A group of Bermuda Sea Cadets will get a taste of what Trafalgar Day is all about tomorrow when they take part in 200th anniversary celebrations in Norfolk, England.

Tomorrow is the 200th anniversary of Admiral Horatio Nelson?s British victory over the French and Spanish fleets during the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

Eleven cadets from T.S. Admiral Somers have already left for England to meet with the Norfolk cadet corps T.S. Vancouver, who are stationed near the birthplace of Admiral Nelson.

Many Bermuda-made ships were captured during the Napoleonic Wars, but a Bermuda-built schooner, the played a special role in the war.

When the British defeated the French (despite Admiral Nelson?s death), the hardy cedar constructed was sent on a 1,000 mile journey from Cape Trafalgar in Southern Spain to England to report the victory.

?Trafalgar Day is the single most important event on the Royal Navy calendar,? said First Lieutenant Michael Frith of sea cadet corps T.S. Admiral Somers located in St. George?s.

?It is the be all and end all for the British Navy. Apparently, it used to be the equivalent of Remembrance Day, before the First World War. It was a day of remembering all battles.?

The sea cadets are a military-style youth organisation that is affiliated with the British Royal Navy. There are currently 22 boys and girls, ages nine to 18 years old, in T.S. Admiral Somers.

The cadets wear Royal Navy reserve uniforms, and they are focused on the ocean. They learn fire safety, seamanship skills, knot tying, rowing, sailing, kayaking and pulling.

There have been festivities in England since June to mark the anniversary.

A replica of the HMS has been doing a tour of England since the summer called ?The Nelson Tour 2005?. In Bermuda, there was a re-enactment of the Battle of Trafalgar held recently, which the sea cadets took part in, and there will be another one in Norfolk.

In the United Kingdom, the sea cadets are largely responsible for organising celebrations for Trafalgar Day.

?The Battle of Trafalgar is an important part of our naval history and it definitely has some Bermuda ties as well,? said T.S. Admiral Somers Commanding Officer Dwayne Trott.

?The celebrations in England are quite impressive,? said Mr. Frith. ?There was a fleet review in Portsmouth. That is the first time that has happened since the Queen?s Silver Jubilee.?

The idea for the trip to England was first hatched when the Norfolk sea cadet corps T.S. Vancouver visited Bermuda last year.

?We were talking with the escort officer about the fact that the Bermuda sea cadets don?t have as much direct contact with the Royal Navy anymore,? said Mr. Frith. ?When I was a cadet there was a lot more of that.

?A lot of our cadets don?t really appreciate that they are part of a larger organisation outside of Bermuda. The UK corps has 16,000 cadets. They are also in a number of different countries. We have had cadet corps visit us from Japan and Zimbabwe, among other places.?

Out of this conversation emerged the idea of sending the Bermuda sea cadets to England for the Trafalgar Day anniversary.

?T.S. Vancouver have bent over backwards to help us come to England,? said Mr. Frith. ?They are paying for our living expenses while we are there, including accommodation and food and they will be taking us on tours around the area.

?They are really quite excited that we are coming. That is exactly what the sea cadet exchange programme is supposed to do, create those sort of relationships. We have every intention of keeping this relationship going and reciprocating.?

Mr. Trott said at the beginning of the project, the sea cadets were asked if they were all on-board.

?We said ?if you are serious, it is a lot of work?. We told them what was needed from them. We told them ?Every time we have a fundraiser you need to be there, or at least be there most of the time?.

?Along the way we have nicely had to remind them of the commitment because I don?t think they had any idea of how hard it was going to be.?

To earn the $26,000 needed for the trip, the cadets packed groceries on the three busiest days of the year, held bakesales, a pot luck dinner and went on a trash-a-thon, among other things.

The money was raised by the cadets in just ten months. They also received donations from several companies and individuals.

?We got there through a combination of the kids and the parents working extremely hard,? said Mr. Frith.

Mr. Trott said working towards the England trip has turned out to be a real morale booster for the sea cadets. ?It has really brought the parents, kids and officers closer,? said Mr. Trott. ?We have spent a lot of time together working on this. We have had meeting upon meeting.?

When asked what they had to do to go on this trip Able Cadet Leron Minors, 25, said simply: ?A lot.?

?We had to do a lot of drill,? said Leron. ?Every time a cadet came to meetings he or she couldn?t be late.

?We had to wear the right uniform when we came. We, basically, had to do what we were told to do. We packed groceries from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. It was crazy.?

Leron started in the sea cadets because his older brother was involved. He wanted to be more active in the community.

?I liked to do stuff in the neighbourhood,? said Leron. ?I liked being in charge of certain things and working to a certain point. It has helped me a lot. Behaviour-wise, it keeps you off the street and it helps a lot of other children as well.?

Leron hopes to one day go to college to become a mortician. Mr. Trott said the fundraising has also helped to bring the sea cadets back into the public eye.

?This whole journey has helped to heighten the awareness of what sea cadets are about,? Mr. Trott said. ?It has given the public a first hand view of seeing the kids.

?Just this last Sunday we participated in the re-enactment of the Battle of Trafalgar with a number of other naval related organisations in Bermuda. We probably raised a lot of eyebrows because not a lot of people knew that these kids have the skills to sail. Some of the kids have been asked to come back to crew with some of the guys from time to time.?

Mr. Frith, 29, was himself once a cadet under the command of Mr. Trott. He eventually left the sea cadets and went to law school.

?I actually became involved with the sea cadets again when the headquarters in St. George?s lost its roof during Hurricane Fabian,? said Mr. Frith. ?I called Dwayne and asked him if he needed any help cleaning up. I somehow got suckered into becoming an officer. Dwayne has been in sea cadets longer than I?ve been on this Earth.?

Mr. Trott is also a graduate of the programme having come up through cub scouts and then the sea scouts. He said the sea cadets not only learn how to sail, they also learn life-skills, discipline and leadership.

?Wearing the uniform encourages discipline and a sense of pride,? said Mr. Trott. ?We teach them simple things like giving up your seat to a lady on the bus.

?The kids have the opportunity to go overseas, to do sailing, to do shooting. The sea cadet programme also ties into the Bermuda Sloop programme. We bring kids of different genders, ages and backgrounds together. We also help them decide on what they want to do in life.?

However, Mr. Frith said the military environment wasn?t always for everyone.

?It is a military environment on a much more relaxed scale,? he said. ?I don?t think there is any better way to deliver just the right mix of discipline, leadership and enjoyable skills.?

Mr. Trott said kids who were taught leadership skills were less likely to become involved in gang activity or other negative behaviours. ?Most of the kids in gangs are followers,? he said. ?You have one or two bad apples and the rest of the guys are following like sheep. We are trying to teach our kids to think for themselves, and make the right choices. We encourage our kids to stand up for themselves and for what they know is right.?

Leron said he tries to teach the kids coming up behind him to show respect for their elders.

?I try to tell them, when you talk to an adult it is not the way you talk to your friends,? he said. ?It is about respect.?

There are two other sea cadet units on the island. T.S. Venture in Somerset suffered a setback when their leader passed away, but they will soon be up and running again, according to Mr. Frith.

T.S. Admiral Somers meets every Friday from 6.45 p.m. to 9.45 p.m. . They also meet at other times during the week for sailing and other activities. For more information telephone 297-1975.