Corps of Drums Corner

The Corps Drum Major JR Whitwham MBE Royal Marines

As we approach another busy period I would like to take this opportunity to thank the buglers' branch for all their hard work over the last year. In particular I would like to praise all the buglers that carried out one, or more, of the 187 funerals that were undertaken during 2009. These highly important but emotional engagements are carried out with the highest level of professionalism. The many letters of thanks that I receive always comment on the impeccable behaviour of the bugler, this certainly makes me proud to be the buglers branch advisor.

When people finish their career, they usually move on to “Civvie Street” but CSgt Bugler’s Kev Tullett and Beanie Boulton have both joined the Career Service, serving once again with Pete Bradfield. WO2 Bugler Lee Cullen will take up his new position in the Globe and Laurel office, helping out John Hillier - someone once told me “if you want a job doing properly then ask a bugler”, or was that a bugler who told me. I would like to thank all of them for their contribution to the branch, I know that the buglers who served with them enjoyed the time in the Corps of Drums almost as much as they enjoyed being in charge. I would like to give a special thanks to Lee, who as the Corps Bugle Major has certainly enhanced the branch, ensuring that our reputation has gone from strength to strength. The performance of the buglers at this year’s Mountbatten Festival of Music was a fitting finale for him. His imagination and vision for the “Stomp” style routine can only be summed up by saying it was a world class performance, one the branch will be talking about for years to come. I look forward to seeing them all at the buglers' reunion in the future.

The 2010 buglers' reunion weekend started with the Inverted Chevrons Dinner, an occasion to remember for all the right reasons. We were honoured to have the company of the Principal Director of Music Lt Col Nick Grace RM, who certainly enjoyed socialising with many ex buglers who used to look after him when he was a young Musician. Maybe that is why he has a soft spot for buglers. This year I extended the invitation to the members and asked each of them to “bring your oppo”, and five fathers, four brothers, many friends and two dirty rotten ex matelots certainly had a great time sharing our traditions over a fantastic meal and plenty of port. The evening was made extra special with the orchestra from the school of Music led by BdCpl Trev Naughton, it was a privilege for us to enjoy their music. When everyone started singing along to the Sound of Music I realized then that I was in the company of buglers and not musicians – PDM, Ken Booth and Roger Hollingworth aside. The mess beatings were performed by the Corps of Drums from RM Band Collingwood, led by Cpl Bugler Jesse James, a truly forward thinking and inspirational display, one that crossed/touched the line at times but was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Top Gear make a surprise visit to the Inverted Chevron's Dinner

The reunion the following night was attended by 80 serving and ex buglers, all of whom were entertained by the drum display by RM Band Portsmouth led by the Corps Bugle Major and the i/c Corps of Drums Sgt Bugler Phil Hawkins. A traditional display carried out with such precision and enthusiasm, something that is only achieved with hard work and plenty of effort. To perform in front of such a critical audience has to be admired, especially when it is in front of a crowd of ex buglers. At the end of the display the RM Band Portsmouth Corps of Drums was joined by the remaining members of the branch, wearing full ceremonials with bugles, in preparation for a short service to dedicate the new buglers' memorial board. The board names all the buglers that lost their lives during WW 1 and WW 2.

A great weekend was had by all, but the following morning it was back to work as usual. Rehearsals for the Mountbatten Festival of Music, started with a bang or was it a brush, a bucket or just a bin. The performance of the buglers at the Royal Albert Hall was one of the highest quality, in both carrying out our usual role and performing the “Stomp” style routine; our reputation has certainly been enhanced.

In January 2009 I received an email form Pat Robinson, a boy bugler during WW 2 and now living in Canada. He asked me if I knew the names of all the buglers who had lost their lives during the war. I contacted John Ambler at the Corps Museum, who I knew would help me in my quest, and we found the 22 names of the boy buglers and buglers that had died during WW2.

This got me thinking and as I walked down the corridor, outside the Blue Band office, I looked at the Band Memorial Boards from WW1 and WW2 and noticed that there were no buglers on either. This was because the buglers weren’t a part of the Band Service during the war years and not fully integrated until 1978. My reaction was to ask John if he could find the names from WW1 and then I could try and have a memorial board made. John researched all the names and finally found 55 names of buglers that had died during WW1. This puzzled me as there were no boy buglers; the term boy bugler wasn’t used during WW1 but many of them were only 14 years of age. It is believed that the youngest service person to die in WW2 was boy bugler PJH Avant who served onboard HMS Fiji.

I approached the Corps funds with my project; they were kind enough to give me the go ahead for the board, and then all I had to do was find someone to make it. BdCSgt Dave Bromley had produced the Honours and Award boards, so that is where I began. He told me that it was all possible but he had no skill in carving, so I asked a friend of a friend and finally got in contact with Peter Slee from RMR Tyne. I explained what I wanted and gave him the dimensions required. I asked him how much would it cost; he replied by saying he didn’t want anything. This I found to be a very thoughtful gesture, one I returned by ensuring he and his wife, Christine, had a great view of the Mountbatten Festival of Music. Once the carvings were done, Dave constructed the board and sent it to the sign writer for finishing.

The only thing left to do was to have the board dedicated. The buglers' reunion was scheduled for February and that seemed to be the perfect time. I contacted Reverend Martin Poll, the Naval Base Chaplain, who was pleased to be of help and the short ceremony at the beginning of the night proved to be perfect. As the Chaplain gave the blessing, 40 buglers came to the ready and under the direction of the Corps Bugle Major, WO2 Lee Cullen, sounded the dedication fanfare. The following day I was approached by BdCpl Dave Davies who asked if his uncle’s name was on the board. He gave me his name and there onboard HMS Hood was 14 year old boy bugler KJ Davies, Dave’s uncle.

The board will be placed close to the musicians' boards in the School of Music - a truly fitting tribute, to all those young men and boys, that lost their lives during WW1 and WW2.

CDM

Plymouth Corps of Drums

Happy New Year to you all from Plymouth Corps of Drums! We have now all returned from a well-earned Christmas break after performing countless festive concerts all over the country.
Ever willing to be the centre of attention, the Corps of Drums thrust themselves into the Christmas Concert season with particular zeal. One highlight was without doubt the Plymouth Pavilions concert, which was packed to the rafters, and a perfect opportunity for the Corps of Drums to dress up! Cue the pink tights, tu-tus and the Band playing the Can Can! Another highlight was Cpl Bugler Vyse’s increasingly confident performance as the Phantom of the Opera!

We started the New Year with a surprisingly sunny Military Training package. The week of shooting and map reading is vital to keep us fresh and in touch with our secondary role as a military part of the Royal Marines. The shoot went really well and saw good shooting from most of the Corps of Drums. Well, apart from CSgt, ‘Snipes’ Annett who thought he was auditioning for a new Spec-savers advert!

The Corps of Drums have also had their fair share of Mess Beatings. One of particular note was performed for the Royal Marines Band Service West Country Red Jackets Dinner. For this, we were joined by three members of the Lympstone Corps of Drums. The Mess Beatings took weeks of rehearsing and planning and involved new movements and the drum static from the 2009 MFM written by Bugler Dave Birt. The performance went down extremely well and the night was enjoyed by all.

Finally, this term we have welcomed a new member to the Corps of Drums from the School of Music, Bugler ‘Skyscraper’ Crossley. We have also said farewell to Cpl Bugler Stew Vyse who will be sorely missed and we hope he enjoys his new draft down in sunny Collingwood.

Bug Trowbridge

Portsmouth Corps of Drums

Hello! And welcome to another insight into the goings on here in the Portsmouth Corps of Dreams.

We had the usual busy period in the run up to Christmas leave, including a monster mess beatings put together by our new illustrious leader Sgt Bug Phil.."Sorry can you say that a bit slower"… ”I make NO apologies for being keen and I’m not a slave driver“ Hawkins. The said display was for the Royal Navy FLY 100 celebrations in London. I, however, had the pleasure of going to Bordeaux with the SBS association, and believe it or not I was “out ditted”.

After Christmas we were straight into the preparations for the Buglers' Reunion, and for some added confusion a few rehearsals for MFM 2010.

The Buglers' Reunion mess beatings was again put together by Sgt Bug Phil Hawkins, and included a bit of everything, something old and something new. The mess beatings concluded with nearly every Bugler in the branch marching on to play a dedication fanfare, this being for the memorial board naming every RM Bugler lost in action. The end of the reunion marked the beginning of the MFM rehearsals; this again was 3 days of serious headaches, but the finished result and the display by the massed Corps of Drums was nothing short of spectacular. However, the show was stolen on all 3 nights by the Portsmouth COD and 4 guys from Collingwood with the ‘STOMP’ feature, arranged by Corps Bugle Major Lee Cullen. I know the guys involved in this were buzzing after every performance even though the thought of going on stage in front of 5000 people with no helmet on was fairly daunting.

With MFM complete and over 15,000 people completely blown away by the skills of the Massed Bands, Pompey COD were back on the road, this time to sound The Last Post for the dedication of the Iraq Memorial wall, which has been flown back from Basra and erected in the grounds of the National Memorial.
We now have to say farewell to the runt of the litter, Bug Reilly. We wish him and his family all the best in their new draft in Plymouth. Also Cpl Bug Neil Lowe, who managed to spend a long weekend in Portsmouth, leaves us for another draft at CTCRM. It’s also time to say farewell to the outgoing CBM Lee Cullen as he finishes his time with the Band and goes to work for the Globe and Laurel.

We now have welcomed Bug Adam Barber from Scotland and we will have the pleasures of Cpl Bug Jim Christopher from Training Company and the newly appointed Bugle Major Portsmouth – Bugle Major Paul “Scouse” Annett.

Well that’s just about it from sunny Portsmouth. See you all in the next edition, until then, C’ya

RMSoM Corps of Drums

As a fitting end to a successful Winter Term congratulations must go out to Buglers Crossley, Horner and Nelson for passing their B3 examinations and their Grade 8 external examinations. On behalf of all of the buglers in Training Company, we wish them good luck in their respective bands.

Congratulations are also due to Buglers Gordon, Wilson, Johnston and Metelko for their advancements through training on their way towards their B3 examinations. However, these congratulations also come with a few goodbyes, as we say farewell to our instructors, Sgt Bugler Phil Hawkins and Cpl Bugler Jim Christopher, as they move off to the other side of HMS Nelson to join the Portsmouth Band Corps of Drums, leaving us in the very capable hands of Sgt Bugler Jon Lee and Cpl Bugler Helen Annett. 

This term has also seen the highly eventful Buglers' Reunion held here at HMS Nelson. It was with mixed feelings of nerves and excitement that the Buglers of Training Company attended the reunion to usher guests and serve wine. Fortunately we managed to keep all the wine in glasses and not over the guests! The highlights of the weekend involved an entertaining performance at the Inverted Chevrons Dinner by Bugle Major Piner, Sgt Bugler Hawkins and Bugler ‘Bomber’ Harris as well as the two Mess Beatings by Portsmouth and Collingwood Corps of Drums.

Bugler Paxton

Scotland Corps of Drums

Welcome to another riveting article by the most travelled Corps of Drums (COD) in NATO. If only we could convert our miles to Tesco Club points we’d be laughing. On the personnel front we’ve had a few more changes since the last article with the Scotland COD stalwart Bug Adam Barber heading down to finish his time in the Portsmouth Band. We wish Adam all the best for the future. Secondly we have Cpl Bug Tim Needham who is heading a little closer to home and has flown the Scotland COD nest and landed at CTCRM. Straight out of the box we have our new coffee boat walla Bug Jo Nelson whose feet haven’t touched the ground. Next into our band of happy Buglers is Cpl Bug Chris Bray who has managed to escape the clutches of “The Royal Band”. Both have drawn their kilts and are settling in nicely.

The start of the year saw us heading down under for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo in Australia. This was a great trip with everybody accommodated in their own room, (safe!). Some of the acts were brilliant. We had the King's Guard from Norway, Middlesex County Volunteer Fifes & Drums and some drum corps who set their sticks on fire; I can’t remember their name as I didn’t take much notice of them! Although we weren’t given the chance to perform a static on the gig the COD still enjoyed themselves and made full use of the local area.
After finally arriving back in the UK it wasn’t long before we were on the ranges for our military training. What a difference from a few weeks ago - one minute we were on the beach covered in crisp ‘n’ dry the next we’re in the prone position covered in snow. The weather was so bad that for once we had to take windage into account. Strong wind 2 targets left was the order of the day. However, for our very own superstar Bugler Ritchie that’s exactly what he did. His idea of firing 2 targets left was actually 2 lanes left, clever bloke. Never mind, after the weather cleared up and the bacon butties were made everything else seemed to run a lot more smoothly.

Straight after military training and we were off to Portsmouth for MFM, and more importantly the Buglers' Reunion. This wasn’t any normal Buglers' Reunion but more of a dedication as the CDM had a Buglers' memorial board commissioned for all buglers who gave their lives in World WarI & World War II. I’m sure all who went will agree it was a great night and a fitting tribute to all the buglers who paid the ultimate sacrifice in both world wars. With a baggy head the following morning we all met in the buglers' changing rooms ready to start the week’s rehearsals. After some late nights and heavy heads the rehearsals and the shows went well with the Stomp routine getting the biggest applause each night. The highlight for me was watching Bug Perry… try and walk down to the stage without his legs bending at the knees, very funny. A thank you must go to Pedler Palmer for entertaining some of the buglers again in his box on the Saturday night.

As I write this article the COD are getting ready for another busy period. We’ve got a few days in Ireland for St Patrick's day then we’re off to Winterbourne Gunner for a week’s worth of NBCD Training, then as a look forward we're participating in the Voorthuizen Military Tattoo in Holland with our biannual inspection on our return. Joy! More about them in the next article. Just before I sign off I’d like to apologise to Cpl Bugler Neil Lowe who in the last article was referred to as a bugler! Sorry.

From all in Scotland COD we hope you all have a great Easter

Last updated 5 August 2010