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Ex-Prussian Cadet 6 - 9 April 2010
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Jun 14, 2010 - 8:39:36 AM

On 19th of April Warminster School CCF completed its first battlefield tour to Berlin. The trip (under the exercise name Prussian Cadet) took 19 pupils, two potential Officer Cadets and various adult instructors from Warminster and elsewhere, all the way to the Seelow Heights outside East Berlin in the space of seven days.

The aim of the exercise, run by Lt Col Matthew Whitchurch of the Royal Engineers, father of Tom Whitchurch, was to allow the students an insight into the 1945 battle for Berlin and as Otto von Bismarck remarked in 1874, “to learn from the experience of others”.

The first day of Prussian Cadet began at 0900 hours at Warminster School. After an initial meeting to learn about the purpose of the trip and how it was to be conducted the exercise began. The first phase of the exercise was a morning with a Living History group. The aim of this was to understand the different equipment, clothing and weaponry of the Russian and German armies in 1945. This in turn would give the cadets perspective when we reached the Berlin phase. The most interesting part of the show in my opinion was the German bikes which enabled the German light infantry to move quickly from battlefield to battlefield.

Then we moved on to one of the army ranges in Warminster to fire some of the many weapons we had seen earlier in the day. Most cadets managed to fire at least three or four of the weapons from the ‘chainsaw’ German machine guns to the Russian PPSH submachine gun. This I believe once again helped us gain perspective through understanding what weapons the soldiers of this conflict were using. After firing ourselves, we then went down the range and had rounds shot above us; luckily we were below the targets!

After the range phase of the exercise, at about 1700 hours we clambered onto some military trucks and headed to the tank museum at Bovington. When we arrived at Bovington we went into the tank museum to learn about the different tanks and armoured vehicles the armies used at the time. Colonel Crawshaw gave us the facts and his opinion on all of the tanks, stressing every time the requirement of an equal balance between speed, manoeuvrability and fighting power. After this we were allowed to tour the museum shop where some cadets bought books to back up what we had been taught. We clambered onto the trucks for the final time that day and tried to snatch a few hours sleep on the way to the Defence Academy in Shrivenham. The rooms here were as good if not better than many of the hotels and motels I have slept in while I was in America.

The second day began with everyone packing their clothing into the variety of bags and mustering for breakfast. As we entered the canteen I noticed a huge difference between this Officers’ Mess and the many others I have been in. After a good hearty breakfast we started the day learning about the different warheads that could be used and how armour is adapted to counter it. After that we had a chance to clamber on some of the tanks in the tank sheds at Shrivenham before we moved on to looking at armoured personnel carriers (APCs) such as the Viking and BMP-1. After another quick break Colonel Crawshaw explained to us the advantages of certain artillery and the different tactics used. Although most of the equipment we talked about was very modern it helped us gain perspective of how the conflict we were studying would affect future tactics and design.

After our morning in the tank sheds, we moved on to Luton airport to catch our flight to Germany. On the way we watched the film Downfall which allowed us to gain an idea about the fighting in Berlin. On arrival at the airport we had to pass through the metal detectors and had to remove all the metal we had on. Boots, berets, belts and other equipment such as phones and cameras; all had to be removed. Oh we just LOVE security checks (grinding of teeth here). After a few ‘random checks’, forgotten cutlery incidents and the odd ‘oh my cap badge is metal, isn’t it?’ we had to wait for our plane. A couple of hours sleep was once again an item on the list of things to do.

After finally arriving in Germany we moved to Seelow and booked into our hotel there. After a good night’s of sleep surely we’d be fully alert…

We rushed down to breakfast in the morning and dug in to the smoked salmon. We were briefed on the day’s events and then moved to the Seelow Heights. On reaching the Seelow Heights museum we were split into syndicates and did a round robin series of stands. These took place in the museum using actual German equipment such as binoculars to gain an idea of the ground at the time of the conflict. Then we were introduced to the various artillery pieces used by the Russians before and during the conflict.

After visiting the museum we drove into Poland and visited a museum which was dedicated to the Polish engineers who would, with their Russian counterparts, cross the Oder in the build-up to the battle for Seelow. This took place between the16th April and 19th April 1945. Whilst at this museum we learnt how the Soviets would use anything to establish bridgeheads and cross rivers. This was extremely interesting. The equipment was staggering in how simple it was. We then paid our respects to the fallen at the Polish memorial.

Day four started on the banks of the river as we considered the difficulties of crossing first a river and then the marshes to the mainland. We then moved to the Russian HQ for the battle of Seelow Heights and saw the trenches there. As we laid the second wreath of the trip, many of us started to realise how many had died trying to cross these few fields. On the way back to the hotel we stopped in a nondescript field as a German grave was spotted and we paid our respects to a dead soldier. We arrived at the bottom of the Heights to learn that the Russians’ impatience in taking the Heights meant that the Germans destroyed many of their tanks and killed thousands of Soviet troops.

We moved to just outside Seelow and called Gert Krasner in the UK (an actual German tank driver of WW2). He told us of his tank ambush, the fighting for Seelow and the resulting retreat to Berlin.

Day five: Berlin. The night before we had reached the hotel and the sights in the city at night were stunning, especially the Brandenburg Gate. The day started with the Contingent visiting a museum in the centre of Berlin where the treaty ending the War was signed. The museum covered everything from the beginning of the War to the end. We learnt about everything from how the German SS Einsatzgruppens were ordered to hunt down all possible resistance to the Nazi advance, to the art of propaganda. After which we watched a documentary on the battle of Seelow itself and were told by Colonel Crawshaw about the tactics employed by the two sides during this conflict. We then headed further into Berlin and saw the graves of those who had died in the ‘battle of the brewery’. This phase was part of the fighting in Berlin. We laid another wreath to honour those who had died in the fighting and we were soon off to the Berlin Officers Club for supper.

Day six was a day of touring the marvellous city of Berlin which was a credit to Germany from its outstanding beauty to its compelling history. On our short tour we visited the DDR museum and Checkpoint Charlie from the days of the Cold War. This once again gave us insight on how our conflict study would affect history. After this we began our long coach trip journey back to UK which gave me a chance to reflect on the tour. I believe that the tour itself helped me as a cadet in a number of ways. It firstly gave me a greater knowledge of the final days of the Second World War which I didn’t know much about before. The tour also helped me gain knowledge of how certain events and situations helped the development of other ideas in the future - an example would be the development of tactics post-WW2. Thirdly it inspired me toward the subject of history. This tour showed actual history in action. Finally the tour opened my eyes to the reality of the Second World War and its casualties. Once again we would like to thank everyone who took part. Congratulations to Chris Giles, James Bache and Tom Coupe for their promotions.

Special thanks go to Colonel Whitchurch and Mr Hayward for all the time and effort they put into organising this fantastic trip.

By Cadet Bill Cooper