Eton Cadets brave rigours of Chiquibul
It is an old and venerable British institution right up there with the Magna Carta and Tower of London. But the elite English boarding school known as Eton is about more than just top hats and tradition. Eton’s students, it seems, also get out and about. Last week I caught up with a special group of them, known as the Eton Cadets, who were braving the perils of the Belizean bush.
When we caught up with the young cadets they had just taken a five-hour trek, in heavy rain, through the jungles of the Chiquibul Forest. These cadets who are students from the prestigious Eton Academy in England are not necessarily looking to pursue a career in the military, but as members of their academy’s Cadet Corp this adventurous bunch voluntarily agreed to be guests of the British Training Support Unit, BATSUB and live in the jungle for two weeks.
Lt. Col. David Cooper, Planning Officer, Eaton Cadets
“Well, the training from the point of view of the boys that have come from Eton is really two fold. One is to enable them to live in a jungle environment and to work as a military force in a jungle environment, but at least as much the reason for them coming to Belize is for them to learn a bit about Belize because they are still school children and they are still learning and it would be a waste, it would be wrong that they should come all this way and not learn anything about the history of Belize, the geography, the biology and the people of Belize.”
BATSUB says the exercise is an excellent recruitment tool that also broadens the mind and experiences of the cadets.
Jacqueline Woods
“I am standing in a clearing in the jungle. It is located about fifteen miles away from the Guatemalan border and one hundred miles southwest of Belize City. It is here where most of the training is taking place. As you can see, it is raining heavily but it is under this kind of rigorous weather the cadets are learning how to survive in the jungle.”
The cadets were first briefed on what to expect and were given the necessary equipment to make their trip into the tropical rainforest as safe as possible. Everything else, the young men had to do on their own.
Ed Martin, Eaton Cadet
“The first night, we just stayed here. The second night, we did tactics and last night we slept out. We made our own shelters for survival week and cooked our own foods.”
Jacqueline Woods
“And that was cool?”
Ed Martin
“That was excellent. It was a bit chilly at night.”
Jacqueline Woods
“What did you guys have for dinner?”
Ed Martin
“They cooked us, the staff cooked us a pig which they killed and gutted in front of us and then we had to kill a chicken and kind of cooked it which was interesting.”
Lt. Col David Cooper
“So far they have learned how to actually live, make shelters, make fire, find water, what kind of vegetation they can eat, how to cope with rain in a tropical storm and also how to survive as soldiers, which means they haven’t changed since they came here. They have on wet clothes, they have on dry clothes. At night they get in their dry clothes and get into their shelter and then when the next day comes they get into their wet clothes.”
Whether or not the young men have been influenced to choose a career in the British army, they seemed to have adapted quite well.
Naim Moukarzel, Eaton Cadet
“Well, it broadens your horizons and it gives you something extra to fall back on. I know that when I join the army, if my unit comes out to the jungle, I will be able to tap this and channel it in and help everyone else out, cause I’ll have a little bit of experience. So it definitely good and completely different from anything you would find in England.”
Hugo Richardson, Eaton Cadet
“Well, I kind of knew what I was expecting, cause I used to live, when I was very little in the tropics, but actually being out here, I’ve always wanted to come back into the jungle and to able to go around now at my age is fantastic, especially with the army to do all kinds of training, it brilliant, really, really good.”
For the first time BATSUB has invited six cadets from the Belize Defence Force and the Police Force to come along on the trip. But first our boys had to be fitted with the proper gear.
Dan Wilkinson, Adjutant, Eaton College Cadet Force
“Well, they arrived with very limited gear first, and unless you have the boots, to enable you to go into the jungle, then you can’t because of the spikes and the dangers under foot. So we managed to get them some stuff, equipment, clothes, long sleeves, long trousers and boots and we’ve got them involved as we can. They’ve been doing a bit of survival lessons and they’ve also been doing some basic jungle tactics with the British cadets.”
Jacqueline Woods
“How have they been doing?”
Dan Wilkinson
“They’ve been doing really well. They are very enthusiastic. While we were waiting for a lesson this morning, we got a couple of them up front in front of all the English boys to sing a song and tell a joke, and they are really mixing in and going for it, it was good.”
The local cadets say they have learned a lot and the exercise will help them to carry out their duties more efficiently.
P.C Gerald Jones, ZBLO, Police Department
“Well first of all myself being a police officer, and a member of the Police Department, it will help me to go out in the jungles and do my patrols better.”
Antres Baltazar, BDF Cadet
“It’s not really difficult used to it. we got involved with the Belize Defence Force Cadet, we go usually. This is not the first time that I am going, we usually spend two weeks with the BDF, and we go to Camp Oakley. This is the second time that I am coming here at the Pine Ridge.”
As we found out, the exercise has been interesting in more ways than one.
Jacqueline Woods
“Tell me now how do you go about sleeping at night, you don’t get scared, you don’t hear any kind of funny noises at night?”
Marton Castillo
“Sometimes, you see pigs around and some scary stuff you hear in the jungles.”
Jacqueline Woods
“Do you manage to sleep with all those funny sounds around?”
Marton Castillo
“You sleep well, some of us sleep hard. Some of them talk in their sleep.”
Jacqueline Woods
“Some of them talk in their sleep? What do they say?”
Marton Castillo
“Mom, give me my book.”
Since we interviewed the cadets, they have since returned from their journey in the jungle. While the boys from Eton Academy are looking to go back home on Thursday, the Belizean cadets will be returning to their respective districts and hopefully show what they have learned to their colleagues.
For those viewers who do not follow the lives of the royal family, Eton is the school attended by Prince William, the future king of Belize. No, William was not among those on the cadet expedition and even if he was, I wouldn’t tell you.
