Operation Red Flare 2010

Operation Red Flare is one of the oldest Scouting competitions in the London Scout Region with its origins as a large-scale night exercise in the Devils Punchbowl near Hindhead, Surrey some 40 years ago. It has been run annually and without a break by Croydon District Scouts for at least the last 30 years.

This year’s event (Saturday, 6th March) was held in the Sevenoaks area of Kent, and attracted a record 31 teams from as far as Richmond in Surrey, Faversham in Kent and East Grinstead in Sussex. Most of the teams, comprising between 4 and 7 members, were from southwest London, including Croydon. There were Explorer Scout teams for those aged 14–18, Scout Network teams (age 18–25), and Ranger Guide teams also (age 14–25).

The competition required the teams to navigate in the dark as quickly as possible around a 15 mile route across the North Downs starting and finishing at the 3rd Sevenoaks Scout Headquarters at Riverhead, and using footpaths and bridleways. At various points along the route there were manned checkpoints, and at some of these the teams had to complete a challenge. These included building a shelter and cooking a meal on a stove, crossing an imaginary minefield, and identifying objects in a bag by touch only. Teams scored points for navigation, speed, activities, and a kit-check before the teams started.

Three members of the winning team with the trophy

The weather conditions were good although the air temperature dropped to minus 4 degrees centigrade overnight. Ground conditions were also good having dried out from heavy rainfall the previous weekend.

The first team started walking at 6pm, and thereafter teams left at 5 minute intervals. The first team arrived at the finish at 3.30am. All teams either finished or retired and were transported to the finish, where they camped for the rest of the night under canvas.

The winners this year were Raynes Park Explorer Scout Unit, and runners up Faversham Ranger Guide Unit – they also won the Ladies trophy. The highest placed visitors were Griffyn Explorers from East Grinstead, and the highest placed mixed-team were Belmont Explorers from Sutton. The Scout Network trophy was won by Sutton Scout Network with Croydon runners-up. Trophies and certificates were presented by Steven Callan, the new Assistant County Commissioner (Explorer Scouts) for Greater London SW Scout County, on the Sunday morning after a ‘bacon butty’ breakfast provided by the Croydon and Sevenoaks ‘Scout Active Support’ Units.

Altogether approximately 160 ‘Scouts’ took part, and were supported by more than 50 adults, manning checkpoints, providing transport, catering, radio communications, kit-checking, and numerous other tasks.

Next year’s Operation Red Flare will take place in Surrey on Saturday March 5th, 2011.

For further information contact Chris Dean (Organiser) at chris.dean@glswscouts.org.uk or on 01883 723081.

The table below shows a summary of the scores. Note that the time figures shown are totals of the times taken to navigate the course and the times taken to complete the tasks. A full score sheet (78KBytes PDF) is also available.

Place	Team		Time	Points	Bases	Tasks	Total
1st	35	Raynes Park Explorer Scout Unit 'C'	6:53	187	180	142	509
2nd	18	Faversham Ranger Guide Unit	9:03	57	180	164	401
3rd	26	Belmont Explorer Scout Unit	9:17	43	180	128	351
4th	9	All Saints Explorer Scout Unit	9:20	40	180	130	350
5th	7	Griffyn Explorer Scout Unit	9:32	28	180	121	329
6th	24	Mitcham Explorer Scout Unit			145	130	275
=7th	6	Purley Cross Explorer Scout Unit 'A'	8:27		160	108	268
=7th	25	Saturn Network	8:19		140	128	268
9th	20	Phoenix Explorer Scout Unit	9:23		160	105	265
10th	29	Severndroog Explorer Scout Unit 'A'	10:22		160	101	261
=11th	13	Double Dragon Explorer Scout Unit	9:49		140	117	257
=11th	33	Croydon Network	9:17		160	97	257
13th	2	Chipstead Explorer Scout Unit	10:50		165	89	254
=14th	8	Sutton Explorer Scout Unit	10:12		165	80	245
=14th	14	Cook Explorer Scout Unit 'B'			145	100	245
16th	5	Cook Explorer Scout Unit 'A'	8:23		150	88	238
17th	22	Pinewood Seahorses Explorer Scout Unit 'B'	10:24		120	112	232
18th	1	Wallington Ranger Guide Unit	10:38		140	88	228
=19th	3	Morden Explorer Scout Unit	8:33		150	75	225
=19th	23	Raynes Park Explorer Scout Unit 'A'			130	95	225
21st	28	Ruskin Explorer Scout Unit			110	78	188
22nd	30	Raynes Park Explorer Scout Unit 'B'			115	70	185
23rd	19	Matterhorn Explorer Scout Unit			110	68	178
24th	10	Croham Valley			60	90	150
25th	12	Pinewood Seahorses Explorer Scout Unit 'A'			75	72	147
26th	27	Vulcan Network			60	72	132
27th	15	Purley Cross Explorer Scout Unit 'B'			60	67	127
28th	11	Surbiton South Explorer Scout Unit			45	40	85
29th	34	Severndroog Explorer Scout Unit 'B'			30	40	70
30th	17	Voyager Explorer Scout Unit			30	32	62
31st	4	Colliers Explorer Scout Unit			15	15	30