80th Anniversary of Victory in Europe and Victory over Japan

Lord Lingfield Excerpts

Friday 9th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Lingfield (Con)]

My Lords, I remind your Lordships of my registered interest as chairman of the Cadet Vocational College. I do so because today I shall refer particularly to the engagement of cadets in the war effort and in the marking this week of the 80th anniversary of VE Day.

By 1945 the cadet services had been part of national life for many years. Indeed, their roots were in the rifle volunteer battalions for home defence, within which some schools formed cadet detachments in the 1860s. By the beginning of World War II there were some 180 Army cadet units, and during the early 1940s Royal Navy and Royal Air Force sections were added as well. These all ensured that a good number of the young recruits to the services had covered much basic training before they were called up aged 18 to fight for their country.

During the war, many hundreds of young cadets aged between 16 and 18 could and did assist the Home Guard and learned, among many other skills, how to help with the manning of gun emplacements, how to guard important buildings, how to take and deliver messages by radio, how to administer first aid in the aftermath of bomb attacks and even how to deal with explosives. Inevitably, no small number of those young civilians were injured and even killed. One of the good things that emerged from that time of great national suffering was the creation after the war of the Combined Cadet Force, mainly in independent selective schools then, but now, 80 years later, the majority of cadet units is in state secondary schools of all kinds throughout the United Kingdom, very often in disadvantaged areas.

This week, as we have heard, many events have commemorated victory in Europe and I am delighted to say that Sea Cadets, Royal Air Force Cadets, Army Cadets and combined cadet units have featured prominently in most of them. On Monday, cadets were on duty for the procession at the Queen Victoria Memorial outside Buckingham Palace. On Tuesday, London naval cadets were assisting World War II veterans at the Tower of London. Cadets were also present at the Downing Street party, and Royal Berkshire and other cadets were chosen to attend yesterday’s service at Westminster Abbey. Some 300 places were reserved for cadets and their families from across the United Kingdom at yesterday’s concert on Horse Guards. The young people who took part in uniform in this week’s commemorations will remember them for a long time and, we hope, will take away many lessons about the patriotism, courage and sacrifice that the noble Lord, Lord Coaker, spoke of in his excellent introductory speech.

In March, a report was published by Northampton University entitled The Impact and Value of School-Based Cadet Forces. It has a foreword by the present Minister for Veterans, Alistair Carns MP, in which he says that

“participation in the many exciting, challenging and fun activities provided by Cadet Forces … can help develop self-confidence, teamwork, leadership and resilience in young people … to help prepare young people for the many challenges that they face … thereby setting them up to succeed”.

The report’s findings were that, while delivering excellent value for public money, cadet forces create positive impacts for schools, including giving students from all backgrounds opportunities to come together, contributing to the prevention of absenteeism, reducing exclusions, creating positive attitudes and a sense of belonging, and fostering community engagement—for instance, the attendance of uniform cadet bands in local remembrance services and other events. Also mentioned were the opportunities for cadets to gain important qualifications through the Cadet Vocational College, leading to greater employability.

The Combined Cadet Force, founded at a time of great national adversity, has lived on to become an outstanding component of our education system. The aim of the cadet services 80 years ago, at the time of victory in Europe, was to train young men to be good soldiers. Their aim today is to train young people to become good citizens, and I commend their work to your Lordships’ House.