Cadre Stab

Our first grid took us to a rusting armoured vehicle, the container with the question in it was hidden somewhere within the hulk. Only the turret was open and I lowered myself down.

The interior was dark and I with my torch gripped in my teeth set about looking for the question.

My hand rested upon a wheel, I gave it an optimistic push expecting it to be seized it moved and deep within the tank long still gears groaned spookily.

Dec leaned into the turret and then joined me coming to rest on a perished leather seat that once held the tank commander.

Navigation exercise forgotten for now we decide to explore the tank Charles produced a camera and had his photo taken looking heroic, head and shoulders protruding from the turret eyes on a distant horizon.

I spun the wheel once more and the whole turret began to turn sweeping Bones from the engine deck.

Dec prised open the drivers hatch and found it to be already manned, the skeleton of a Ram lolling over the steering levers, placed there by a guilty hit and run driver in a effort to hide the evidence.

Back to the task in hand, play time over, we searched the vehicle to no avail, only when Bones shimmied to the very end of the tanks gun did we find and retrieve the container.

The question was to name the six section battle drills, easy, Charles wrote the answer down in his note book, bonus points were awarded if we could identify the type of vehicle, already recognised as the section “Spotter” I identified the tank as a M47 a US type from the 50s.

Sadly as time was pressing we left our rusty playground and its bony chauffer and went cross country to a heavily contoured area amongst some trees, the sight of, I was told later of a massive explosion during the last war caused by an American Bomb dump accident that left a large crater.

We found the crater without a problem Charles’ map reading was on the ball unfortunately the smart arse sadist who put the check points out had a sense of humour.

The question was written on a plate nailed to a tree that hung over the edge of the crater and a massive sea of stinging nettles.

Charlie in charge volunteered Dec to read the message and without a second thought he scaled the tree reaching the plate, had we known, Dec would of been spared the climb, because once up the tree he revealed that reading was not his strongest talent.

Charles using the old maxim “if you want something done properly do it yourself” scaled the tree, hugging it as he read the question, memorised he began his descent we shouted a warning but I think he already knew that he was losing his grip and slipped round to the underside of the tree.