The RAFFU Military Anniversary Tournament (One Hit Epee) was held, by kind permission of the Commandant of DCAE, at RAF Cosford on Saturday 25 Sep 04.

After a delayed start due to problems for some competitors getting through the security, a large turnout of 34 fencers found themselves facing 11 rounds, with 33 individual matches, plus the prospect of the Invitational team match afterwards.

Individual. The individual competition found representatives from the RAF, Army, Veterans and Civil Service all vying for the top spot. Early leaders were Off Cdt Graeme Orme, Cpl Andy MacKenzie, Malcolm Fare and Ricky Howdell, all winning their preliminary fights. As the competition progressed and they began to meet each other, it was Graham Orme who took the initiative, drawing out a small lead. Whilst the others behind him were joined by John Carleton in the race for 2nd place, Graham consolidated his lead to eventually win the Seletar Cup with 29 victories. Andy MacKenzie, Malcolm Fare and John Carleton all had to settle for joint 2nd with 25 victories each.

Team. In the team event, the relatively inexperienced fencers from RAF Brize Norton found themselves taking 3 match victories to win the Inter Unit competition and take the McEwan Cup. In the scratch team event, it was again close between 4 teams; Gormless, a team consisting of Graham Orme, his father Wg Cdr Dave Orme and Sqn Ldr Andy Alcock took an early lead, but the deciding matches would be those against the Army, the Civil Service and The Lost Sheep. Losing out to the Civil Service, the RAF team were then given a lifeline as the Civil Service team then dropped 2 matches. Victory for Gormless over the Army team effectively eliminated their threat, and it was to rest on total victories between the Gormless team and The Lost Sheep; both teams achieving 9 match victories. In the end though, the Charles Mott Memorial Trophy went to the RAF members of Gormless, with 67 individual victories over The Lost Sheep’s 60.

Ladies. The Ladies event this year was quite open right up until the final stages of the competition, with Lt Sacha Brooks and Moya McNamara running head to head throughout the day. A good start for the Army’s Jenny Goodman just slipped away as she dropped a couple of fights, giving Sacha the women’s title with 17 victories from Moya on 16. Jenny had to make do with 3rd place on 15 victories.

Veterans. Of the 4 Veterans competing, it was Ricky Howdell who demonstrated the greatest consistency throughout the day, taking the Highest Placed Veteran title with a highly respectable 24 victories (and 5th place overall). The Oldest Veteran was once again Dr Austin Moore, but due to an administrative error the medal was not available for presentation on the day.

Invitational Team. The Invitational Team event was an exciting competition. With time running out and with 5 teams entered, the Captains drew numbered lots, with numbers 4 and 5 fencing each other to determine a winner to go into a last 4 Direct Elimination. This saw the Veterans take on the Civil Service, a match which the Civil Service dominated to take the win 45-29. In the last 4, the Army faced the RN in a match which swung first one way then the other, the Army eventually running out winners 45-42. The RAF match against the Civil Service was nail-biting. Consisting of the Orme’s and Andy Alcock, fresh from their win in the scratch team competition, again the match was anyone’s, with the lead constantly changing sides, but it was the Civil Service who drew out a 5 point lead going into the last 3 minutes. Individual winner Graham Orme then went to work for the RAF, clawing back the lead before, with 1.5 seconds left on the clock, edging the RAF back in front. As time ran out a very relieved RAF team took the victory 43-42, setting up a final against the Army. This match started well for the RAF, but as the Army fencers, buoyed by the skill of Cpl Andy MacKenzie, began to improve, the RAF found themselves once more coming from behind. After regaining the lead though, it was plain sailing as they then worked hard for the victory, taking the Invitational Team title 45-41.

Conclusion. A large turnout of fencers ensured that this competition was a great success. The standard of fencing on display was extremely high, and it was encouraging to see new faces mixed in among the old and bold. My thanks go to the Armourer, JT Gary Brailsford and JT Chris Murdoch for setting up the gym and ensuring the competition could run as smoothly as it did. Thankfully I learned my lessons from last years event, and with prior preparation on the electronic score sheets the task of calculating who had won which title was much simplified. My thanks go to the fencers for ensuring that they did their utmost to fence their matches as quickly as possible, adding to the smooth running of the day. Final thanks also go to our President, Air Cdre Kurth for making the presentations at the end of a highly enjoyable days fencing.

Fencer	Representing	Victories	Place
Graham Orme	RAF	29	1
Andy MacKenzie	Army	25	2
Malcolm Fare	Civil Service	25	2
John Carleton	Independent	25	2
Ricky Howdell	Veterans	24	5
Chris Kennedy	Civil Service	23	6
Andy Alcock	RAF	22	7
Ralph Coffey	RN	21	8
Zoran Maric	Army	20	9
Matt Cark	RN	19	10
Malcolm Cawton	Civil Service	19	10
Sam Fletcher	RAF	18	12
Sacha Brooks	RN	17	13
John Crouch	Independent	17	13
Mick Meyer	Veterans	17	13
Mark Needham	RN	16	16
Dave Orme	RAF	16	16
Gary Brailsford	RAF	16	16
Moya McNamara	Independent	16	16
Austin Moore	Veterans	16	16
Neville Bo	RAF	15	21
Jenny Goodman	Army	15	21
Jim Flynn	Army	15	21
Dave Burke	RAF	15	21
Wayne Buckley	Army	15	21
Amanda Hale	RN	13	26
Sharon Booth	RAF	12	27
Charles Read	Veterans	11	28
Ellie Walls	RN	9	29
Chris Murdoch	RAF	9	29
Andy Keenan	RAF	8	31
Lucy Robb	Army	8	31
Debbie MacDonald	RAF	8	31
Michelle Scott	Army	6	34

 

Team		Match V	Team Total	Team Place
Gormless	Dave Orme	9	67	1st CM
	Graham Orme
	A Alcock
The Lost Sheep	Charles Read	9	60	2nd CM
	Ricky Howdell
	John Carleton
Civil Service	Malcolm Fare	8	67	3rd CM
	Malcolm Cawton
	Chris Kennedy
Army A	Andy MacKenzie	7	60	4th CM
	Jenny Goodman
	Zoran Maric
RN A	Matt Cark	5	56	5th CM
	Mark Needham
	Ralph Coffey
Northerners	John Crouch	4	41	6th CM
	Moya McNamara
	Debbie MacDonald
The Bold & The Beautiful	Mick Meyer	3	45	7th CM
	Austin Moore
	Sharon Booth
RAF Brize Norton	Neville Bo	3	41	1st MC
	Andy Keenan
	Sam Fletcher
JLC	Sacha Brooks	3	39	8th CM
	Amanda Hale
	Ellie Walls
Selohesra	Gary Brailsford	2	40	9th CM
	Chris Murdoch
	Dave Burke
Army B	Lucy Robb	1	29	10th CM
	Jim Flynn
	Michelle Scott
There Can Be Only One	Wayne Buckley	0	15