Band and Bugles of The Rifles

Last updated

The Band & Bugles of the Rifles
Active1 February 2007 to Present
CountryFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
BranchFlag of the British Army.svg  British Army
Type Military band
Role Public duties
Size48
Part of Royal Corps of Army Music
HeadquartersRHQ—Winchester
MarchQuick: Mechanised Infantry
Double Past: Keel Row/Road to the Isles
Slow: Old Salamanca
Commanders
Commanding Officer and Director of MusicMajor Séan O’Neill
BandmasterWO2 Alexandra Nixon

The Band and Bugles of the Rifles is a military band serving as the regimental band for The Rifles, the sole rifle regiment and the largest in the British Army. It is the senior most of three bands in the regiment and is the only one that is part of the regular army. [1] Uniquely, it employs bugles at its front, a tradition that goes back to the conflicts of the 18th century. Major Séan O’Neill is currently serving as the Director of Music (DOM) of the band and bugles. [2] It is part of the Royal Corps of Army Music.

Contents

Origins of rifle bands

The Band and Bugles uphold traditions that date back to as far as 1665. In their early years, drums were abandoned by rifle regiments and were replaced with the silver bugle. The Rifles pioneered the use of the bugle as a way of communicating on the battlefields as well as giving orders. The use of bugles date back to the Napoleonic Wars as a result of the lessons learned during the American Revolutionary War.

The Light Infantry

The Light Infantry maintained the other half of the lineage of the Band and Bugles. In April 1985, the band was reduced from six to four regular bands. [3] The final two bands consisted of the Corunna Band and the Salamanca Band.

RGJ Bands

Battalion Bands

When cuts were made to regimental bands in 1984, the Royal Green Jackets decided to have two medium-sized bands rather than three small ones.

1st Battalion

The 1st Battalion band dates its lineage from the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry Band and Bugles. The regiment is noted as having a "Band of Music" as early as 1768. An ensemble which was then part of the 43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot grew to 11 members by 1792. The Standing Orders of the 43rd Foot issued in 1795 make clear how the band was established. In 1958, the Regiment was redesignated the 1st Green Jackets, which was marked by a military parade in Cyprus with the band performing of the marches of all the constituent regiments. With its redesignation, it marked the first time that the Battalion and the band had been stationed at back home since it was sent to fight in the Second World War in 1939. The massed bands made their debut performance soon after at Wembley Stadium for an England-Italy football international, though unfortunately the wrong Italian national anthem was played, which must have caused some offence. Stationed in Berlin at the time of the regiment's amalgamation, the band continued its standard round of engagements such as the Queen's Birthday Parade in 1966 as well as foreign trips to locations throughout the world such as Hong Kong to Northern Ireland. [4]

2nd Battalion

The King's Royal Rifle Corps Band dates back to 1783. It served in every war that has occurred since then including both World Wars. In 1958, the KRRC was officially redesignated the 2nd Green Jackets, though this had little immediate effect on the Band. Ted Jeanes continued as Bandmaster until 1961 when he was succeeded by Stewart Swanwick, formerly a musician in the 3rd King's African Rifles. In May 1969, was succeeded as Bandmaster by Jack Boden, who built on the legacy of his predecessors. In the 70s, the band served in Germany, all while alternating with the UK. Historical highlights include the Wembley Pageants of 1971 and 1973 and public duties at Buckingham Palace in 1972. In 1975, the Battalion was moved to Cyprus, where the Band played during Silver Jubilee Parade in 1977. [5]

1985-1994

Between the disbandment of the battalion bands of the Royal Green Jackets in 1985 and the creation of the Band of the Light Division in 1994, the Royal Green Jackets had two regimental bands: the Normandy Band and the Peninsula Band. [6]

Normandy Band of the RGJ

Bandmaster David Little, formerly a member of the 1st Green Jackets, was to remain for only just over a year before retiring, after which he was succeeded in December 1985 by trumpeter and percussionist Ian McElligott. Major events forte band took place in 1987 and 1988, during which the band took part in events, such as the Royal Bath and an inspection of Kneller Hall. 1989 saw the band being posted to Gibraltar, from which a tour was undertaken to Morocco to honour the 60th birthday of King Hassan II, performing a Sounding Retreat at Royal Palaces in Marrakesh and Fez. McElligott wa transferred to the Royal Military School of Music in 1992 and was replaced by Barry Wassell, who at the time of the formation of the Light Division, was moved to the newly formed Band of the Royal Lancers as Bandmaster as a training officer. [7]

Peninsula Band of the RGJ

The Peninsula Band was first led by bandmaster Ian Harding on its formation, remaining on for 8 years. In 1988, it visited Canada as the official band for the exercise Medicine Man 3, as well as participate in the Calgary Stampede and conduct marching displays at the Olympic Plaza. After four years of being stationed in Germany as part of the British Army of the Rhine, which included tours of Sweden, Austria, Belgium, and France, the Band returned to its British barracks in 1989. They returned in 1989 for the 75th anniversary celebrations of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, an affiliated Canadian Army regiment. Harding retired in 1992 and was succeeded by Ian Macpherson.

Hyde Park bombings

An oblong slate plaque with inscriptions in gold, set into a low wall. Regent's Park memorial sign.JPG
An oblong slate plaque with inscriptions in gold, set into a low wall.

Seven band members were killed on 20 July 1982 alongside four soldiers of the Blues and Royals by an improvised bomb by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) at a public concert in Hyde Park and Regent's Park. The RGJ concert in the latter featured music from Oliver! to 120 people at the bandstand in Regents Park. [8] The bomb had been hidden under the stand some time before and seemed to be designed to cause minimal harm to bystanders. [9] [10]

The seven fatalities from the RGJ Band included the following:

The band was regrouped five weeks later with just nine men under the direction of David Little. In 1983, a concert on a rebuilt bandstand was held by the band to commemorate the unveiling of a memorial plaque by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Light Division

In August 1994, the Band and Bugles of the Light Division was formed from a merger of the four regimental bands of the Light Division. The Band and Bugles was one of the various artists featured on Over the Hills & Far Away: The Music of Sharpe , released in 1996 as a companion to the Sharpe television series. [11] At the time of its existence, it was the only 49 piece Army band based outside London. It had recent overseas tours have included Jordan, Greece, Cyprus and much of continental Europe. [12]

Modern day

On 1 February 2007, the Light Division was reformed into The Rifles. The traditional names of the regiments that formed the regiment were not retained, which resulted in the band being renamed. [13]

The band performs in the musicians also perform in many varied combinations such as:

The band provides support for many famous military and civilian events including Garden Parties at Buckingham Palace and the former Royal Tournament as well as making regular television and radio appearances. [14] The section of the band that performs with bugles are known collectively as the Bugle Platoon, which is composed of 20 soldiers from the five regular battalions. Many bugler's complete an 18-week course at the Army School of Ceremonial in Catterick. In June 2016, the Band and Bugles was prohibited from marching in a Sounding Retreat Ceremony at the fields of Bodmin Town F.C. in Cornwall, citing concerns over the conditions of the landscape that might be messed up due to the marching. Lance Kennedy, the Mayor of Bodmin, described it as an "unfortunate decision". [15] In October 2017, the band performed for pupils at the Haberdashers' Adams. [16]

The Buglers' Association was initially created in 2013 by veteran buglers of The Light Infantry to give former buglers their own association. The Association buglers are now regularly engaged in performing at events across the country, the scale of which is growing as of the present. Today, these buglers perform in almost all occasions, including funerals, Remembrance Day ceremonies, parades and concerts with the Band of the Rifles and/or the reserve bands. [17]

Traditions

Marching pace

The Buglers are selected from the regular battalions and are trained to play the bugle and a fast march of 140 paces per minute. [18] [19] In doing this, they march in a half-step. As a result of this fact, the band sounds a bugle call followed by a quick drum beat to signal a quick march, which breaks from other military bands that use a regular drum beat for this purpose. The band never performs slow marches except during occasions that require it (i.e. Trooping of the Colour, Presentation of Colours, Changing of the King's Guard).

Sounding Retreat

The Sounding Retreat is form of the Beating Retreat ceremony of the Household Division that is performed by the Band and Bugles as well as all other rifle bands. The National ceremony (which represents Retreat in the British Army) has been done on 31 May and 1 June on Horse Guards Parade, with the recent one being held in 2022. Besides the Bugle Band of the Rifles, the Band of the Brigade of Gurkhas also takes part in the ceremony, alongside other bugle bands and the Bugler's Association. In 2016, the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry Band from Canada took part in the ceremony. [20] [21] Prior to 2016, it had been conducted in London on very few occasions, with previous years including 1993, 1987 and 1979.

Bugle Major

The ceremonial leader of the band is known as the Bugle Major, who stands as a version of the Drum major. Unlike other military drum majors, the bugle major utilizes a shorter mace that is carried at the side of the torso. When preparing to march, the commander of the guard call out: "Bugle Major!", to which the actual Bugle Major responds with "Sir!" and begins conducting the bugle calls for a quick march. In the case of marching at the double, the guard commander which yell: "Sound the Double!"

Colonel Commandant’s Annual Inspection

The Colonel Commandant’s Annual Inspection is held annually at the Army Training Regiment Winchester. It features a marching display as well as a Bugle Competition. [22] [23]

Commonly played and adapted music

Regimental marches: [24] [25]

Historical marches:

Other Bugle Calls:

Influence

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King's Royal Rifle Corps</span> Infantry rifle regiment of the British Army

The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United States as 'The French and Indian War.' Subsequently numbered the 60th Regiment of Foot, the regiment served for more than 200 years throughout the British Empire. In 1958, the regiment joined the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and the Rifle Brigade in the Green Jackets Brigade and in 1966 the three regiments were formally amalgamated to become the Royal Green Jackets. The KRRC became the 2nd Battalion, Royal Green Jackets. On the disbandment of the 1st Battalion, Royal Green Jackets in 1992, the RGJ's KRRC battalion was redesignated as the 1st Battalion, Royal Green Jackets, eventually becoming 2nd Battalion, The Rifles in 2007.

The Infantry of the British Army comprises 49 infantry battalions, from 19 regiments. Of these, 33 battalions are part of the Regular army and the remaining 16 a part of the Army Reserve. The British Army's Infantry takes on a variety of roles, including armoured, mechanised, air assault and light.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queen's Own Rifles of Canada</span> Military unit

The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada is a Primary Reserve regiment of the Canadian Armed Forces, based in Toronto. The regiment is part of 4th Canadian Division's 32 Canadian Brigade Group. It is the only reserve regiment in Canada to currently have a parachute role. The regiment consists of the reserve battalion, the Regimental Association, and the Regimental Band and Bugles. The official abbreviation is The QOR of C, but the name is often abbreviated to QOR.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Green Jackets</span> Military unit

The Royal Green Jackets (RGJ) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, one of two "large regiments" within the Light Division.

The Rifle Volunteers was a regiment of the British Territorial Army. In 2007, it was re-designated as 6th Battalion, The Rifles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Green Jackets (Rifles) Museum</span> Regimental museum in Peninsula Barracks, Winchester

The Royal Green Jackets (Rifles) Museum is situated at Peninsula Barracks in Winchester, England. The museum is one of several regimental museums that form part of Winchester's Military Museums.

The 1st Green Jackets was an infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1958 to 1966. The regiment served in the Cyprus Emergency, Brunei Revolt, Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation and West Berlin. The regiment formed part of the Green Jackets Brigade and in 1963 was redesignated as a rifle regiment.

The Rifles is an infantry regiment of the British Army. Formed in 2007, it consists of four Regular battalions and three Reserve battalions. Each Regular battalion of The Rifles was formerly an individual battalion of one of the two large regiments of the Light Division. Since formation, the regiment has been involved in combat operations in the later stages of the Iraq War and in the War in Afghanistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Winnipeg Rifles</span> Military unit

The Royal Winnipeg Rifles are a Primary Reserve one-battalion infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. Nicknamed the "Little Black Devils", they are based at Minto Armoury in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Royal Winnipeg Rifles are part of 3rd Canadian Division's 38 Canadian Brigade Group.

The Light Division is a light infantry division of the British Army. It was reformed in 2022, as part of Future Soldier reforms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Wallace (British Army officer)</span> British Army general (1943–2016)

Lieutenant General Sir Christopher Brooke Quentin Wallace was a British Army officer and military historian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rifle regiment</span> Military unit type and size designation

A rifle regiment is a military unit consisting of a regiment of infantry troops armed with rifles and known as riflemen. While all infantry units in modern armies are typically armed with rifled weapons the term is still used to denote regiments that follow the distinct traditions that differentiated them from other infantry units.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baloch Regiment</span> Infantry regiment of the Pakistan Army

The Baloch Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Pakistan Army. The modern regiment was formed in May 1956 by the merger of 8th Punjab and Bahawalpur Regiments with the Baluch Regiment. Since then, further raisings have brought the strength of the Regiment to 27 battalions. The Baloch Regiment is descended from the infantry of the old British Indian Army and is named after Balochistan. Before 1991, it was called the Baluch Regiment but the spelling was changed to 'Baloch' to better reflect the correct pronunciation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry</span> Light infantry regiment of the British Army

The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry (DCLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1959.

A large regiment is a multi-battalion infantry formation of the British Army. First formed in the 1960s, large regiments are the result of the amalgamation of a number of existing single-battalion regiments, and perpetuate the traditions of each of the predecessor units.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian military bands</span>

Canadian military bands are a group of personnel in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) that performs musical duties for military functions. Military bands form a part of the Music Branch of the CAF, composed of six full-time professional Regular Force bands, 15 Regular Force voluntary bands, and 53 part-time reserve force bands. Bands of the Music Branch are often badged with the unit or Canadian Forces base insignia that they support.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Band of the Brigade of Gurkhas</span> British military band

The Band of the Brigade of Gurkhas is a British military band based at Shorncliffe. It supports the British Army and the Brigade of Gurkhas in ceremonial settings, pass off parades, concerts and many other musical support tasks. It is a directly reporting unit of Regional Bands HQ (RBANDS) under London District, which sponsors the promotion of British military music. It is one of two 'Light Pace' regular wind bands in the British Army.. The band has travelled extensively since its inception, travelling more recently to The Falkland Islands, Australia, Brunei, Canada, France, Germany, Nepal, Belgium. Today, musicians from Nepal are chosen during their Gurkha military training. Their musical instruction commences first under Director of Music (DOM) and then under supervision of the Royal Military School of Music.

The Band of the Royal Irish Regiment is a military band serving as the regimental band for Royal Irish Regiment and the chief Irish military reserve band in the British Army. Being a reserve band, with is composed of volunteer musicians with the exception of a permanent staff instructor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military bands of the United Kingdom</span> Musical ensembles maintained by the British uniformed services

The military bands of the United Kingdom are musical units that serve for protocol and ceremonial duties as part of the British Armed Forces. They have been the basis and inspiration for many military bands in the former British Empire and the larger Commonwealth of Nations as well as musical organizations in other countries. Military musical units with British influence include United States military bands, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Music Corps and the Military Band of Athens. British military bands are controlled by the military music departments of the three services that compose the armed forces. These include the Royal Marines Band Service, the Royal Corps of Army Music, and the Royal Air Force Music Services. British style brass bands and carnival bands were then and are currently inspired by the British Armed Forces and its brass bands, especially of the Army's regular and reserve formations, as they follow a similar format as it relates to brass and percussion instruments.

The 7th Battalion, The Rifles is an Army Reserve battalion of the British Army originally formed from elements of the Royal Rifle Volunteers, and Royal Green Jacket badged Sub-Units of The London Regiment following the Future Army Structure programme, and remains an integral part of the regiment.

References

  1. ↑ [ dead link ]
  2. ↑ "Buxton Military Tattoo - Director of Music". Buxtontattoo.org.uk. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  3. ↑ "The Years of Consolidatiion". www.lightinfantry.me.uk. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  4. ↑ "Ox & Bucks - 1RGJ | THE ROYAL GREEN JACKETS BAND & BUGLES | Tony Dowd". www.rgjband.com. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  5. ↑ "KRRC - 2RGJ | THE ROYAL GREEN JACKETS BAND & BUGLES | Tony Dowd". www.rgjband.com. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  6. ↑ "RGJ Bands | THE ROYAL GREEN JACKETS BAND & BUGLES | Tony Dowd". www.rgjband.com. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  7. ↑ "The Normandy Band Of The Royal Green Jackets". Discogs (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  8. ↑ "1982: IRA bombs cause carnage in London". BBC. 20 July 1982. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Chalk, Peter. Encyclopedia of Terrorism. ABC-CLIO, 2012. pp.614–615. ISBN   0313308950
  10. ↑ "1982: IRA bombs cause carnage in London". BBC News. 20 July 1982. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  11. ↑ "Over the Hills and Far Away: The Music of Sharpe - Original TV Soundtrack". Allmusic . Retrieved 11 February 2012.
  12. ↑ "British Light Infantry Regiments". www.lightinfantry.org.uk. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  13. ↑ "The Band Of The Light Division". Discogs (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  14. ↑ "The Band and Bugles of The Rifles". www.dlisouthshields.org.uk. Archived from the original on 19 February 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  15. ↑ "Bodmin football pitch ban on Band and Bugles of The Rifles". BBC News. 8 June 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  16. ↑ "StackPath". www.adamsgs.uk. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  17. ↑ "The Buglers' Association|About Us". buglers.org.uk. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  18. ↑ "The Rifles". Wyedean Stores - Superstore. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  19. ↑ "The Band and Bugles of the Rifles star in Chichester concert". Sussexworld. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  20. ↑ "The Duke of Edinburgh takes the salute at Sounding Retreat | The Royal Family". Royal.uk. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  21. ↑ Wathall, Kate (3 June 2016). "Sounding Retreat Celebrates Riflemen Past And Present". Forces Network. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  22. ↑ Sadler, Claire (5 April 2017). "Army Buglers Face The Music". Forces Network. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  23. ↑ "band and bugles of the rifles". The Official British Army Blog. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  24. ↑ "British Light Infantry Regiments". www.lightinfantry.org.uk. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  25. ↑ "Music of the Light Infantry". www.dlisouthshields.org.uk. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  26. ↑ "Silver Bugles Band | Somerset Army Cadets". Army Cadet Force. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.