Seventy pupils were put through their paces at the King William’s College Combined Cadet Force (CCF) 2019 biennial inspection and field day.

The event saw the cadets and students tackle five challenges, each designed to test courage, resilience, leadership and camaraderie.

There was a climbing and abseiling wall set up at Hango Hill and a water kayaking experience in the college pool, where they learned how to capsize safely and rescue an upturned kayak.

There was also a paintball stand where the cadets got to work in pairs to ’fire and manoeuvre’, a practical leadership task which challenged them to work together to resolve logical thinking problems and an indoor air rifle range where they practised their marksmanship.

The event concluded with a formal dinner in the Barrovian Hall where a number of awards were presented to the cadets.

Sergeant Stuart Headon said: ’The CCF 2019 biennial inspection and field day was a fantastic event for all involved. All of the cadets worked incredibly hard and showed great determination, resourcefulness and strength.

’The highly prestigious biennial dinner was the perfect way to conclude proceedings. Well done to all the cadets who were presented with awards, our contingent commander Wing Commander Pheric Thrussell and all of the CCF staff, without whom our energetic and thriving contingent would be no more.’

King William’s CCF is a voluntary youth organisation sponsored by the Ministry of Defence, which has been a central feature of college life since it was set up in 1909, as part of the Officer Training Corp for Army Officers.

It was one of the first four in Britain to train young men for the armed forces.

The contingent has all three sections; Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. Each follows a programme and promotes leadership, self-discipline and fun for the students through the use of a military syllabus.

King William’s College is a fee-paying school in Castletown.

A version of this story appears in this week’s Manx Independent, where you will be able to see the photo more clearly.