by John Sadden
c 1900 The Cadet Corps outside the Victorian School (now the Upper Junior)
This year we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Combined Cadet Force (CCF) and the 160th anniversary of the school's very first cadet corps. This was originally affiliated with the local Volunteer Company of the Hampshire Rifles in 1863, then transferred to the 5th Hants followed by the 3rd Hants Volunteers. Although the School closed down briefly in the 1870s, the PGS Cadet Corps was quickly reformed after its re-founding at the end of the decade and has been in continuous operation ever since. Because of the long history and tradition, of the PGS corps, is one of very few entitled to have its own badge rather than the generic CCF emblem.
The first commandant was Major Samuel Hudson, after whom the
Junior School house is named. He had served nine years in the Hampshire
Regiment before taking up teaching. In its early days the Corps attended
Territorials’ camps and exercises, as well as public school camps and field
days.
At this time, boys could belong to Army and Navy classes, the curricula having been designed to enable a smooth transition for school leavers into the armed services. This met the strong demand in a town that was not only Britain’s premier naval port, but also had a substantial garrison. The training and drill provided by the Cadet Corps provided a good grounding for young men whose duty was to fight for and defend the British Empire in an age when patriotism was inseparable from imperialism.
The Corps became an increasingly popular part of a PGS
education. By 1903, when the Duke of Connaught inspected the school contingent,
it numbered seventy members. In the years of the arms race leading up to the
First World War, boys were urged to join the Corps on Speech Day and Empire
Day, to prepare them for “The Great Game”. The Cadet Corps, raised in status in
1908 to that of an Officers’ Training Corps, had by 1914 achieved a membership
of a hundred. The outbreak of war brought more eager recruits. By 1915 there
was an estimated six or seven hundred Old Portmuthians serving, including five
members of staff. At least 131 OPs and two members of staff died in the war.
Between the wars the Officer Training Corps was commanded by Major Lee who became responsible for the organisation of summer training camps for many school units and was awarded the OBE for his work. OPs of the time have often remembered that the uniform was uncomfortable and needed a great deal of cleaning and polishing. A cadet wore a tunic with brass buttons, a webbing belt which had to be cleaned with blanco, but the worst job was reported to be the putting on of his puttees, strips of khaki cloth which were wrapped tightly around the calves so that the ending came at the right place on the outside of the leg.
During the Second World War, Portsmouth was a major target
for the Luftwaffe and PGS was evacuated and settled in Southbourne. At the time
of the invasion threat of 1940 members of the unit were involved in guard
duties at Hengistbury Head.
The Officer Training Corps was renamed the Junior Training
Corps (JTC) in 1940 and an Air Training Corps (ATC) was established the
following year. Many pupils, inspired by the victory of the RAF in the Battle
of Britain, joined the latter. They studied the principles of flight, aircraft
recognition and other subjects for their proficiency badge. In 1942, the
Signals Section converted to radio and attracted new recruits. Under the
command of Captain Stansfield the Corps prepared hundreds of cadets for the
basic training Certificate A, and, as a result of this and other preparatory
training, many boys were given commissions in the army. In 1940, the school magazine listed 400 Old
Portmuthians who were serving in the armed forces overseas, and many former
Corps members took part in the defence of Portsmouth, manning the anti-aircraft
guns on Southsea Common during the blitz. It is not known how many Old
Portmuthians had served during the six years of war but, by the the end of
hostilities, at least 148 are known to have lost their lives in the fight
against fascism.
The Army and RAF service Corps joined together to form the
Combined Cadet Force in 1948 and a Naval section was established the following
year. In the 1950s the Corps paraded twice a week in the Quad under the
commands of Major Knowles and Major Bartle. The Corps expanded rapidly and an
Artillery Section was established under Captain James. The Naval Section also
thrived and, by 1963, was the largest section with 150 members. In that year,
the centenary of the formation of the original PGS cadet corps, hero of El
Alamein, Field Marshall Earl Montgomery carried out an inspection of the
cadets.
In later years there was less emphasis on parade ground
drilling. By the 1960s and 70s, practical skills and hands-on experience began
to be more valued and Adventure Training was introduced, as well as Naval camps
at Newtown on the Isle of Wight, and participation in the annual Ten Tors
challenge. New Army camps attended included Fort George at Inverness, attended
by a record 180 cadets, nearly all of whom reached the top of Ben Nevis. Other
expeditions included Norway, Ireland and Germany and annual winter
mountaineering in the Cairngorms led by Roger Harris and Captain Bill Taylor.
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1962 Cadets launch the school's "Grasshopper" glider
using an elastic rope
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| 1980s The Naval Section afloat |
75 years after the formation of the CCF, and 160 years after
the first school cadet corps was established, the CCF continues to flourish
with a substantial increase in recruits in recent years.
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