Monday

with Mr Jones, Miss Grist, Mrs Hele

3:15pm to 4:15pm

Outdoor sports kit including hoodie, zipped top, or fleece and trainers.

Water bottle 

HISTORY OF JUNIOR FIELD GUNNING

For almost 100 years the Royal Navy’s Command Field Gun Competition, held in London’s Earls Court Exhibition Centre, was the highlight of the Royal Tournament.

Regrettably, owing to cuts and manpower shortages, the tournament ended in 1999. Happily, its traditions live on in the junior version.

Junior Field Gun, as organised by Future Fit (FF), has seen many improvements in its equipment design, over the years, with its Competition Drill emulating that of Command field gun – Points Cup, Fastest Time Cup and Least Penalties Salver. In addition the Course has a Home and Enemy Walls, plus a Run Out, Run Back and Run Home. However, a little known fact is that John Donahue, Head Teacher, Morice Town School Devonport, had the initial idea to create a field gun team event for primary school children after the demise of the senior event in 1999. By a stroke of luck he was introduced to Darby Allen – an ex-RN Chippy- who agreed to make the first junior guns and limbers (2000). When Devonport Association decided to take their own version of Junior Field Gun to all Primary Schools (2012) , FF’s Operations Manager, Dave Worrall, was on the Board and agreed to approach Darby, with a view to him teaching volunteers to make guns and limbers.

From that moment, with support from FF’s Trustees, Dave has masterminded the development and introduction of JFG into, approximately 50 schools, a job he continues to do. The following is a picture of the first junior field gun and limber Dave and his helpers completed on the premises of Plymouth Community Homes – a recent casualty of the Covid pandemic.

FF, as an organisation, has taken junior field gun to a mass audience. Not only are more Plymouth schools showing interest, but also schools in the Portsmouth area. While continuing to hold Inter-school Competitions on the The Hoe, FF will help to organise the same competition for Portsmouth schools, with two or more Plymouth schools taking part. Dave Worrall, together with Major Alex Howard (a FF trustee and a resident of Southsea) are coordinating the Portsmouth school development.