BELTS and buckles gleaming, hundreds of junior soldiers proudly took part in the largest military graduation parade in Europe today, August 15.

They marched on to the parade ground at the Army Foundation College in Harrogate under the admiring gaze of around 4,500 relatives and friends – in a parade only exceeded in size by the Trooping of the Colour.

One of Britain’s most senior officers, Major General Tim Radford, took the salute before the teenage soldiers marched off again to start their new life in the Army.

The 17-year-old students joined the college in Penny Pot Lane in two intakes – the first in September last year and the second in March this year.

The three companies – Cambrai, Peninsula and Burma – were keenly watched by college commander Lieutenant Colonel Oz Lane as Maj Gen Radford, head of the Army’s Theatre Troops, inspected them all.

They were led by the Heavy Cavalry and Cambrai Band and following the inspection and salute, prizes were awarded to the best students.

The college takes in junior soldiers on two types of course – one of 22 weeks and another of 42 weeks.

The short course delivers basic training to the recruits before they leave to follow their longer and more specialist technical training.

The longer course consists of military skills and vocational qualifications before the recruits move on to training in their chosen trade or specialism.

Lt Col Lane said the graduation parade marked the culmination of a lot of hard work for all the teenagers – male and female – who had taken part.

He added: “After a well-earned summer break, our junior soldiers can look forward to their specialist training before embarking on the busy, rewarding careers that lie ahead of them.”

The college opened in 1998 and provides training for soldiers destined for all the Army’s many career paths. It now provides training for 1,344 junior soldiers taking in students twice a year in September and March.