Army Cadets at Kelburn Park, Fairlie

For three weeks in July and August 1943, Kelburn Park, Fairlie, played host to units of the Army Cadet Force from Ayrshire, Dunbartonshire and Lanarkshire.  Well over 1200 Army Cadets and Officers spent a week at Kelburn, where they were trained by permanent Army instructors attached to Glasgow University’s Officers’ Training Corps, who along with Non-Commissioned Officers from the same Corps gave the boys instruction in modern methods of warfare and weaponry.

The camp had latrines with running water, and hot showers utilising the spray units that the Army used in the field; a NAAFI canteen to supply meals, snacks and drinks; and a fully equipped field hospital, along with a medical officer and orderlies.

The boys aged 12 to 18, ate Army rations during their time at camp which were cooked by members of the Royal Army Service Corps (R.A.S.C.) School of Cookery.  For breakfast they had porridge, ham and eggs; lunch consisted of filling meals such as Roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, potatoes, and vegetables, along with trifle or custard for dessert.

The first week of the camp which started on Saturday 17^th July 1943 saw over 400 boys attending the camp, accompanied by their officers with a ratio of one officer to every 30 cadets.  Amongst those attending the camp that week were the Cameronians Cadets from Carluke. 

Colonel Reid, M.C., Camp Commandant, met the Cadets at Fairlie Station and marched them back to the camp at Kelburn Park.  After dinner, the boys separated into their different units and retired to their tents to unpack and tidy up.  Once the boys and their barracks passed inspection, they were allowed to go into Largs for the evening with a 10pm curfew.

On Sunday, the boys were roused from sleep by the Reveille call at 7am, after which they had to get washed and dressed, make their beds, and clean and polish their kit.  After breakfast, the boys attended a church service performed by an army chaplain, and later that day listened to an address by Lord Airlie, K.C.V.I., M.C., Cadet Commandant for Scotland.

During the week-long course, the boys took part in battle drills, map reading and fieldcraft, along with instruction in weaponry.  In the afternoons, they participated in organised sports which included swimming in the sea.  During the first week, the camp was visited by Colonel Carnegie, O.B.E., T.D.; Colonel J.C.E. Hay, C.B.E., M.C., T.D., D.L., secretary of the Territorial Army Association of the County of Lanark and J. Russell Paterson, the Cadet Colonel Commandant of the Army Cadet Force of the County of Lanark.

Amongst those attending the second week of camp were 40 cadets from Kirkintilloch, who joined other cadets from Dunbartonshire at Glasgow Central Station, before boarding a special train bound for Fairlie.  At Kelburn they were joined by cadets from Ayrshire.  That week the Boxing Competition was won by Cadet Hopgood, from The Loaning, Ayr.  The last unofficial competition of the week was the Friday night pillow fight.  The third camp which began on 31^st July 1943 included cadet units from Carluke.

The Army Cadet Force can trace its history back to 1859 when the ‘Volunteers’ were first formed in case Britain was invaded by the French.  In 1860 eight public schools formed their own Volunteer companies and several Volunteer units around the country formed their own cadet units.  In 1908 the ‘Volunteers’ became known as the Territorial Army.  During both World Wars the War Office took over the administration of the Army Cadet Force, before returning it to the care of the Territorial Army. In 1957 the Cadet Training Centre was opened at Frimley Park, Surrey, to train officers and adult instructors for both the Army Cadet Force and the Combined Cadet Force (which is in schools).  In 2025 there are an estimated 74,000 Army cadets in the United Kingdom.