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                          My Service In The Royal Marines School Of Music

by HMS Fiji Survivor Douglas Elmer

The Second World War was over, and for a few years, nothing seemed to change very much. 
The Royal Naval School of Music was still supplying bands to the ships that were still 
in commission and doing other duties, as were the Royal Marine Divisional Bands. But things 
were happening behind the scenes that we in the ranks could not appreciate, indeed, since 
early in the war, minds were being concentrated on the future role of the Royal Naval School 
of Music, though, as it was wartime, nothing much was going to happen until after the war 
was over. The cost of running the country and re-building industry and the infrastructure 
was tremendous, and was getting heavier day by day and something had to give and of course, 
that something was the armed services, which is always the case, once the military have 
secured the peace (Echoes of Rudyard Kipling). So, as in the country, so in the services, 
where best to economise? The answer of course was the Band Services.

The result was the Royal Naval School of Music became the Royal Marine School of Music and 
on the 1st September 1950, it all became the Royal Marines Band Service and there was now 
no difference between the two. Owing to the fact that the ships that required bands or, 
indeed, had the room for them on board, were getting fewer and fewer, sea time was gradually 
reduced so as to become almost non-existent, though the Royal Yacht still had to have its 
band from the Portsmouth Division. Any band needed for a ship for a good-will visit or something 
similar, could be got from a central band, stationed in that particular area.

On the amalgamation of the two Band Services, there were a lot of big organizational changes, 
for instance, it was decided by the powers that be that in future all recruitment would come 
through the Royal Marine School of Music who would also supply the Divisions with the bands 
required. In short, there was now only one Band Service supplying the Royal Navy and the Royal 
Marines.

At the same time, the training system was altered. Civilian instructors were taken on and boy 
musicians were taken on who could play an instrument and also knew a bit about music and the 
theory of music. The bands, it will be admitted by every former bandsmen that I have met, were 
beginning to get far better, playing wise, than their forebears were ever to get, though training 
and the requirement, especially in war time, to acquire gunnery skills, plus the long hours closed 
up at action stations without practice as a band or on one’s own was a big handicap. It says a lot 
for the pre ’50 era that they produced the outstanding performances and performers that they did, 
with honor and with pride.

The Royal Marine School of Music had a golden opportunity and they seized it, even though it may 
have been forced upon them. The Royal Marines Band Service now have without a doubt, the finest 
military bands in the world touched only by, possibly, the United States Marine Corps Band. The 
Royal Air Force Bands have quite a connection with the Royal Marines insofar as, in its early 
days some of its Bandmasters were from the Royal Naval School of Music and the Royal Marines 
Divisional Bands. I also know that Royal Marines Musicians, when finishing their twelve years, 
signed on for their pension in the RAF bands, and also in the Army bands.

There is one interesting story that went the rounds, although I cannot vouch for its truthfulness,
 and that is as follows. When consideration was being given to the Royal Marine School of Music, 
for the sake of economy, moving from Deal to Portsmouth, another option was given by the Government 
for the Royal Marine School of Music, and the Army and Royal Air Force music training to come together, 
possibly at Deal, and that there, all trainee musicians would be trained. At the end of their training, 
the musicians would then be sent to their respective regiments or bands, which, most people thought, 
was a good idea. However, the details could not be satisfactorily agreed upon by all parties and 
eventually the whole idea fell through.

This has been a joy for me to write and in no way is it supposed to be a comprehensive account or, 
in fact, can it be taken to be an exact account, as my memory does deceive me at times, though I must 
say, “A life on the Ocean Wave” by John Trendell, has been a big help and I hope that I haven’t 
offended when he is quoted or used. As this article is not for sale and is only for friends, all 
should be well. I could have advanced a lot of anecdotes from experience, but my intention is just 
to give the reader an idea of the growth of the military bands from their beginning. Albert and 
Norman would have enjoyed names that would, no doubt, have brought many lovely and pleasant memories, 
people whom we knew and served with, loved or hated, or just were indifferent to but there, they 
still know more names (and different ones) than I do so there would still have been disappointment 
at missed friends in any case.

I suppose that there isn’t a person living in the land who has not, at some time or other, listened 
to a military band, usually at the head of a column of sailors, soldiers or airmen as they marched 
along and they have been thrilled at the sight of drum sticks moving up and down in time with the 
music or, with the flashing sticks of the tenor drummer, and the sound of the stirring marches that 
they have heard, plus the clash of the cymbals. But! how have these bands come about? Why have them? 
And what is the difference between them and a brass band? (Only that the military band uses woodwind 
whilst the brass bands do not) and what do they do when it comes to fighting? After all, musicians 
are in the fighting services. I suppose also, that all ex-service men have marched behind a band or, 
better still, played in one and never thought how ‘bands’ came to be formed.

First let us start with the Royal Navy which was thought to come into being in 1391 (previous to which, 
in the wars against France, private ships were hired) and being the senior service and the first to 
come into ‘life’, were obviously the first to use musical instruments, but these were not bands as 
such, they were trumpeters, (please note, more a horn than a trumpet as there were no keys on the 
instruments to vary the notes) and these were used for sending signals to other ships as, at the time, 
there was no other way to do so. The course of warfare dictated that ships worked in unison and to 
get a fleet to manoeuvre together, a blast or two on a trumpet from the flagship would get the ships 
turning either to Port or Starboard, whichever had been decided on beforehand. Similarly, when e
ntering harbour, the trumpeter, situated on the poop deck, would use, as directed by the navigating 
officer, various sounds and number of sounds, pre-arranged to let others know what was happening.

A voyage with the Navy sometimes lasted for years, and weeks, if not months were spent at sea between 
ports which meant, as some of us older sea goers would realize, extreme boredom on the part of the 
ship’s company, so the trumpeter was used to entertain, along with a viol (forerunner of the violin) 
if any of the ship's company had brought one with them or one had been provided by the ships officers. 
The call to the ‘hands’ was “Hands to dance and skylark” and this was the forerunner of today’s “Hands 
to make and mend” which is the call for a half day in the Navy and it was on these days that the 
viol player would also muster on deck and entertain the hands at play (or mending and washing clothes 
etc), playing whilst weighing anchor, manning the capstan and other work that was necessary to the 
smooth running of a ship.

As time went on, the number of trumpeters on each ship started to increase, usually to the extent of 
four or five plus a master trumpeter in charge. These official trumpeters became the basis of ships' 
bands. Sometimes, bands were hired by the captain. In fact it is recorded that Sir Francis Drake, on a 
three year voyage, took with him performers of the viol, so as to help keep his ship's company happy 
and entertained. He also took with him on one voyage, the City of Norwich official band, called 
appropriately enough ‘The Noise’ in Drake’s official journal, consisting of instruments that most 
people today would not recognize the name of, let alone the sound that came from them (a treble 
recorder, three hautbois and a sackbut), this to impress the King of Peru.

As the Navy became more organised and better disciplined, so more ceremony became required and with 
the ceremony more in the way of music was asked for, and so the ‘bands’ became more sophisticated, a
nd mainly of the ‘stringed’ type so they still were a long way from making music on the parade ground. 
Marine drummers had been on board ships since the Corps was first formed in 1664 and the drum became
 the instrument used for signaling purposes, and Drummers were paid more for this.

The situation continued through the years, with small changes here and there until the mid 18th 
century when the Admirals and captains started to employ their own musicians, paid for by the officers 
of the ship at the pay of a basic seaman’s wage plus gratuities. Their instruments and the upkeep 
of those instruments were also provided and paid for by the ships' officers. Quite an added cost 
to their already heavy mess bill.

Sometimes the musicians were not recruited; they were press ganged into service and there is a story 
in ‘A Life on the Ocean Wave’ by John Trendell which tells of one sea captain escorting an East Indian 
Fleet from England to the Tropics. One of the ships had an excellent band on board and the captain 
took 
into his head that he would have some of them. So before he took leave of the convoy he sent over a 
lieutenant and boat's crew to ‘press’ the best two musicians that could be found, which they did, and 
brought them on board to increase our band for the captain’s amusement and not to strengthen our force 
to engage an enemy. In fact, according to one commentator of the time, musicians were not appreciated 
at all, as he writes of one captain, “A member of parliament as well as being a captain had on board his 
ship a band of twenty performers sending many a prime seaman away and having this musical junto instead, 
and thus weakening our force; for whilst these worthies were excused from ship's duty, they were rated 
as petty officers or able seamen and received pay as such”. He goes on to say of the captain, 
“As a band, these gentlemen were kept fully employed for whilst he (the Captain) was indulging himself 
in his cabin with the importance of a bashaw, they would be playing at his door. He was proud, 
imperious, unfeeling and, of course, detested”. The author of these articles was a lower deck 
commentator, William Robinson who had a nom de plume of ‘Jack Nastyface’.

Bands were sometimes obtained as spoils of war as one Dutch ship's band was to discover when the Admiral 
of the Dutch fleet surrendered to a squadron of British ships. The band, composed of German and Italian
 musicians was taken aboard the flagship of Admiral Mitchell and served until the end of the commission 
before being released about two years or more later. In fact the use of foreign nationals in the ships' 
bands was fairly common in the Navy, and having a large fleet in the Mediterranean, naturally enough, 
the musicians were recruited from Italy, Malta and Spain. They were mostly string players as there were 
not any marching or parade ground duties carried out then. That was to come later.

In the latter half of 1847 an Admiral, Sir Charles Napier, persuaded the Admiralty to give encouragement 
to the ‘Official’ band movement by creating the rank of bandsman. Then in 1856, the Admiralty laid 
down the number of bandsmen to be commissioned on each class of ship (to be up dated at intervals 
until we come to the size of bands (of 1950)) and it also became official that foreigners could 
be employed.

Life in the Navy, for the ordinary seaman, began to change quite dramatically in the second half of 
the nineteenth century. A pension for continuous service was instituted and a career structure was 
put into place and, at last, living conditions started their slow journey of improvement for the 
lower deck. Then, training ships were established at three Naval divisions (Portsmouth, Devonport 
and Portland, 1860-1862) and in 1863 the first batch of 16 boys were enlisted for training as band boys.

In 1867 the Sea Lords gave a grant of £200 towards the cost of instruments. This was the first recorded 
sum allocated to the Royal Navy for the purchase of instruments. Previously the ships' officers or/and 
the musicians themselves paid for them. In 1868 the rank of Bandmaster was established followed, a few 
years later, by the rank of Chief Bandmaster but, as no training was given and no qualifications were
required, one can only imagine what the result was, as we have no way of knowing.

The officers enjoyed a full social life and the bands became indispensable to their life and comfort. 
At the same time, the officers were complaining about the cost to them personally, of the upkeep, as 
instruments and the repair and replacement of strings etc. were very expensive.

It wasn’t long before the number of boys under training increased, for, by 1871, there was reported 
that 72 had joined and of these, some were rated as bandsmen and were drafted to the fleet. The action 
stations for a bandsman in those days at sea was in the magazine and as powder men, for which a cool 
and calm temperament was required and of course, most foreign bandsmen from the Latin countries, 
had a more explosive nature and really were not suitable to work in those dangerous places.

In 1874 the Admiralty issued the following instructions to the Adjutant General of the Royal Marines:
“The Bandmasters of the Divisions (that was the Royal Marine Divisions) are to inspect the bands of 
he Training Ships twice each year and to grant certificates of competency to the Chief Bandmaster”. 
So began the long association of the Royal Marines with the Naval Bands until eventually, as we shall 
see, they amalgamated with them, but only after years of ignoring the existence of the naval bandsmen. 
It was about this time that the Admiralty started a system (1875) towards the cost of the purchase of 
musical instruments by means of an annual (small) allowance. This was a rather good thing for the ships' 
officers as they carried on as though they had purchased the instruments (as in part they still did) 
and owned them.

By 1875 the strength of the Royal Navy Bands was at about 460 men (Musicians, Bandsmen, Bandmasters a
nd Chief Bandmasters) and there were a little over 100 band boys under training. The average number 
of Bandsmen on a ship, including a Bandmaster, was eleven, not including a percussionist; he was 
recruited from the ship's company if one was required.

Some Bandmasters in the Royal Marine Bands wore no uniform but pleased themselves what they wore and 
this was unsightly and certainly not good practice, nor did it enhance the appearance of the band. 
Official uniforms had for a long time been issued to all Royal Marine Musicians and Naval bandsmen. 
Not a lot in the way of significant change took place then, though small changes were taking place 
and even instruments were changing and being improved, and the powers that be were trying to find 
ways to improve the bands of the Royal Navy. Their uniform was changed in about 1890 and things 
began, slowly but surely, to improve.

Commander in Chief Plymouth's Orchestra C 1891-1899
Commander in Chief Plymouth's Orchestra C 1891-1899

Normally, the (Commander in Chiefs) at each home port had their own bands, but, in 1895, the Lord 
Commissioners of the Admiralty granted permission to HMS Excellent to establish a permanent band 
of 15 musicians and this was the first shore establishment to have its own band. The Bandmaster was 
from the training ship HMS St Vincent, and previous to that he served with the 3rd Hussars as a 
Bandmaster. The bandsmen were paid at the basic pay for the rate and, in addition, were paid a 
supplementary allowance from the wardroom mess funds. As with sea going ships carrying bands, the 
officers were responsible for providing instruments and music, with a little help from the powers 
that be. The band also became more involved with ‘parade’ work, as Whale Island (HMS Excellent) 
was essentially, in those times, used for naval field training. By the way, foreign bandsmen were 
still being employed even though more boys were being trained (220 by now) and the number of bandsmen 
inc. all ranks was now in the region of 840, a big increase. In fact it was recorded by one bandsman 
that when he was sent to commission HMS Warspite from HMS Lion he found that most of the bandsmen were 
Italian, including the Bandmaster and Sergeant and he wondered if he was on the right ship (letter to 
‘Blue Band’,1953). In fact, at this time there were two types of bandsmen in the Royal Navy, and they 
were the non-continuous servicemen, who usually signed up for one commission and they were mostly 
foreigners. When they commissioned a ship they were paid for by the officers of the ship, both for 
pay and for uniform besides the up-keep of the instruments. Then there was the ‘regular’ service 
men, mostly British and were well disciplined, but were poor instrumentalists. They were paid by 
the Admiralty but the ships officers were also expected to help with the upkeep of instruments. 
Boys were still being trained, though the degree of teaching fell far short of what was required 
to make good musicians and the boys did well to reach the standard that they did.

Several schemes were suggested to improve the efficiency of the bandsmen and the one that was of 
interest to me, because of what I discovered when I joined up as a band boy, was that in between 
commissions naval bandsmen would be seconded to the CinC’s Band in the home ports. There was such 
an outcry from the CinCs at this, as the musicians in the CinCs bands were elitist and far superior 
to the lowly naval ratings, and the CinCs did not want to lose their star players.

Bandsmen could be employed at hair cutting, boot repairers, in the laundry or some such industry; 
again this idea was dropped. However, it is interesting to note that up until the day I left the 
Band Service, enterprising musicians (and indeed I myself indulged as a ‘snob’ (cobbler to the 
uninitiated)), have always done these jobs voluntarily for the money that could be earned, even 
to the extent of turning ‘ticklers’ (Matelots' tobacco issue) into well made cigarettes.

The big change came when the Commander of the Mediterranean Fleet complained to the Lord Commissioners 
that it had cost him £230 to purchase instruments for the band for the flagship and that he only 
received a grant of £20 a year from them. In addition, the upkeep of the band cost the wardroom a 
further £220 a year. Complaints were being made of the foreigners' lack of respect for naval tradition 
and also their lack of discipline. It was shortly after this that Admiral Sir John Fisher (a musician 
himself) took over as CinC Fleet (1899-1901), and became aware of all the drawbacks to the making of 
good musicians, and consequently good bands. As a result of his actions when he became Second Sea Lord, 
and also with support from other very important personages, representations for improving the training 
of bandsmen in the Royal Navy, and also a method of paying for the bands, was placed before parliament.
 Within a few months, plans were put before His Majesty as regards a proper Naval Band Service to be 
placed under the command of the Royal Marines and with the amalgamation of all existing Naval Bands 
into this service.

A Naval Band with group of Royal Navy and Royal Marines personnel C 1900
A Naval Band with group of Royal Navy and Royal Marines personnel C 1900

It was in May 1903 that the Royal Naval School of Music, (Royal Marine Band) came into being. A number 
of Bandsmen from the various training ships were gathered at HMS Impregnable to form a Band in June 
1903. [Editor’s Note: At the time that Mr Elmer wrote this account he understood that “It was originally 
intended that the ‘School’ of Music would take up quarters in Melville Barracks in Chatham, which were 
used as a medical centre for the Navy. They were due to be vacated because of the opening of the Naval 
Hospital in Gillingham nearby and in the meantime, until the barracks became vacant, the Band would have 
its headquarters at Eastney in the Royal Marine Artillery Barracks. These plans failed to come to 
fruition and the school stayed at Eastney, subject to the administration and discipline of the Royal 
Marine Artillery”. [Whilst this may well have been a consideration, it is now evident that by the time 
plans were formulated, no alternative to the use of the RMA Barracks at Eastney existed].

It was on the 22nd July 1903 that 34 Musicians (by now an order had been given deleting the rank of 
‘Bandsman’ and in its place was put the rank of Musician) from HMS Impregnable marched proudly through 
the gates of Eastney Barracks to play at the opening ceremony and became the first Band of the Royal 
Naval School of Music (RNSoM). The composition of the Band was as follows:

1 Piccolo	5 Cornets	1 Flute
2 Tenor Trombones	2 Oboes	1 Bass Trombone
1 EbClarinet	1 Baritone (Saxhorn)	9 Bb Clarinets
1 Euphonium	2 Bassoons	2 Eb Bombardons
1 Bb Bombardon	4 French Horns 	1 String bass
No drummers are recorded as being in the Band, but presumably there were some that had been taken from 
the ship’s company as volunteers.
Within days the Musicians were attested and put into Royal Marine uniform and so a service with a 
tradition second to none was started, and was to last until the year 1950, when a further major 
change took place. More of that later.

The amalgamation of the boys from the training ships continued and a year or two later, boys were 
recruited from civilian sources (included within these boys was one Arthur Pragnell, who created a 
name for himself by becoming a Bandmaster at 19 yrs of age and ultimately a Director of Music. 
I served under him at the start of my service). As the Ships that carried Naval Bands (old style) 
paid off, they were given the opportunity to stay on under their old terms of service1 or they could 
transfer to the new set-up. Some did at first, but most took their time and only changed over when 
they could see the advantages of so doing.

Of interest was the fact that the smaller Ships that didn’t qualify for a band did have a ‘Fiddler’ 
assigned to them from the Naval Band Service. They were also expected to form a volunteer band from 
the ship’s company on board, besides playing for the Officers in the Wardroom and for the hands at 
their ‘hands to dance and skylark’ sessions2.

The Band Service very soon began to prove its worth. They gained the respect, admiration and patronage 
of Royalty, very necessary in those days for a Service Band, and gradually replaced Naval Ships’ Bands 
as Bands became available. In 1905 they undertook a Royal tour of India and Burma on HMS Renown (with 
The Prince and Princess of Wales) which proved extremely successful and John Trendell in his book 
‘A Life on the Ocean Wave’ mentions the name of some of these musicians, some of whom I knew or have 
heard of and certainly my good friend Albert, a former Bandmaster in the Royal Naval School of Music, 
would know them all.
It was about this time, the end of 1904, that the first ‘all’ Royal Naval School of Music Bands were c
ommissioned, one of the first being HMS Euryalus for service on the Australian station.

By now, the strength of the Band Service had grown to approx 750 of all ranks, and space at Eastney 
was beginning to run out. Some trainees were sent to Deal and some to the Royal Marine Light Infantry 
barracks at Gosport, Chatham and Plymouth. The growth of the Service didn’t stop there for by June 1906 
there were 950 all ranks and a year later the strength had risen to approx 1,200 all ranks.

In July 1907 a Second Lieutenant Charles Franklin RM became the Musical Director, thereby becoming the 
first Commissioned Officer in the RNSoM. Things were looking up. About 120 boys were being recruited 
each year and were being taught both wind and stringed instruments, as although I haven’t mentioned 
this before all Royal Marine (Divisional as well as Royal Naval School of Music) bandsmen were required 
to be ‘double’ handed (a Bandsman’s term for playing both wind and stringed instruments) with the 
exception of the players of ‘solo’ instruments. They were all required to study the elements of music 
and harmony, though speaking from experience, sometimes the teaching of the theory side of music left 
a lot to be desired. The instructors were mostly servicemen who had replaced the earlier civilian 
teachers to give more opportunities for promotion and a spell ashore. The RNSoM did turn out some 
very good musicians, some even brilliant, and a lot of very good instrumentalists. On the outbreak 
of war in 1914 the complement of the ‘School’ was 1,450 all ranks.

It should now be mentioned that at sea, everybody is required to have an action station, no-one 
being allowed to sit around doing nothing whilst the ship was at action stations, also known as 
being “closed up” for action. In war the playing of music, though important in helping to keep up 
the morale of the ship’s company, came second to the Band’s place in the gunnery team on every ship 
on which they served. As the guns and the loading and firing of them improved beyond all recognition 
so too did the means of controlling them and from being powder monkeys and manning the magazines, 
Bandsmen now received training in operating the transmitting station. This place for the control of 
the guns was situated in the bowels of the ship, surrounded by bilge water below and boilers and 
coal on either side of them. Hatches were battened down as the men positioned themselves aroun the 
transmitting table. They could not leave this place until given an order to do so and somebody released 
the hatches. These men were the link between the gun turrets and the Gunnery Officers and passed on the 
orders to alter range, deflection fire broadsides or otherwise etc and also to open fire.

There is nowhere in a Warship which is closed up at action stations that is ‘comfortable’ but, along 
with the Seamen and Marines manning the magazines and the Stokers manning the boilers, the Band had an 
awful place to live and sleep in whilst closed up. The T.S. was a small room. In any ship that I was 
on it was no more than 12' x 10' (and that was one of the larger ones) and there were 12 to 15 bandsmen 
plus a Gunnery Officer of Warrant Officer rank closed up in it. You remained closed up for as long as 
the action took place, or as long as there was a danger of coming into action. This sometimes took days 
and you lived on emergency rations kept in the T.S. for the occasion, although sometimes, one or two of 
you were allowed up to collect a hot meal, to be eaten in the T.S. if the situation allowed. Sometimes, 
one was allowed up in watches to have a quick meal in the mess and then get back quickly to let the next 
watch up for their meal. 
War had broken out and a Naval Brigade was rushed to the defence of Antwerp and a Band of 24 Musicians, 
(from the RNSoM) under the command of Bandmaster 1st Class WE Faithfull went with it. Besides their 
musical duties, the Band also acted as stretcher bearers/messengers. The same Band was also at Gallipoli 
and the Bandmaster earned a “Mention in Dispatches”. Three members of the Band were killed in action. 
(The Bandmaster retired as a Captain from Deal in 1938.) Bands of the Royal Marines (Divisional) were 
also sent to the Western Front on a few occasions to play to the troops and Officers.

November 1914 was a month that will always be remembered in the School of Music, as two Ships, HMS Bulwark 
and HMS Monmouth were sunk with the loss of 15 Musicians and 24 Musicians respectively. The first blew up 
because of an ammunition defect I believe, and the second blew up because of enemy action. Several other 
Ships were also sunk or blew up during the war, with the loss of all of the Band, HMS Natal and 
HMS Vanguard (Albert’s father died on the latter3) to name but two of them which are all remembered, 
showing that a Musician’s life was not the ‘bed of roses’ that some people seem to think.
Well, that is getting away from the music side and the end of the war at last came and then, in 1919, 
changes began to take effect as the result of the Jerram Inquiry (Committee of Inquiry under Admiral 
Sir Martyn Jerram 1918). The Royal Naval School of Music became a self contained unit and independent 
of the RM Artillery, with its own Officers4. Officers were now entitled to have the initials RMB after 
their name and in 1921 the same initials were added to the shoulders of all other ranks. But it was 
the music side that is of interest to this story and there were signs that the relationship between 
the RM Divisional Bands and the RNSoM were now beginning to thaw. In 1920 when the Plymouth RMLI 
(Royal Marine Light Infantry) Band toured Australia with the Prince of Wales, the Band of HMS Renown, 
augmented by Band Boys from the RNSoM took over all of the Plymouth Divisional Band’s duties, and very 
impressive they were. The same year, the combined Bands of the Portsmouth RMLI and RMA, with a Band 
from the RNSoM, gave a concert in Portsmouth. But even at that, it could not be said that the Divisional 
Bands were any the more given to good wishes for the School. They (RNSoM) were still looked down upon 
though in fact, owing to their respective war records plus playing abilities, the School of Music had 
far more cause to feel superior in every way, but let’s leave it at that.
When I was a Band Boy, we used to say that we were the Royal Marine Band and the Divisional Bands were 
the Band of the Royal Marines. Dress was also different though perhaps civilians, unless a student of 
military dress, wouldn’t notice. The saying amongst us Band Boys of the difference between us and the 
Divisional Bands was, “We were dressed as but not of”.

There was still argument in high quarters about who should control the Royal Naval School of Music - 
the Navy or the Marines. In fact the RNSoM had become so good at their job and a credit to all that 
served in their ranks that in 1924 the Commander-in-Chief Portsmouth questioned whether the title of 
the RNSoM was consistent with RM control, wanting presumably to have them brought under the control 
of the Navy. I personally always wondered why this was not so. The argument was settled by the Second 
Sea Lord who said “the arrangement has worked for 21 years, so let it continue to do so”. However, 
RNSoM v Bands of the Royal Marines still continued, in spite of the slight thaw in relations.

1927 and the Royal Tour of Australia by the Duke and Duchess of York (our future King and Queen) 
was accompanied by the Band from HMS Renown and 20 musicians from the RNSoM plus 16 Buglers from 
the Plymouth Division RM, all under the command of Bandmaster WO A Pragnell, LRAM ARCM RMB who was 
promoted to Temp Lieutenant and appointed Director of Music. The make up of the Band at this point 
was as follows:
1 Flute/Piccolo	3 Trumpets	1 Oboe
2 Tenor Trombones  	1 E flat Clarinet	1 Bass Trombone
9 B flat Clarinets	2 Baritones (Saxhorns)	1 Alto Saxophone
1 Euphonium	2 Bassoons 	1 Eb Bombardon
2 French Horns	2 Bb Bombardons	3 Cornets
2 Percussion	 	 
Saxophones were now beginning to be seen as a regular feature in all Bands and had quite an influence 
in the world of music and this was the first recorded instance of them being employed in a ‘School’ 
Band.
After this, the Royal Naval School of Music had various successes, the most notable being a concert 
in Portsmouth Guildhall consisting of a Symphony Orchestra, a Military Band and a choral concert given 
by 200 band boys. There were also weekly Sunday concerts given in and around Portsmouth by a group of 
Bandmasters (backed up by Band Corporals and Musicians on occasion).

It was about 1928-29 that it became evident that a new home was required, so it was decided that a 
move to Deal, in Kent, which had the space (South, North and East Barracks, besides the back-up services 
required) would be appropriate and accordingly, in October 1930, the move was made. Approx 250 Musicians 
marched out of Eastney Barracks to Fratton station, led by the Portsmouth Divisional Band, to entrain for 
Deal. East Barracks became the home for Band Boys under the age of 16 years, and North Barracks for boys 
over that age and also for Musicians. After the move, the RNSoM continued to gain in strength and in 
reputation. For instance, the combined bands of the Mediterranean Fleet, under Bandmaster WO GC Keen, 
(a gentleman if ever there was one) gave a display of marching to be followed by a programme of specially 
selected music, which took Naples by storm and the resulting compliments left no doubt that the likes of 
this had never been seen there before. Similarly other displays and orchestral concerts in other parts 
of the world, Hong Kong, Australia, United States of America and Canada gave the same applause and the
bands were in great demand. But the fly in the ointment, which somehow there always is, was soon to play 
its part in the shape of economy cuts.

The country had been through four years of war at a great cost and simply had to make drastic cuts 
and, of course, the RNSoM had to play its part, but still they managed to provide Bands, though some 
of them were much reduced in numbers. To add to the School’s troubles, regular commission ranks were 
not signing on for the extra nine years (now 10 years) to qualify for a pension. What man could have 
a family life outside of the Navy when off duty, as most of them were spending ten or eleven years of 
their twelve at sea? So valuable trained men were being lost and were not being replaced by Band Boys, 
even though there was heavy unemployment in ‘civvy street’.

During this time, the Naval Barracks had returned to the idea of having Volunteer Bands. This I could 
never understand. Even today there are volunteer bands in many Naval Depots, trained and run by a Band 
Colour Sergeant from the Royal Marines School of Music. I would think it natural that, having the Royal 
Naval School of Music, Naval Barracks would have had a regular Band in attendance, yet only the Ships 
had any call on the Bands from RNSoM; most strange.

There was trouble over the attitude of the RM Bands in about June 1936 (the year and month that I had 
the honour of joining at Deal) when the C-in-C Portsmouth requested that the Volunteer Bands of the 
Naval Barracks be up-graded to an official Band, on a par with the RM Bands. The Adjutant General of 
the Royal Marines replied to this in a strong and resolute manner and eventually the Second Sea Lord 
had to intervene to state that the RNSoM was the official Band of the Royal Navy and that that was the 
end of the matter.
It was later, when I tried to discover what the chances were of my eventually getting a transfer to 
a Divisional Band (I had my eye on being nearer my home which was then in Chatham where my parents 
lived) when I discovered the unhappy relationship between the RM Bands and the School of Music. I was 
told that in no way would I be accepted into a Divisional Band as they simply would not look at a 
Musician from the RNSoM. I tried hard to understand why, but failed to do so. In my innocence I thought 
that they were one and the same. I was to discover that they were not when the war started. The 
Divisional Bands were non-combatant, whereas the RNSoM was losing Musicians, killed in action to the 
extent that, during the war, they had the highest losses, percentage wise, of any Corps or Regiment 
in Britain (approximately a third of their strength5).

However, this attitude did start to change on the part of the RM Bands as they did start playing 
together with the School of Music and also other contacts took place and the odd Musician did get 
a transfer to the ‘Elitist’ Bands (the most famous of which was Lt RM Stoner, LRAM, (retired as a 
Captain) whom I served under, and who later was reported as being very much against the amalgamation 
that was to come) but that is by the way. It was about this time, that the action station for a 
Bandsman on a ship of war was officially designated as the Transmitting Station, and the Bandsmen 
started to attend HMS Excellent for gunnery control courses before they commissioned a ship6. The 
argument regarding the Voluntary Bands in the Naval Depots still lingered on and a complete review 
of the Naval and Royal Marine band system was suggested by the Adjutant General Royal Marines. However 
the war intervened and the position remained unresolved.
On 3rd September 1939 war was declared and this is where the Musicians of the Royal Naval School of 
Music more than showed their worth. They manned all warships, light cruisers and above, and also most 
land based ‘ships’ or at least, sent Bands to them regularly to help keep up the morale of the shore 
based ships company, often in very isolated parts of the country. They were sustaining terrific losses 
of men, sometimes whole Ships’ Bands being lost at sea as, being in the bowels of the Ship, they had 
little or no chance of getting out from their assigned action stations. I can attest to that, as I was 
on HMS Fiji, along with fourteen other Bandsmen when she was sunk. Of the fifteen, only seven escaped 
although the whole band did this time get out from the T.S. but it was a close call. On HMS Glorious 
all 15 bandsmen were lost and so it went on. A total of 273 members lost their lives in action. Owing 
to such losses, it was obvious to those in charge that, unless something was done to remedy the situation, 
in no way would they be able to supply the men to man all of the Ships that were being commissioned and 
so ‘Hostilities Only’ Musicians, already able to play an instrument, were recruited and it must be said 
they were a credit to themselves, the School of Music and to their training. They were all good 
instrumentalists and some were also brilliant musicians in the true sense of the word, and they joined 
up in sufficient numbers to make life easier for the Drafting Officer. I personally think that they 
helped the RNSoM to reach new standards in their playing which was already high. Beside which, some 
pensioners were re-called, replacing Bands that were in shore bases or did duties in the barracks 
(the various ones that the ‘School’ moved to during the war) which released regulars for sea duty. 
Then there were non-pensioner ranks, who went out on completion of their twelve years' service (like my 
friend Albert) and came back through patriotic reasons at the start of the war. They served at sea and 
all did their bit and more for their country.

After the war was over, the next outstanding event for the RNSoM was a move to Burford (Oxfordshire) 
from Scarborough (where they had moved to from Malvern, where they had been from early 1941). I was on 
the advance party to prepare the base, which had previously been a hospital for the American Services. 
(I think that it was a holiday camp before the war). An ‘outstanding’ event in as much as it was here 
that we had a visit from Sir Malcolm Sargent who took a great interest in the Royal Naval School of
 Music.

And from there on surely it will not be denied that he influenced greatly the future of the School’s 
musical direction. A visit was also made by Noel Coward and Sir John Barbirolli.

At the same time, Ships were being de-commissioned and the Ships’ Companies were being returned to 
barracks. HOs were being discharged as were the called-up pensioners and the Service was to change 
dramatically in a few years' time, but that was still in the future.

The Band Boys, who had been stationed at the Isle of Man, were now stationed with its senior ranks 
in Burford and in 1948 the RNSoM took over the training of all Royal Marine Buglers, a sign of the 
future coming together of all Royal Marine Bands?

With the addition of the boys (who were now to be called Boy Musicians) Burford was getting cramped 
and it was decided on another move. There were other reasons and rumours were flying around like 
nobody’s business and, I suppose, one of them must have been correct; it’s a matter of the law of 
averages but I will not repeat them. Anyway, the School was to be moved back to Deal, where they 
were at the beginning of the war and accordingly, in February 1950, the Musicians moved (the Boy 
Musicians had gone straight there from their Christmas leave). The Royal Naval School of Music was 
now integrated back with the Royal Marines after a few years of being independent of them.

I have rather concentrated on the Royal Naval School of Music and the Royal Marines Bands and of 
course, this is because I was part of them for so long and I learnt a lot whilst training and being 
with them, and also because of my interest in military music at the time. I must say, though, I have 
forgotten a lot and my memory isn’t what it used to be. However, these bands were certainly not the 
tart of the military band movement in Britain; that honour must fall to the British Army, the Grenadier 
Guards and the Royal Artillery, who probably had the best, (and the biggest) bands of the day. It is 
to the Continent that we must look for the great advancements of the time, both in the new instruments 
and in the use of them, especially the French and the Germans. The British Army followed them and the 
‘Royals’ followed the Army, although later in the 1950s it seemed to be the ‘Royals’ that were doing 
all the running. Indeed it says a lot more for the Germans that in the important years of the development 
of military music they were in great demand as bandmasters and band leaders in the military bands of 
Britain. The Royal Marines employed at least two who served with great distinction and brought honour 
to their adopted Corps.

Normally the music prior to the 1660s was provided by trumpeters and kettledrums in the Cavalry 
regiments (note that Kettle Drums are still used in the Household Cavalry bands today) and drums 
and fifes in the Infantry. The Marines were formed in 1664 (October) and possibly used those instruments 
also. It was a few years after that that King Charles II, who had seen and heard the Oboe bands of the 
French Army during his exile, granted permission for the Horse Grenadiers to employ 6 ‘Hautbois’. About 
the same time the Dragoons were allowed one Oboe and two Drums per Platoon and the King’s Regiment of 
Foot Guards were allowed, by the King, to have a Band of twelve Oboes. Another instrument that was 
coming into general use was the Bassoon, and it wasn’t long (1690s) before each Regiment had its Oboe 
Band. Things were looking up.

It was in the 18th century that the RM Divisional Bands came into existence; Chatham was formed in 
about 1770 and was probably based on the same model as the Royal.Artillery Band, ie. ‘Harmonie-Musik’ 
with 8 players, though the records are not clear. The Portsmouth Band was earlier as they came into 
being in 1763 and were thought to be of the drum and fife variety. The Plymouth Band was formed in 1766 
and was also of the ‘Harmonie-Musik’ type. The Woolwich Divisional Band was brought into being in about 
1826 and seemed to consist of a Trombone, Serpent, Bassoon, Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, a crooked Horn and 
two keyed Bugles (The RMLI based at this barracks, disbanded in 1869 and so the Band was stood down). 
The Royal Marine Artillery (RMA) Band was first formed at Chatham but as the RMA was run down, the 
Band was dis-established, some joining other Bands and some just leaving for other interests. It was 
resurrected when the RMA companies started to increase and again the Band was re-formed, this time in 
Portsmouth. There was one other Band, and that was formed at Deal in 1861 from ranks drafted in from 
Chatham and Woolwich. This, in the strictest sense of the word, was not a Divisional Band, but a Depot 
Band, although in 1900 it was placed on the same footing as a Divisional Band. As regards the Band for 
the Royal Yacht, this was formed when required from the Band of the Royal Marine Artillery which later 
became part of Portsmouth Divisional Band. As it happened, I also saw one of the last performances of 
the Royal Yacht Band, whilst it was being towed, stern first, up the River Thames where it berthed 
alongside the cruiser HMS Belfast before going to its final resting place at Leith, Near Edinburgh.

As to the number of members in the Bands, as was to be expected they increased throughout the years. 
After all what Bandmaster could resist pressing more and more musicians if he was at all ambitious 
(which all Bandmasters are) to play a bigger and better repertoire.

Going back to the time when the RM Bands came into being in the 1700s, brass Horns and Trumpets were 
being added to some Bands, but they were limited as to their use as they could only play the harmonics 
of whatever key was chosen. The Oboes still played the melody. Again,this is according to John Trendell, 
(anyone at all interested in the Royal Naval School of Music and Military music, should really read his 
book, “A Life on the Ocean Wave”). By the middle of the 1700s, a fixed instrumentation had been put into 
use for Bands of the German Army known as the ‘Harmonie-Musik’, consisting of 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 
2 Horns and 2 Bassoons, and a number of musicians were writing music for this combination including 
JC Bach, son of JS Bach.

The Band of the Royal Regiment of Artillery was raised in 1762 with 8 musicians, based on the 
‘Harmonie-Musik’ but with the musicians doubling up on stringed instruments; something that the Royal 
Marines also did a hundred years later. The Harmonie-Musik style caught on with the British Military 
establishment and it wasn’t long before most, if not all bands followed the fashion.

John Trendell tells the story of the Band of eight professional musicians (un-attested men) who formed 
the Band of the Coldstream Guards who refused duty when ordered to play at a social event. They were 
sacked on the spot and the Colonel-in-Chief, the Duke of York, was requested by his officers to get a 
replacement Band from Hanover, the Mecca of military band music the whole world over. The result was a 
larger Band consisting of four Clarinets, two Oboes, two Bassoons, Trumpet and a Serpent, which was a 
first in the British Army. Joseph Haydn used this combination when composing marches for a number of 
British Regiments.
During the last quarter of the 18th century a new craze swept the military band circles on the continent 
called the “Janissary” or “Turkish Music” which had far reaching effects on the British Band movement. 
Where previously the Bands of the British Army and Royal Marines used Kettle Drums or un-snared Drums, 
there was now the Bass Drum, Tenor Drum, Tambourines, Triangles and the ‘Jingling Johnnie’ which was the 
forerunner of the glockenspiel and consisted of several decorative crescent shaped arms mounted on a pole 
from which was suspended several small bells. Accompanying this new addition to the Band would be a 
group of people, dressed in eastern style, who performed various antics whilst the band was playing. 
It seems that the leopard skins that are now worn by Tenor Drummers and the Bass Drummer may be the 
outcome of all this, but that is not known for certain. I am of the opinion that the Drum Major’s dress 
did and from records, this dress dated from about that time.

One side effect of all this percussion and the loud sound that it produced, was to increase the size 
of the rest of the band to counter the noise and so the treble voice, the Clarinets, were increased and 
in 1794 the Grenadier Guards had their number increased to sixteen players, which included six Clarinetists. 
By the early 1800s the Flute and Trombone were added to the musical groups; the term ‘band’ was not then 
in general use to describe a bunch of musicians. During this century, great progress was made in the 
advance of music and in instruments in particular.

Whilst the woodwind section of the bands had progressed tremendously up until this time (throughout the 
18th century) the brass sections had practically stood still. However, in 1810 the Kent Bugle was 
introduced with five keys, and later with seven keys and it was now possible to supplement the Clarinet a
nd Oboe in the treble section, playing melody as well as harmony. It wasn’t long before another brass 
instrument became available, the Ophicleide (who today would recognize the name?) similar to the Keyed 
Bugle though of the Baritone group, though this did not seem to be popular with bandmasters. It was 
during this time that the size of the Bands began to increase at a tremendous rate. The Hanoverian 
Band of the Grenadier Guards, mentioned earlier, had now increased to twenty-two bandsmen. Normally 
Bands of the Army were limited to eleven players including a bandmaster. At the same time an Admiralty 
Order limiting the Royal Marine Divisional Bands to twenty-two musicians was issued. The Royal Artillery 
Band, which you may remember was mostly recruited in Germany, was by now the largest military band in 
Britain having thirty-two players.

Interest in military bands began to increase enormously. Manufacturers in England, France and Germany were 
working hard to produce suitable valved brass instruments and in about 1843, Antoine-Joseph (Adolphe) Sax, 
a Belgian instrument maker, invented the Saxophone. In Prussia (1838) William Wiepracht began reforming the 
Prussian military bands with a fixed instrumentation being introduced consisting of Cornets, Euphoniums and 
Baritones. The French also adopted a standard number and type, including the whole range of Saxhorns. 
British military bands were a bit behind in grasping these new ideas and it was the Grenadier Guards that 
was the first to ‘dip its toes’ into the waters by being the first to employ a B flat Trumpet in 1848 
(played by J Miller, whose son later became a famous and well known bandmaster in Portsmouth Division, 
Major George J Miller, MVO mus. Bac. (Cantab). In 1850 the Grenadiers introduced a Bass Tuba, and in the 
following year a Euphonium, and by 1860 most brass instruments were now in use in Britain, including the 
Saxhorns, Flugelhorns and the E flat Soprano Cornet. The Cornet had replaced the Keyed Bugle and the 
Euphonium had replaced the Ophicleide. It was also about this time that the Saxophone was introduced. 
A whole range had been introduced but all but the middle range had been discarded. In 1848 the Royal 
Artillery introduced the E flat Saxophone and later it brought forward the B flat Saxophone. It is 
reported by John Trendell in his book “A Life on the Ocean Wave” that these Saxophones were all withdrawn 
and replaced by Bass Clarinets; most strange. It wasn’t until the start of the twentieth century that the 
Saxophone became an established instrument in British military bands and in 1921 agreement was reached to 
replace the B flat Saxhorn (Baritone) with the B flat Saxophone.

It may be interesting now to relate how Kneller Hall came into being, as it made a great difference to 
the standard of musicianship in the military band movement in Britain. During the Crimean War the massed 
bands of the British Army played at Scutari in Turkey and, at the opening of the programme, “God Save 
the Queen” was struck up and the resulting noise was such that it created uproar. Each Band had its own 
arrangement, each written in a different key and it is possible that some had different pitched 
instruments. It was a shambles, as we would say today. The outcome of this was Kneller Hall, The Royal 
Military School of Music. What is generally not known of Kneller Hall is that it did not, and does not, 
train people to play instruments, the Regimental Bands do that if necessary or, better still, they 
recruited men who could already play. Kneller Hall trained promising instrumentalists to be musicians, 
able to compose, conduct and in general took them through all aspects of musical training and made them 
suitable to become the bandmasters of the future. They did and still do an excellent job of work, proof 
of which is the terrific name that it has built up over the years for excellence.

Another improvement in the playing of massed bands took place shortly after the establishment of 
Kneller Hall and this was to standardize the pitch of the instruments and this happened in 1858. The 
pitch selected was the high pitch of A=453 cycles per sec. Some 70 years later it was changed again
to a lower pitch A=439 cycles per second and this was employed by the rest of the musical world other 
than in the brass bands, who resisted the change-over until around 1956. Of course the effect of this 
was to enable any group or even a single musician to play with any other player, or group of players, 
anywhere in the world - a big plus in anybody’s language.

In the meantime, the Divisional Bands of the Royal Marines were keeping up with the changes in the musical 
world outside, and bandmasters were moving around from one regiment to another and often from one country 
to another. I mentioned earlier a German who did honour to his adopted country and to the Corps that he 
graced with his presence: Mr Jacob A Kappey, who had once served in the German army, served in the Chatham 
Division. He started off in the position of civilian bandmaster of the 89th Regiment of Foot. He was a 
complete musician, conductor and composer able to write operas and cantatas and hundreds of military band 
arrangements. This was the man who arranged the Royal Marines Regimental March from a ‘song of the sea’. 
This was used by all of the Royal Marine Divisions when, prior to this, each Division had their own tune 
to ‘march past’ to. Each Divisional Bandmaster submitted an entry of what they thought the Regimental 
March should be, and Mr Jacob A Kappey won the competition. Mr Kreyer (Portsmouth RMLI and of German 
origin), Mr Froehnert (Plymouth RMLI who came from Saxony) and the only ‘home-grown’ Bandmaster, Mr John 
Winterbottom (RMA), were the other bandmasters at that time.

As regards recruitment in the Royal Marine (Divisional) Bands, as far as I can see, they did recruit 
some youngsters and taught them to play but mostly they recruited men who were already trained and then 
they trained them to an even higher standard. One place that they refused to recruit from was the Royal 
Naval School of Music. I suppose that they cannot be blamed as in the School’s early days the standards 
were not high. The standards were very soon to improve greatly and it seemed to me to be a shame that 
musicians were denied advancement because of this prejudice; however, I see it from the position of 
being a former band boy and then a musician in the School of Music. It so happened that in 1944 an order 
was passed by the General Officer Commanding Royal Marines saying that when recruiting for the Royal 
Marine Divisional Bands, preferential treatment was to be given to musicians from the Royal Naval 
School of Music, providing that nine years service had been served by the person wanting a transfer. 
This made a big difference in relations between the two arms of the Royal Marines as at long last the 
RNSM had been ‘recognised’ by those who thought that they were the better ones, though truth to tell, 
not a lot of people in the ‘School’ were concerned or even knew about it as we had long since stopped 
feeling like the poor relations.

There is still an account to be written of the Royal Marines Band Service in present times, including 
the first time that a ‘firl’ musician was signed on, but I have very little knowledge of that. All that 
I do know is, I have heard the Bands on quite a number of occasions both in concert and on the parade 
ground, (men and women) and they made me proud that I was part of that Corps, and it also makes all Royal 
Marines, even those who were not musicians, proud that they wore the ‘Globe and Laurel’ on their cap badges. 
The present musicians, as with their predecessors, are a great credit to their training, the Royal Marines 
Band Service, the Royal Marines Corps and to their country. What more can be said?


1 Only until their current engagement expired.
2 This was the continuation of a practice that had existed for very many years.

3 This is believed to be Albert Howden.

4 Two General List officers were still provided by the RMA as Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent 
with responsibility for the administration and discipline of the School. The Jerram Committee recommended 
autonomy for the musical training and band deployment parts of the School.

5  Once a common estimate but now known to be too high; a lot depends upon the figures used. However 
it is still believed that the RNSM incurred the highest percentage losses as stated.

6 Now known to have begun, when called Fire Control, at various RM locations and much earlier than this 
(c1910-1915). The Transmitting Station training developed from this but was still much earlier than World 
War II.

 FROM:  http://www.royalmarinesbands.co.uk/history/MyServiceInRMSM.html