6th June 1944: D-Day. A day that is recognised by all and forgotten by no-one. On the 65th anniversary, 10 members of 2428 (Hedge End) Squadron took part in the historic anniversary that took place in Normandy. Normandy Camp 2009 as it is known began on 3rd June where the cadets met at Crowborough Camp in Sussex before travelling over the following morning. In France we stayed at a camp built by 6 Division British Army the week before.It was named Camp Einstein and was located above the town of Arromanches, 10km northeast of Bayeux, the location of the artificial Mulberry harbour, named "Port Winston", that projected the landings of 2,500,000 men and 500,000 vehicles during the invasion. The camp consisted of 250 Air Cadets plus staff and made up the majority of Cadet Forces that also included the Army Cadet Force, the Sea Cadet Corps and the Marine Cadet contingent.

During the commemorations the Air Training Corps contingent consisting of Warrant Officer Doe as Camp Warrant Officer, Cadet Warrant Officer C Bowdidge as the Cadet I/C and and Cadet Warrant Officer L Bowdidge as the Banner Bearer for The ATC Banner; the cadets attended many ceremonies and parades including one at the Gold Beach Memorial Cenotaph, a visit to the historic Pegasus Bridge, a moving service at Bayeux Cathedral and ended the week with the British Ceremony at Arromanches itself.

All the above mentioned had three fly pasts from the Battle of Memorial Flight and were attened by hundreds of British veterans and many dignitaries. Most notably at Bayeux Cathedral five Hedge End cadets were chosen to be part of the 10 man Guard of Honour for Prince Charles. Cadet Warrant Officer C Bowdidge was the first Air Cadet to be greeted by Prince Charles; CWO Bowdidge said of the experience: "He shook my hand, thanked me for attending, praised the smartnees of all the cadets and continued to have a 2 minute chat about my time in Normandy!" The cadets were also greeted by Prime Minister Gordon Brown who echoed the Prince's sentiments.

At Pegasus Bridge the cadets not only got to walk on the bridge but met the Veterans who took the Bridge that very day 65 years ago! They also saw the legendary Café Gondree, beside the bridge, that became the first building in Normandy to be liberated. The Veterans included Biil Millen, the man who played his bagpipes all the way from Sword beach to the bridge even under enemy fire in order to lead Lord Lovat's commandos to relieve Major John Howard and the Ox and Bucks who had made history by taking the bridge in 15 minutes with two dead and holding a German Panzer Division back with only 100 men! The battle is also known for the best piece of military flying in history by Jim Wallwork of the Glider Pilot Regiment. The trip was especially poignent for Flight Lieutenant Paul Terry whose very unit, the Ox and Bucks, had taken the bridge on D-Day.

The cadets attended the final parade at Arromanches where the Prime Minister gave a moving speech that echoed that of General Sir Richard Dannat, the Chief of the General staff.

Throughout the 4-day camp the cadets featured prominently on television and gave numerous interviews to various national papers. On arrival back at Crowborough at 4am Sunday Morning the Commandant Air Cadets was waiting and the Hedge End cadets were amongst the first he saw, to his surprise the Hedge End cadets were the only ones out of the 250 who had returned in CS95 (green combat) uniform . He chatted with the cadets and thanked them for being outstanding ambassadors for the ATC and the country.

Despite all the media attention the cadets recieved and despite the pressure on the staff and cadets of 2428 who were all involved in running the contingent, the cadets all agreed that it was an extremely rare opportunity to be so honoured to meet Bill Millen and the members of the Ox and Bucks saying that the whole week was an emotional rollercoaster. Cadet Sergeant Lambie summed up in a BBC interview how all 2428 cadets felt about the commemorations: 'The second we stop remembering is the second we start forgetting'.