Personnel from the RAF Wittering airbase and Support Force travelled to Canada to represent the Royal Air Force in The Duchess of Edinburgh Cup 2023.
The event, hosted by last year’s event winners, the Lincoln and Welland Regiment, took place in Ontario, their home base where nine personnel from Wittering joined seven Army teams from the UK. The Duchess of Edinburgh is the RAF Wittering Honorary Air Commodore and Colonel-in-Chief for the respective Army and Canadian units.
The Duchess of Edinburgh Cup is an annual competition in which Her Royal Highness’s honorary military appointments compete against each other in a series of challenges, fostering cooperation between them. The aim of the competition is to test military skills under pressure.
This year’s event included the use of C7A2 service rifle, an assault course, an 8-mile orienteering navigating exercise, and a gruelling casualty evacuation race. It was tough but RAF Wittering won the navigating exercise (15k), and while all teams were impressive - the home team won again. The team then all had the opportunity to meet her HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh and then spent some time with other teams celebrating the wins.
The following day, Station Commander Wg Cdr Nikki Duncan had the honour of attending a Service of Remembrance with other service representatives as well as the Duchess of Edinburgh and other local Canadian dignitaries.
The final day of the trip was spent in Toronto, where the team carried out some force development and were lucky enough to have their own tour guide. They were invited to the unveiling of Queen Elizabeth II statue and then received a tour of the Royal Canadian Military Institute.
The icing on the cake was meeting the President of the Institute, who told the group about the history of the building and military artifacts - which included the Red Baron’s chair.
Station Commander Wg Cdr Nikki Duncan said: “This was an incredible experience for all those involved. Not only did it promote and foster teamwork, but we also learnt a lot and made some great friendships.”
“When we set off on this amazing journey, we did not think we would finish in Toronto, learning so much about Canadian military history and how it was intertwined with ours – just fabulous. Thank you so much to our hosts.”
Image Credits:
Tim Rooke / Shutterstock.
Pte J. Lancia and Lt R Crowe, 32 CBG Public Affairs Team.
