Saturday 22 September saw this year’s first meeting of St Gabriel’s History Cadets. Our theme was heraldry and battle strategy, so in the morning the group learnt about what a coat of arms signifies. Everyone chose a colour, animal, and pattern which represented their personal qualities - a lion for courage, red for martial prowess, or maybe a fox for cunning. We all then painted our new coat of arms onto a shield that could be carried into battle.

Next the group put Sun Tzu’s advice on battle strategy into action by waging a miniature campaign in the drama studio. Split into two armies of Romans and Germanians, one side defended their walled fortress while the other had to scheme to gain access to it. Strategic use of trebuchets and entrenched defences saw the Romans gain a resounding victory, though the Germanians fought bravely.

Everyone was able to see by the end of the battle that the most important advantage for an army is teamwork, and the army that fights together and listens to each other will always be the most successful. We all look forward to our next session on written sources.