About Us

AIR CADETS @ STANFORD LE HOPE

1582 (Stanford le Hope) Squadron
ATC Headquarters

St Margaret's Church
 The Green
 Stanford-Le-Hope
 Essex SS17 0EX

Parade Times: 8pm - 10pm, Mondays and Thursdays

1970 -

        An Air Cadet Detached Flight (DF) was originally formed at Stanford le Hope, in 1970 by 106 (Orsett Hundred) Squadron.  It was based at the primary school in Corringham Road and commanded by Flying Officer (Fg Off) later Flight Lieutenant (Flt Lt) Ted Nixon, with Warrant Officer Charlie Ballard as the Discip Warrant Officer.  When Fg Off Nixon moved to 106 Squadron to take command of the squadron, Fg Off Colin Bowmaker took over and when he assumed command of 106 Squadron in 1979, WO Ballard assumed the reins as the DF commander and remained in charge until his retirement.  During this time the DF moved to Arthur Bugler School.

    In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s cadets from the DF joined forces with cadets from 106 Squadron and enjoyed much success in football, swimming and rugby as part of Squadron, Wing, Region and Corps teams.  The success was especially notable in football and swimming where the respective teams won the inter-squadron competition in each, 3 times in succession.  Also, DF cadets were part of a winning Wing senior rugby team, which was no mean feat as any cadets that have played ATC rugby will testify.

    Also in this time cadets from 106 joined 2243 (Basildon) Squadron band, which proved to be a challenging, fruitful and enjoyable time for all those who took part, under the tutelage and expert ear of Basildon’s bandmaster WO Les Burton.  Sergeant Tim Wood a 106 DF cadet put aside his trumpet to become Drum Major, when the incumbent Drum Major left the Corps.

    WO Ballard laid the foundations of the Wing Overseas Expeditions, being the first member of the Wing to strike up a relationship with the Royal Canadian Air Cadets by visiting 106 (Windsor) Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Cadets (RCAC) in Nova Scotia in 1974.  In 1977, Flt Lt Nixon and Fg Off (now Flt Lt) Martin Vaughan attended 106 (Windsor) Squadron RCAC’s Annual Inspection.  This is a much more formal event than our annual inspections.

    These trips led to exchange visits by cadets from Nova Scotia and 106. In the early 1980’s there were back-to-back exchange visits by cadets from 106, 2476 (Hutton) and 276 (Chelmsford) Squadron’s with 644 (Camrose) Squadron in Alberta.  The Alberta connection led to cadets from East Essex Wing (including cadets from Stanford le Hope) enjoying Canadian hospitality as part of the Wing’s expedition to the Rockies in 1991, to mark the 50^th Anniversary of the Air Training Corps.

    In 1984 WO Ballard’s deteriorating health led to him having to retire and Fg Off ‘Dickie’ Cunningham assumed the position of DF commander.

    In 1986 due to staff shortages on 106 Squadron when Fg Off Cunningham moved out of the area, it was decided that control of the Detached Flight should go to 2243 (Basildon) Squadron.  The first Detached Flight commander under 2243 auspices was Pilot Officer (now Flt Lt) Bill Hunt who built up the strength to around 40 cadets, upon which an application for F3 “squadron in waiting” status was made.  As a DF under his stewardship particular success was found on the shooting front, culminating in representing the Wing at the Inter-Services shooting match at Bisley.  The DF outgrew its accommodation at Arthur Bugler School and the move to Hassenbrook School was made.  When Fg Off Hunt relinquished command in 1989, Plt Off Darren Pryke took over until 1992.  When he transferred to 1474 (Wickford) Squadron as commanding officer, Plt Off Steve Gilbey assumed command.

    The 1^st April 1993 was a significant date for two reasons, firstly it was the 75^th Anniversary of the formation of the Royal Air Force, but more importantly it was the date on which 1582 (Stanford le Hope) Squadron was formed. The number “1582” was resurrected as an Air Cadet squadron number, in order to bring back into existence a squadron number with local connections.  The original “1582” was 1582 (Arndale School) Squadron in North Stifford, and was one of the two “school” squadrons in the Wing in the early 1960’s, the other being 953 (Newport Grammar).  Arndale School was actually an Approved School for young offenders and in its time had great success in sport.

    The first Officer Commanding 1582 (Stanford le Hope) Squadron was the incumbent DF Commander, Flt Lt Steve Gilbey. 

    Individual sporting achievement and getting involved in different activities has always been a part of the squadrons’ ethos right from the days as 106’s DF, and the Squadron is proud of its success in the RAF Rutland Walk event where it notched up 5 straight wins to claim the ATC Rutland Walk Cup. 

    Cadets from Stanford le Hope have also taken part in the Wing’s UK and Overseas expeditions, notably to Canada in 1991 and the Pyrenees in 1996, as well as the annual RAF “blue” camps and the Wing “green” leadership training camps.

    In 1997 Flt Lt Gilbey stood down as OC on his transfer to 1474 (Wickford) Squadron and command was taken by Plt Off (later Flt Lt) Brian Silver.  Flt Lt Silver stood down in 1999 and Fg Off Andy Everett (a former 2243 Basildon cadet) took command.

    In 1999 the squadron’s sporting prowess was furthered by winning the Junior Boy’s trophy at the Inter-Squadron athletics and the Junior Boy’s trophy at the Inter-Squadron Cross Country competition.  In 1999 Cdt Barry Page made a notable achievement in becoming the Corps 100m and 200m champion for his age group.

    In February 2000 Flt Lt Everett was forced into relinquishing command of the unit due to pressure of work and Fg Off (now Flt Lt) Dave Mortimer, a former 106 (Orsett Hundred) cadet who remembered the halcyon days of Stanford le Hope as a DF of 106, took command.  Just as Flt Lt Mortimer took command, the news that the squadron had to vacate its premises at Hassenbrook, broke.  This gave the committee and new OC a daunting problem.  Fortunately the Reverend John Guest (vicar of St Margaret’s) the Squadron Padre came to the rescue with the offer of using St Margaret’s Church Hall.  Although this posed minor problems with altering parade timings, the offer was taken up and the squadron moved in April 2000.

    The squadron had continuing success at the Inter Squadron athletics in 2000, retaining the Junior Boy’s trophy and taking second in the Junior Girl’s and Intermediate Boy’s and coming a creditable fourth overall in the Wing.  The year also saw individual success bestowed upon Sergeant Barry Page and Corporal Charlotte Speller, both stalwarts of the Squadron and Wing sporting teams, when they were named as Wing Male Sports Cadet and runner-up Wing Female Sports Cadet of the year, respectively.  The year 2000 also marked a return to shooting success with the squadron coming second in the Wing’s Battle of Britain shooting competition.

    The opening of 2001 saw the squadron looking positively to the future, with permission having been granted for the building of a dedicated squadron headquarters on the “car park” area adjacent to St Margaret’s church.  This came to be after much hard work by Wing Commander Malcolm Hinder OBE RAFVR(T) retd, who on retiring from the Corps as Officer Commanding East Essex Wing, became a Civilian Instructor on the squadron.  He took the task of negotiating, with the assistance of Reverend Guest, for permission to build an HQ on church land.  On a sadder note, 2001 saw the passing of Wing Commander Hinder after a battle with cancer during a short illness.  However, we are still looking forward to having our own premises and the independence and ability to broaden our horizons it will bring.

    Summer camp at RAF St Athan in August 2001, saw the squadron achieve an almost unprecedented accolade, when Cdt Jane Douglas and Cdt Gary Towsey were named as best female and male cadet at the camp.

    A naval cutlass was presented to Wing Commander Hinder to mark the work he had done for the squadron.   On his death, he left instructions that this should be presented annually to the cadet on the squadron, who puts in extra-ordinary effort during the year.  The first recipient of this in 2002 was Cdt Robert Bronze.

    In 2003 the squadron changed it's RAFA branch affiliation from Basildon to Thurrock. As part of the squadron's Wings Appeal activities, it's participation in the Spitfire Walk was done as a sponsored walk. From the money raised on the sponsored walk £400 was given to Thurrock Branch towards their Wings Appeal collection. This was added to by the cadet's collecting during Wings Week in Corringham and Stanford. The total amount raised for the Wings Appeal by the squadron was £775. As a result of his participation in the sponsored walk and town centre collections, cadet Ben Ellis raised £197. This meant not only had he raised the most on the squadron, but also in Essex Wing, for which he was presented with the Chelmsford RAFA Shield by Mr. Jack McCorkell (Thurrock Branch President), at the squadron's presentation evening.

OFFICERS COMMANDING

STANFORD LE HOPE

AIR CADETS

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