Mr Barker writes:
After
a rather chilly overnight camp at Small Dole Scout Camp the sun rose into the
sky on the morning of Saturday 15th March. This was the first of the
overnight camps as part of this year’s DofE Expedition training. Groups were
allocated to their leaders for the day, who had the important, and often
overlooked, role of imparting the knowledge required to ensure that the Chailey
DofE’ers were not amongst the many groups who are typically seen wandering
around the countryside with a rather forlorn expression on their tired faces
muttering “does anyone know where we are?”
The
groups were all briefed on what was expected from them during the day and set
off on staggered starts from 9.30am onwards on their day’s walk across the beautiful
sunny (I never thought I would say that word in connection with a March DofE
event) Sussex countryside ending up at Devils Dyke for a 3pm rendezvous with
the coaches to return our tired participants to school.
So,
after a fantastic morning of navigation practice involving a climb up
Tottington Mount, it was time for lunch in the sun, (there’s that word again), at
Edburton Hill Viewpoint. Once the hunger pangs were satiated and some bags made
considerably lighter, judging by the amount of food consumed, it was time to
continue.
We
headed South through a field of cows and suckling calves, which we decided to
give a wide berth, only to hear a voice in the distance shouting to us a from
further on down the path. It soon became apparent that the voice belonged to a
Police Officer who was attempting to get our attention. I instructed the group
to wait whilst I liaised with him to find out what the problem was. He politely
informed me that the Armies EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) were in the field
next to the path and were just about to do a controlled explosion and requested
that I take the group to a safe distance. I dutifully did as I was told.
Whilst
sitting with the group all kinds of theories were exchanged as to the nature of
the ‘bomb’ in the field with the only detail we got correct being it was a WW2
explosive ploughed up by a farmer! After a few minutes of anticipation there was a shout
to “stand by” which was closely followed by a rather loud BANG and a cloud of
dusty smoke spreading across the field.
It
was now safe for us to continue.
I
asked the Police Officer and attending Soldiers what had been disposed of and
was told that it was a WW2 phosphorus mortar shell left behind by the Canadian
Army. The rest of the walk was an anti-climax after that, except, of course, the
glorious sight of the awaiting coach in the car-park at Devils Dyke.
I
would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who took part, both
staff and students, on making this another successful Chailey School DofE
event.
