The Band of the Parachute Regiment was the regimental band of the Parachute Regiment under the Royal Corps of Army Music.
The Parachute Regiment was formed on 1 August 1942. It did not receive any musical support until 1947 when the band of the 1st and 2nd Battalion was formed in Aldershot, Hampshire. [1] A year later, the Band of the 3rd Battalion was formed. [2]
In the 1985 Defence Review, the three battalion bands were disbanded and reformed to make up two new larger regimental bands, the Falklands and Pegasus Bands. These bands provided music to the three battalions of the Parachute Regiment and additional airborne units. [2] In 1994, 'Options for Change' resulted in the creation of the Corps of Army Music and subsequently the amalgamation of the Falklands and Pegasus Band to create the Band of the Parachute Regiment under the command of the Director of Music. [2]
In 2019, the Band of the Parachute Regiment was amalgamated with the Band of the Queen's Division and Band of the Army Air Corps into British Army Bands Colchester. [3]
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The Parachute Regiment, colloquially known as the Paras, is the airborne and elite infantry regiment of the British Army. The first battalion is part of the Special Forces Support Group under the operational command of the Director Special Forces. The other battalions are the parachute infantry component of the British Army's rapid response formation, 16 Air Assault Brigade. The Paras, along with the Guards, are the only line infantry regiment of the British Army that has not been amalgamated with another unit since the end of the Second World War.
The Royal Logistic Corps provides logistic support functions to the British Army. It is the largest Corps in the Army.
The Royal Corps of Signals is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communications and information systems essential to all operations. Royal Signals units provide the full telecommunications infrastructure for the Army wherever they operate in the world. The Corps has its own engineers, logistics experts and systems operators to run radio and area networks in the field. It is responsible for installing, maintaining and operating all types of telecommunications equipment and information systems, providing command support to commanders and their headquarters, and conducting electronic warfare against enemy communications.
The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers is an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Queen's Division. Currently, the regiment has two battalions: the 1st Battalion, part of the Regular Army, is an armoured infantry battalion based in Tidworth, Wiltshire, and the 5th Battalion, part of the Army Reserve, recruits in the traditional fusilier recruiting areas across England. The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers was largely unaffected by the infantry reforms that were announced in December 2004, but under the Army 2020 reduction in the size of the Army, the 2nd Battalion was merged into the first in 2014.
Options for Change was a restructuring of the British Armed Forces in summer 1990 after the end of the Cold War.
The Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR) is an infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. The regiment consists of four battalions, three in the Regular Force and one in the primary reserve. The RCR is ranked first in the order of precedence amongst Canadian Army infantry regiments, but in a quirk of the rules of seniority, its 4th battalion is ninth.
The Royal Corps of Army Music is a Corps of the British Army dedicated to the provision and promotion of military music.
The Queen's Regiment (QUEENS) was an infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1966 through the amalgamation of the four regiments of the Home Counties Brigade. Then, until 1971 the regiment remained one of the largest regiments in the army, with 10 battalions, however these were reduced to just six, and later five battalions. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Options for Change reform was published and the regiment amalgamated with the Royal Hampshire Regiment to form the Princess of Wales's Royal 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 was formerly an individual battalion of one of the two large regiments of the Light Division. Since formation, the regiment has been involved in the later stages of the Iraq War and in the War in Afghanistan.
16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team, known simply as 16 Air Assault Brigade from 1999 – 2021, is a formation of the British Army predominantly based in Colchester, Essex. It makes up the Air Assault Task Force, a battlegroup held at high readiness, and is the only brigade in the British Army focused on operating via parachute, helicopter and air-landing.
The Scottish Division was a British Army Infantry command, training and administrative apparatus designated for all Scottish line infantry units. It merged with the Prince of Wales' Division, to form the Scottish, Welsh and Irish Division in 2017.
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The Queen's Division is a British Army training and administrative apparatus for infantry regiments from the East & South of England, and Gibraltar.
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A military mascot, also known as a ceremonial pet or regimental mascot, is a pet animal maintained by a military unit as a mascot for ceremonial purposes and/or as an emblem of that unit. It differs from a military animal in that it is not employed for use directly in warfare as a weapon or for transport.
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The Lowland Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland is a military band in the Territorial Army and one of three military bands in the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The band is based at the East Claremont Street drill hall in Edinburgh and is administered by 52nd Lowland, 6th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland. The other two bands in the Regiment are the regular Regimental Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, which is based at Dreghorn Barracks in Edinburgh and is administered by the Royal Corps of Army Music, and the other is the territorial Highland Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, which is based at Queen's Barracks in Perth and administered by 51st Highland, 7th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland.
The Guards and Parachute Division is an administrative unit of the British Army responsible for the training and administration of the regiments of Foot Guards and the Parachute Regiment. The division is responsible for providing two battalions for public duties to London District ; although the guards are most associated with ceremony, they are nevertheless operational infantry battalions, and as such perform all the various roles of infantry.