I am Musician Dolby and have been in training since I joined the Royal Marines
Band Service in September 2000. Prior to joining the Royal Marines Band Service
I lived with my parents in Fratton, Portsmouth… a bit of a local lad!
Monday
The day started with a period of PT with Sgt Griffin, in the gym. It proved
to be a challenge for many of us as we were still tired from the night before,
as a lot of Training Coy were out visiting the local pubs and clubs of Portsmouth.
One lesson that we all learned is never go out before a period of PT so as you
probably could guess we found it hard to give it 100%, but we gave it our all
and the period soon passed. Back over to the school at 0845 to start another
day of musical training.
Tuesday
Today was a normal day of practice for most of the School. I had a lesson with
my horn instructor, Tim Jones from the London Symphonic Orchestra, where we
went through a new piece that I am studying called 'Adagio and Allegro' by Robert
Schumann. After half an hour of final touches it was ready to be performed.
The remainder of the day was fairly uneventful.
Wednesday
The day started with music in the morning up until lunch-time, then Training
Coy had RT at 1330. Everyone found this 3 hour period very stressful as it involved
a 13 km cross country run in winter cold weather during a blizzard followed
by a 4 km swim in the even colder sea… honest! We played football in the
gym actually! We finally finished at 1630, just enough time to get a shower
before dinner started. We then retired to our rooms where we relaxed till it
was time for bed.
The rest of the week was uneventful
Saturday & Sunday
After a lazy start on both Saturday and Sunday we spent the days preparing our
kit in readiness for the week ahead, shopping and socialising in the shops and
pubs of Portsmouth. On Sunday night, for some strange reason, a few of Training
Coy went to Root66, a local nightclub, in preparation for Monday morning PT
with Sgt Griffin! I don't think anyone can really remember what happened that
night!
Musn Dolby
Well we finally set off on our adventurous journey to Iceland to assist the
United States Marine Corps Security Force celebrate their Corps Birthday. We
arrived at the airport not knowing what sort of aeroplane would be waiting for
us! 'What no windows' was the cry of someone.
Bug Stew Vyse looked very worried as he had never flown before! The flight soon
passed and we arrived in a very cold Iceland. The first night was spent in the
Marbar (Marines Bar) meeting our hosts for the week. The drinks were only a
dollar each, much to the delight of my fellow buglers and I.
The week ended up being fairly relaxed for us buglers only being involved in
three gigs. The dance band had a couple more and provided great entertainment
for the US Marines whilst we looked after the bar!
The US Marines Birthday Ball was on the Saturday night and was a successful
evening for everyone involved but ended up being a very messy night for some
people! A very special mention goes to Bug Dan Johnson as he managed to play
the Last Post well on the Sunday morning… after his eventful night the
night before.
A great time was had by all and we were all looking forward to getting back
to practising at the prison, whoops, School of Music!
Many thanks to our hosts for the week and we look forward to meeting you all
again… next year!
Bug Boardman