Saltus Grammar School - Yearbook (Hamilton, Bermuda)

Page 16 text:

12 CADETS. We were very sorry to say good-bye to R. S. M., F. W. Williamson who had been coming to School in the capacity of Sgt. -Major for some years. He was remarkable for his efficiency and good cheer and he was a very good friend to the School. The Corps made him a presentation of a large cedar tray with an engraved silver plate in the middle which he accepted with a graceful speech on his farewell appearance. He left to return to his regiment at the beginning of February. Sgt. -Major Clarke has come out as ' his successor. We welcome him and his enthusiasm, and are looking forward to some success at camp under his guidance. The numbers of the Corps have increased to 84. This must nearly be our optimum strength, but we can still find room for a few more. As we could never expect to build up a full company, we find the or- ganisation into three platoons most satisfactory. Training varies according to the term. During the Christmas term, we concentrate on ceremonial and company drill. At Easter we practise field drill for the Field Day and in Summer we re-organise and make ready for camp. Owing to the size of our numbers, our camp contingent is now- adays being divided into two units which compete against each other. Last year, no. 1 platoon was the Band and no. 2 the remainder. Our greatest rival was no. 5 platoon from the Dockyard with whom we had tremendous struggles in the competitions. Unfortunately we lost the cup for the best platoon in camp to them largely owing to a poor and non-representative turn-out in the sports which, had we won them — and we should have done — would have given us the cup. It is a little upsetting having a house divided amongst itself in this way, but last year no. 1 did very well to win the drill. It was also extremely grati- fying to find that no. 2 was third. This year, if our numbers at camp come up to expectations, we might be able to fill up no. 1 platoon a bit more, and give them a little assistance that way. There has been little in the way of outside ceremonial parading for the Cadets durinp; this last year, in fact, except for one or two performances of the Band, Armistice Day was the only one that can be called to mind. The less said about that parade the better because Krldom, if ever, can there have been such a rabble.

Page 15 text:

11 3rd. Feb. 1st XI v Dockyard Apprentices won 5 — 0 Home 30th. Jan. Darrell and Saltus Houses ' v War- wick won 2 — 1 Away 10th. Feb. 2nd. XI v St. Georges Grammar lost 0 — 2 Away 23rd. Feb. 1st. XI v Old Boys won 4 — 2 Home 28th. Feb. Butterfield and Watlington v War- wick won 3 — 0 Home 3rd. Mar. 1st. XI v Queen Bell Boys lost 2 — 3 Home 27th. Feb. 2nd. Div. v Mt. St. Agnes lost 1 — 3 Home JUNIOR LEAGUE. 25th. Nov. V Whitney Institute won 12 — 0 Away 2 8th. Nov. V St. Georges Grammar won 1 — 0 Homo 19th. Dec. V Mt. St. Agnes Academy won 4 — 0 Home 18th. Jan. v Mt. St. Agnes ' Academy won 6 — 0 Away 2 6th. Jan. v Warwick Academy won 4 — 0 Away 6th. Feb. v Whitney Institute won 8 — 0 Home 27th. Feb. v St. Georges Grammar lost 1 — 3 Away 2nd. Mar. v Warwick Academy won Home 5th. Dec. 7th. XI v Mt. St. Agnes lost 1 — 3 Home HOUSE MATCHES: — Watlington defeated Saltus, Darrell, Butterfield Darrell defeated Butterfield, Saltus. Saltus defeated Butterfield. Butterfield Nil. CRICKET: — 5th. May 1st. XI v Staff XI won Home 15th. May 1st. XI V K. S. L. I. Band Boys lost Away 2nd. June 1st XI v Dockyard Apprentices won Home 5th.; June 1st. XI v K. S. L. I. Band Boyz won Hohie 15th. June 1st. XI v Old Boys lost Home 6th. June Colts XI v Whitney Institute won Away 13th. June Colts XI v St. Georges Colts lost „ Home 17th June 1st. XI v Dockyard Apprentices won Away HOUSE MATCHES: — Darrell defeated Butterfield. Saltus defeated B ' utterfield, Darrell: drew with Watlington. Watlington defeated Butterfield, Darrell: drew with Saltus. Watlington defeated Salt us in the replay for the Cricket Cup.

Page 17 text:

13 The new field drill that Sgt. -Major Clarke started teaching us in the Easter term is an interesting departure. The forming of threes took less getting used to than might be expected, for indeed the whole new field drill order is a simplification of the old one. Originally in- troduced in England so that large bodies of troops on field manoeuvres should take up less ' room on the road, it was improved upon and adopt- ed generally with a view to doing away with unnecessary ceremonial and minimising delay in getting troops on the move. We are, as ever, frustrated in our efforts towards real smartness of turnout on parade owing to lack of an adequate supply of uniforms. But this unfortunately is beyond our control. However, if you can use your imagination and picture every cadet in the same attire and the extremities of most of the shorts and stockings about nine inches closer to each other — in fact, if you can forget about the uniforms, perhaps you will find that the drill is not too bad. BAND. The highest degree of excellence that the Band has so far attained was at its first visit to camp last year. When it formed up again at the end of the summer holidays, trying to get it started was like try- ing to sit on a chair that had lost three of its legs. In this case, the legs happened to be particularly stalwart ones; they were Sgt. Emerson, Coad and Evans who had been really the foundation of the Band from the very start and whom we missed terribly. Furthermore, the leading bugler had left temporarily in October, keenness had flagged and the Band was altogether a shaky affair. In fact, one could not help won- dering if it would ever get going properly again. It was not until February came and new instructors were sent down from Prospect that things started to look up. We have already s ' ung the praises of Sgt. Emerson in a past issue. Pie was an extraordinarily capable teacher, partly because he was so exceedingly proficient in everything that he taught and partly because he was liked so much by anyone v ho had anything to do with him. Coad, the personification of smartness and reliability, was so out- standing as ' Drum-Major that the cup that he won for the best senior cadet in camp was a symbol of only part of the praise that he earned. Evans had, at the end, more to show in the way of improvement than anybody else. He kept splendid time, mastered all the double beats, and in the last m.onth or two was swinging his sticks, — if you will excuse the expression — like nobody ' s business. One of his favourite