Essex Wing Nijmegen Team

🚶🏻Medals 🎉

Day 7
We did it! We finally finished our 100 mile, 160km march around Nijmegen!
The final day was as emotional as it was challenging. With the changing weather and the ever changing crowds, all of the team had a moment of disbelief at the day.

We started at 2.30 again, all aching and hurting from the 75 miles we'd already done. We went to breakfast and then headed to our final line up where we had the pleasure of a visit from our commandant, Air Commodore Dawn Mcaffety. She gave us a little pep talk which pushed us all a little bit more.

When we set off, we were all pleased that the weather was on our side and had turned slightly over cast overnight. However this didn't last long. At around 8 o'clock, after 3 hours of marching, the heavens opened and the thunderstorm began. We threw on our waterproofs, sung our hearts out to keep us going and pushed through the treacherous rain, even with puddles in our boots.

Eventually the rain cleared, we had a quick stop to do our admin and wring our socks out and then we set off on our final stretch to Charlemagne Field where we received our medals and formed up with the rest of the British military for one final stretch to the finish line, 5km down the road.

The streets were lined with cheering people, there were civilians on rooftops and children on the ground everywhere in awe of the sheer mass of people there. We too, were in awe. There were hundreds of people marching together as one.

We then returned to base and celebrated with chips, pizza and burgers, followed by a very well deserved lie in the next morning! We couldn't be prouder of ourselves and each other, we would not have made it without each other's support and the support of CI Needham and Plt Off Grant, we have one last challenge tomorrow of getting home in one piece!

Thank you for supporting us and our page 😃

Holly

Essex Wing Nijmegen Team

Day 6, march day 3

We started the day with a lie in, waking up at four o'clock. We then headed out to start our penultimate march. The day started off cool and then became warmer as the morning progressed. By the afternoon it had reached 26°C and humidity of 80%. This made climbing the infamous seven sisters more challenging but, did not stop the Essex team.

Pushing through the seven sisters was was a tough experience but was made easier by the songs sung by the team and others around us.

Furthermore, the climbs were made easier by the live music stands and DJs on the streets of the villages we passed through.

After we had conquered all seven sisters we then got back to camp having racked up 9 hours of marching and a total distance traveled of 40km, we entered the social tent in Heumensoord to do our celebration dance, the Hustle. This went down well with all in the tent and lighted the mood after a long days marching

Watch this space for an update on tomorrow's march, the final day of the 100th Nijmegen marches.

Day 5 - March day 2!

We started this morning with an early wake up of 2am! We were so tired some of us were close to falling asleep in the March! We experienced what it's like to walk through different towns today and we got the same welcome as we did the day before. The civilians were lining the streets all the way and there was music pumping round every corner.
The day was brightened even more because the Dutch were celebrating the freedom of gay rights. One of the ways the showed their support to the gay community was by wearing pink a believe me when I say there was a LOT of pink! With flower necklaces and hats and crazy costumes in the city centre of Nijmegen, it's really amazing seeing how the Dutch embrace everything that life has to offer and how much hey respect and cherish one another and others. We also met some new people on the way and even had a little sing along and a music playing session with Sgt Cooney having a jam with a trumpeter.
The temperature reached 33 degrees today with over 50% humidity the majority of the day, making it almost unbearable, but we still managed to pull through and help each other cross the finish line.
After a traditional little show on entrance into the social tent, we sat outside and had a bite to eat before we showered and changed for dinner. We then started to finish up our personal admin, when low and behold a miracle had arrived in the form of a thunder storm. The storm came around in about 5 minutes and was gone as quickly as it came! But the damage was controlled with the flooding cleared up and all leaks sealed off. The good part is that the evening was cool and the morning was not baking as the day previous.

We are all going strong and have every faith in each other that we will all pull together for the next two days!
Catch up tomorrow

Day 4 - March day 1

This morning we sprung out of our beds and into our uniforms at an early 02:45! We were surprised to find that the weather was already at a gruelling 24 degrees Celsius making us feel very uncomfortable; we kept drinking water and prepared ourselves for the incredible journey that lied ahead.

We then swiftly made our way to the mess hall at 03:15; to our surprise it was already filled with service men and women from all over the world, all ready to take on the challenges that lie ahead. As per usual we were greeted with a large variety of food all for our choosing!

After gulping down a delicious breakfast we made our way back to our accommodation to ensure that we completely ready for today's march; which the team was and so, we departed the accommodation and arrived at the start line at 04:20. We waited patiently at the start line for a further 40 minutes eagerly awaiting to begin.

Once we were away from Kamp Heuemensoord we didn't expect to see the crowd turnout that we did. Upon entering the town of Nijmegen we were met with civilian crowds almost 5 rows deep along the roads ahead of us. The atmosphere was electrifying with the crowds singing along to the teams and civilians marching past. There were spectators providing beverages and food of a wide variety to marchers as they move past. People had set up speakers and provided music for all to listen to.

As the day progressed the temperature soared above 34 degrees with the humidity also rising to an unbearable 85%; we gritted our teeth, kept hydrated and with high spirits we pushed through the day.

As we crossed the finish line for the first day the team was relieved to say the least, the hot weather conditions made marching very difficult so it was nice for the team to be able to put their feet up after a hard days work.

Following a celebration of fizzy drinks and chips with mayonnaise the team prepared all the admin necessary to be ready for the next day's March. We then made our way to the mess for a delicious meal of spaghetti bolognese.

The team, exhausted by the long milage and weather are now setting out to get an early nights sleep for very early reveille time of 02:00.

Watch this space for an update on tomorrow's march!

Sgt Smith, E

Essex Wing Nijmegen Team

Day 3

Woke up at 06:45am on day 3 with marvellous weather, and a filling breakfast that everyone enjoyed.

Once we had breakfast all the members of the BMC(British Military Contingent) had a brief in the social tent where we were introduced to the Squadron Leader in charge of the BMC along with the Colonel in charge of British forces in Germany who wished us good luck with the marches this week.

As soon as the brief was finished we went back to our accommodation and grabbed everything we needed for the day. Then made our way to the bus stop to get the bus to town, on our way to the bus stop we came across another contingent formed up about to have a parade.

Then we got on the bus and travelled to Nijmegen, once we got into Nijmegen we explored the town and its buzzing atmosphere and culture, where many of us bought a range of different things from Nijmegen merchandise to pins and badges.

Once we purchased our items we took a long walk down to the river where some of the team went on the ferrice wheel, and rotated round the wheel 5 times, in that short period we saw a spectacular view of Nijmegen town and it's bridge. Once we got off of the ferrice wheel we had a lovely ice cream each followed by shopping.

Once we had finished shopping we met up with our staff and the Northern Irish team for our delicious meal. The meal consisted of either a delicious pasta or pizza meal accompanied with fizzy drinks. Once we finished up on our meal, we headed back to Camp Heumensoord, to prepare ourselves for the first 25miles in the morning.

Essex Wing Nijmegen team 2016

Day 2- Humor, history and hyped party's.
The day began with our first meal in the mess, eating and drinking with a plethora of food. The all rank, all contingent cook house was simply awe-inspiring, a celebratory atmosphere, produced random cheers, loud applause and great conversation.

After breakfast, we boarded a train to visit and pay our respects to the memorials of the soldiers who lost their lives in the Battle of Arnhem. Our first visit included a trip to the John Frost Bridge, The bridge is named after Major-General John Dutton Frost, who commanded the British forces that reached and defended the bridge during the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944.

From there we headed to the war graves of Operation Market & Garden in Oosterbeck, whereby 10000 brave soldiers went to fight and only 2000 came back fighting and surviving 9 days instead the planned 3 days. To pay our respects we laid a reef in honor if there of their memory. As always it was a hard hitting reality of the sacrifices made by men as young as 18, as well as the true futility of war.

We then made our way to the Airborne museum to see the history of the battle. It was very interesting, providing fantastic insights as to the daily struggles of the conflict.
After a spot of lunch, we headed down to the best ice cream shop known to man, rest assured we all partook in the delicacies.

We topped of the day with some quality time in the town and a salubrious dinner in the mess which we all enjoyed.

As dinner came to a close we all made our way to towards earth shattering bass beat that was pounding its way through camp from the social tent. If the music and atmosphere wasn’t enough, the abundance of chips and Pizza-Burgers (that’s right, a pizza in a burger) was more than enough to keep us entertained.

Watch this space for the update on our trip to Nijmegen

Essex Wing Nijmegen Team

Over the course of this week we will be distributing our stickers. If you find or get given one during the marches please comment on here so that we know where you are from 👍🏼

Day 1 of Nijmegen!
We've landed (or rather docked) and have endured a 15 hour total journey to arrive at Heumensoord in Nijmegen. So far we've visited the local town centre where we discovered how the city really comes alive for the event. We tasted local cuisine and the music was booming from every direction on every street, sending vibes through the city wherever you went. Even though we may have found ourselves overwhelmed and a little geographically challenged on our adventure, in a new place today, we are looking forward to tomorrow where we visit some more of the towns wonders.

Watch this space for more!! 😃

We are all set 🇬🇧🇳🇱💯We are about to head off to pick up the coach to Nijmegen. We will try and keep you updated throughout the week signal permitting.