Female Officer Cadet wins Sandhurst's Sword of Honour

7 Dec 2006 04:45 PM

Junior Under Officer (JUO) Angela Laycock became the third woman to win the coveted Sword of Honour from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst this week.

Her Majesty the Queen will present the sword to JUO Laycock, 24, at the end of next week's Sovereign's Parade which marks the end of the 44 week training course.

This prestigious awarded is given to the officer cadet considered by the academy's Commandant, Major General Peter Pearson, to be the best of the intake.

Speaking after her award JUO Laycock said:

"It was all quite overwhelming; I didn't expect to win this. I'm so pleased to have received this honour, especially as we have to compete equally with the boys. Everyone has been so positive and thought it was deserved.

"It's been a lifelong goal of mine to join the Army. Ever since I was 15 or 16 at school I decided Sandhurst was for me. I love putting into practice all that they teach.

"The commandant started to call out the winners of the 'big three', the Overseas Sword of Honour, The Queen's Medal and finally the Sword of Honour. I was so nervous when I instinctively sprang to attention."

A spokesman for the Royal Academy Sanhurst said:

"The award of the Sword of Honour to a cadet is indeed an honour. Female officer cadets at Sandhurst do exactly the same course as their male counterparts and compete on the same terms. Angela, with no Service family background, has proved to be a truly exceptional officer cadet and it will be a momentous occasion for her, her family and the Academy when Her Majesty presents the Sword to her on 15th December."

JUO Laycock was brought up in Bedfordshire and was a pupil at the Hastingsbury Upper School in Bedford. She was a keen member of the local Army Cadet Unit and attended numerous training exercises and camps before joining Welbeck college, the MoD's sixth-form college in Leicestershire which specialises in engineering subjects.

A high flyer at Welbeck she achieved 5 A grade A levels including one of the top 5 marks in mathematics in the country.She went on to study at Emmanuel College Cambridge where thanks to hard work she graduated with a Masters degree in Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering.

A keen athlete she was a rowing finalist at Henley, a national rowing championship medal winner and represented England in the home countries rowing championship, in 2003. She has also represented Cambridge in orienteering and cross country and cycling events.

After the parade RMAS hold the commissioning ball and as the clock strikes midnight all of her intake become commissioned officers in the British Army.

As Second Lieutenant Laycock she will start her specialist training with the Royal Engineers in the New Year.

Notes to editors:

1. Previous female winners were Fiona Stewart, commissioned into the Royal Signals in 1998 and Kady Leather, commissioned into the Adjutant General's Corps (Educational and Training Services) in 2003.

2. The original Royal Military Academy (RMA) was established at Woolwich for the training of Artillery and Engineer officers in 1741. Cavalry and Infantry officers were trained at the Royal Military College (RMC), which was founded in 1802 and moved to Sandhurst in 1812. The RMA and RMC merged after the Second World War to form the present establishment, the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS).

3. The first commissioning parade of the new RMAS was held in 1948 in the presence of His Majesty King George VI, who decreed henceforth that the Parade was to be known as The Sovereign's Parade.