Maltese scout group on HMS Bulwark

The leaders of the various sections of St Aloysius College Scout Group have returned from a few days in the North Sea and the English Channel on HMS Bulwark.

The group has been affiliated with the Royal Navy assault ship since 2005 when the warship was commissioned at Devonport, a ceremony the scouts also attended. The college group has had close association with the Royal Navy for nearly 70 years, at times participating in midshipmen training cruises.

They last visited Bulwark a year ago when the warship called at Malta on her way to the Far East at the end of February, heading a task force.

The contingent of 12 joined the ship for two days at the port of Tyne in North Shields near Newcastle, which woke up one morning blanketed in white after the heaviest fall of snow in a quarter of a century.

The ship later sailed on a three-day trip to its home port of Davenport during which the scouts participated in a full programme of activities prepared for them at sea. They were amazed when conducted round the kitchen to be told that about 2,000 meals were served daily and "we go through two-and-a-half tonnes of potatoes a week".

The ship's hold is a vast space that carries tanks, land rovers and amphibious vessels, which disembark when this fills with water on landing exercises by the Royal Marine Commandos.

A cake bake was held to raise money for the charity Help For Heroes and in the evening a cabaret show was held to collect funds for a cancer charity.

The Maltese scouts presented Captain Gavin Pritchard with a silver shield of the Group to thank him for his invitation. The captain, in turn, gave the scouts a framed photograph of the ship to hang among other mementoes of Bulwark at the college headquarters. The patrols annually compete for a shield presented by the ship.

During their stay in Davenport, the scouts visited the impressive World War II memorial at Plymouth Hoe where the names of the Maltese seamen who were lost in all the oceans of the world are listed.

With Group Scout Leader Edward Cassola and his assistant Mark P. Borg were Rover Crew coordinator Timothy Zammit and his assistant Pierre Sant, Cub Scout Leader Stefan Pullicino, Assistant Scout Leader Edward Sciberras, who is at present studying in Newcastle, Venture Scout Leader Andrew Agius and his assistant Bernard Maniscalco, Group Treasurer Stuart Ciappara, Rover Scouts Jeremy Darmenia and Emmanuel Lewis and Venture Scout Simon Gauci.

Bulwark is now to undergo a major refit in her home port.