Penn) Squadron's motto "virtus in adversum" fully echoes these sentiments!

Monday 8th August was a huge step forward for 871 (Penn) Squadron. After many years of not having a permanent home construction begun on our new squadron building after a lot of hard work, communication and persuasion.

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Thanks to some great artwork by the sister of one of our cadets, 871 (Penn) Squadron has a new squadron crest! The new badge is designed to highlight our locality and place the squadron squarely at the heart of the local community.

The squadron has been in need of a properly designed crest for some time and the artwork is currently going through the channels before formal recognition by HM Inspectorate of RAF Badges at the College of Arms in London. In the meantime, the squadron will start to include the badge in letterheads and on squadron attire, as well as here on the website.

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After a wonderful weekend at Longmoor Army Training Area, the squadron emerged with the Charringtons Challenge Trophy as overall winners of the Wing Exercise 2011.

The competition was extremely fierce, with twenty-eight teams fighting it out across three days of gruelling activities covering shooting, navigation, first-aid, leadership, rope handling and much, much more besides. There were many different exercises over the long weekend and Penn managed to win two of the individual events and place highly in many others. The only way to win the Wing Exercise is to score well in every facet of the weekend and, with 100 points available for each task, an error in one single event can cost a team the entire competition. It therefore speaks volumes about the professionalism, effort, skill and - above all - teamwork of the 871 squad that they emerged from the competition in first place.

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Friday 7th January will see 871 (Penn) Sqn host their annual Christmas / New Year Ball to be held at Holmer Green Sports Centre.

After a successful year in 2010 you are invited to celebrate with us, there will be food provided on the night with cheap drinks and of course plenty of music. The Senior NCOs will also be presenting the usual light-hearted paper plate awards to cadets who have stood out in the less traditional way over the previous year.

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Donate here: http://www.justgiving.com/mad-dive-for-charity

On Friday 1st October, brothers Matt and Dan are taking part in a skydive to raise money for ABF The Soldiers' Charity. Unlike many military causes, ABF actually support the individuals who have served our country and returned home either injured or unable to support themselves financially due to their courageous commitments in the forces.

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This Summer you could have the chance to raise money for our wounded soldiers and take part in this once in a life time experience by jumping with the Red Devils, Britain's Parachute Regiment Freefall Team of the Army.

This exciting day will involve an introduction to the team, followed by a thorough training session on the ground. When you are fully briefed and it is your turn to jump, you will board the aircraft with your tandem instructor, the aircraft will take off and you will climb to 13,000ft.

At exit altitude you will move to the door of the aircraft and on the count of 3 jump out into freefall. For some people the next 45 seconds lasts forever, for others it is over in the blink of an eye. Your instructor will deploy the parachute at approximately 6,000ft for a gentle canopy ride to the ground.

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With a new website, a squadron building on it's way and over 40 cadets, 871 Squadron is definitely on the up!
We would like all members of our website at www.871penn.org to share any ideas they may have to boost everyone's cadet experience and get the most out of the Squadron.

The webmaster has recently added an online forum where visitors, cadets and staff can discuss various topics. For example, if a cadet really wants to go somewhere on a squadron visit they can gain support online and pass it onto NCOs or staff to organise.

You will need to register on the website to gain access but feel free to start any conversations and threads, it will benefit you; you only get out what you put in to the Air Cadet Organisation.

Start chatting today at www.871penn.org

Please take a look around and sign-up, even if you're not a cadet or member of staff!

Let us know what you think by using the comments below, we love your feedback and it will help us tailor the website to you. The site is still in development and a lot needs to be added which you will see over the coming weeks.

Thank you,

CWO Dan Cecil
Main Site Administrator

Between 30th April and 3rd May, ten 871 Penn cadets were involved in Wing Ex. They came 9th overall! The Wing Ex is held every year at Longmoor Army Training Estate. It is the largest Herts and Bucks Wing Greens competition.

CWO Cecil led the team on his last Wing Ex. His team was: FS Findlow, FS Bartlett, Cpl Allbut, Cdt Astley, Cdt Hill, Cdt Parrin, Cdt Stroud, Cdt Piper and Cdt Burgess.

For those who are interested in Longmoor next year it will be on the 27th to 30th May 2011.

Congratulations to all cadets involved.