This month, a team of 22 Army Cadets aged 12-17 from the Northern Irish towns Ballymena and Cullybackey, embarked on a once in a lifetime trip to Gdańsk, Poland to pay homage to the Polish pilots based in the region during WWII.
Funded by the Executive Office NI via Radius Housing and the Shared Housing Program, the annual visit has been completed by over 100 cadets to date, providing an opportunity for young cadets to explore Poland’s history, forge friendships and experience the warmth of Polish culture.
To qualify for the visit, the cadets spent the past year participating in a learning project titled “For Your Freedom and Ours”, learning more about the history of Poland, its people and its pilots during World War II.
Throughout inspiring four-day trip, cadets learnt about what happened to the city of Gdańsk during the war and how it was re-built after its infamous destruction by occupying German forces. A guided tour of the city allowed Cadets to visit one of the few buildings to have survived the war, the Polish Private Cadet School. They also visited key sights in the city, such as Gdańsk Old City’s Second World War museum, St. Mary’s Cathedral, the Westerplatte peninsula, and the harrowing site of the Stutthof Concentration Camp.
The Army Cadet Force is an inclusive environment for young people aged 12 to 17, offering opportunities for personal development and the chance to experience activities they might not find elsewhere. For more information, please visit: https://armycadets.com/