Cadets' golden day at palace

PALACE PICTURE: The four cadets are pictured with Squadron Commander Flt Lt Peter Doubell and Civilian Instructor Kieran Parkin (Emmas brother), who is also a DofE Gold Award holder.

Each cadet was allowed to take one family member into the presentations which took place in the palace gardens, but they were all supported by their families in force and met up with squadron staff outside the palace before the ceremony.

During the course of the presentations the air cadet group was hosted by Mike Bannister, past chief pilot of the British Airways Concorde Fleet, and they all met the Duke of Edinburgh and the Earl and Countess of Wessex.

The countess took time to talk to all the air cadets. Other celebrities who helped to the host the event included gold winning Olympic athlete Greg Rutherford, comedian Bill Bailey and actor Ross Kemp.

Charlie McGovern described the day as “an extraordinary experience”.

He said: “We were honoured to meet the Countess of Wessex who took time to listen to the stories of our experiences and congratulated us on our achievement.”

The DofE is the world’s leading achievement award, giving millions of people aged between 14 and 24 the chance to test themselves through three progressive levels.

The Mirfield Air Cadet Squadron meets at the Air Cadet Centre on Huddersfield Road near the Stocks Bank Road junction, on Tuesday and Friday evenings.

For more information please visit or contact Flt Lt Peter Doubell on 01924 498 896.