The Royal Corps of Army Music | |
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Active | 1994–Present |
Country | United Kingdom |
Branch | British Army |
Size | 753 regular musicians |
Headquarters | Gibraltar Barracks, Minley |
Motto(s) | Unity Through Excellence |
March | The Music Makers (quick) Esprit De Corps (slow) |
Commanders | |
Colonel in Chief | Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh |
Colonel Commandant | Major General David Eastman |
Honorary Colonel | Robert Rinder |
Arms of the British Army |
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Combat Arms |
Combat Support Arms |
Combat Services |
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The Royal Corps of Army Music (RCAM, widely known by its former acronym CAMUS) is a Corps of the British Army dedicated to the provision and promotion of military music.
The formation of the Corps of Army Music was triggered by a defence review known as Options for Change in 1991 and followed a 1993 announcement by the Chief of the General Staff that the number of regular army bands was to be reduced from 69 to 30. The period saw the number of personnel fall from 2,000 to 1,100, with Lieutenant Colonel Roger Tomlinson of the Royal Military School of Music describing it as "a gloomy time for those of us in the military music business". [1] The Queen signed a warrant on 13 August 1994 to allow the formation of the Corps of Army Music. All regular army officers who were Directors of Music in the various corps and regiments and all regular army musicians would transfer to the Corps of Army Music - now the newest and most junior corps in the army - on 1 September 1994. [2]
The home of the corps was established at Kneller Hall in Twickenham, a site that already encompassed the Royal Military School of Music. The school was founded by the Duke of Cambridge, soon after his appointment as Commander in Chief in 1857, when the first class of military musicians was formed, a 'Class of Music'. The establishment was retitled as The Royal Military School of Music by Queen Victoria in 1887. [2]
The Future Army Structure review of 2004 saw the bands of the Regular Army reduced from 30 to 23. [3] In 2019 the number of Regular Army bands was further reduced to 14. [4]
In 2019, the Corps of Army Music was restructured with a number of bands being co-located and re-named. [5] In a process of 'Military Music Optimization', the regular Army band laydown was adjusted to enable several smaller bands to train and perform as larger bands for more significant Army events: 'Co-locating 11 of the smaller bands in three major garrisons and Sandhurst has increased the flexibility of CAMUS to perform at a huge breadth of events without compromising any of the traditional bands that have been performing for many years'. [6]
During a visit to Kneller Hall in December 2020, the Earl and Countess of Wessex announced the Corps of Army Music would be renamed the Royal Corps of Army Music from January 2021. [7] This change was formally marked with a new title presentation in January 2021 with the Countess in attendance. [8]
In September 2021, the Corps Headquarters moved to Gibraltar Barracks in Minley, whilst the Royal Military School of Music moved to HMS Nelson alongside the Royal Marines School of Music. [9]
The 14 constituent bands of the Corps are as follows: [10]
In addition to providing personnel for all the above bands, the Corps of Army Music provides 'technical support' for the Band of the Brigade of Gurkhas, based at Shorncliffe Camp, Folkestone, which is separately constituted. [14] Other bands may be formed from time to time by drawing together personnel from different ensembles; for example the British Army Brass Band (founded by two Army Bandmasters in 2007) is 'made up of players across all bands of the Army, Regulars and Reservists'. [15]
All Army Reserve bands are not part of RCAM, reporting to their respective regimental/battalion headquarters, and provide around 30% of all the Army's musical output. The current Army Reserve bands, as of April 2021, are as follows: [16]
All Army Volunteer Bands serve in a voluntary capacity and have no army reserves commitment but still perform for various mess functions, church parades and civic functions, supporting their regiment and the wider regimental family. The uniform worn is that of the regular regiment which is headquartered in the Tower of London. [18]
The Royal Armoured Corps is the armoured arm of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 and the Warrior tracked armoured vehicle. It includes most of the Army's armoured regiments, both the Royal Tank Regiment and those converted from old horse cavalry regiments. In September 2024, it comprised fourteen regiments: ten Regular Regiments; four Army Reserve. Although the Household Cavalry Regiment provide an armoured regiment, they are not part of the RAC.
A stable belt is a striped coloured belt worn at times by the armed forces of the United Kingdom, other Commonwealth countries, and a few other countries including Denmark, Brazil and Lebanon. The stripes vary by regiment and corps, identifying the wearer's unit. In Brazil and Lebanon they are known as gymnastic belts.
Options for Change was a restructuring of the British Armed Forces in summer 1990 after the end of the Cold War.
The Royal Yeomanry (RY) is the senior reserve cavalry regiment of the British Army. Equipped with Supacat Jackal variants, their role is to conduct mounted and dismounted formation reconnaissance. The Regimental Headquarters is located in Leicester, with squadrons in Fulham, Nottingham, Dudley, Croydon, Telford, and Leicester. The regiment is part of the Royal Armoured Corps and is only reserve cavalry regiment to resubordinate into regular brigade as part of the Future Soldier Programme, which in turn arose from the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy published in March 2021.
The uniforms of the British Army currently exist in twelve categories ranging from ceremonial uniforms to combat dress. Uniforms in the British Army are specific to the regiment to which a soldier belongs. Full dress presents the most differentiation between units, and there are fewer regimental distinctions between ceremonial dress, service dress, barrack dress and combat dress, though a level of regimental distinction runs throughout.
The 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army with a long history including service during both the First and the Second World Wars. It was based at Tidworth Camp. Previously, it has been designated 1st (Guards) Brigade, 1st Infantry Brigade, 1st Mechanised Brigade, and under the initial Army 2020 reforms assumed the title of 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade. Under the Future Soldier programme, the brigade merged with the 1st Artillery Brigade to form the 1st Deep Recce Strike Brigade Combat Team.
The Royal Regiment of Scotland (SCOTS) is the senior and only current Scottish line infantry regiment of the British Army Infantry. It consists of three regular and two reserve battalions, plus an incremental company, each formerly an individual regiment. However, three regular battalions maintain their former regimental pipes and drums to carry on the traditions of their antecedent regiments.
In countries whose armies are organised on a regimental basis, such as the army of the United Kingdom, a regimental museum is a military museum dedicated to the history of a specific army regiment.
In September 1939, the British Army was in process of expanding their anti-aircraft and mobile assets. Among these new changes was the formation of Anti-Aircraft Command which was formed on 1 April 1939, and the 1st Armoured Division formed in 1937. The list below will include the British Army units, colonial units, and those units which were in the process of formation.
The following is a list of the notable Regimental Marches for military regiments of the British Army. In addition, all regiments have additional pieces for slow marches, marches for mounted parades and pipe marches.
The Royal Artillery Band was the first official, and permanent British military band originating in 1557, but granted official status in 1762. Consisting of woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments, it represented both the Royal Regiment of Artillery, and the state. The Royal Artillery Orchestra [disbanded on 9 February 2014] was Britain's first permanent professional orchestra. All other bands in the British Army received official, permanent status from 1763 onward. Now that the band's overall history of over four and a half centuries has come to an end, it is now claimed that the Band of the Grenadier Guards are the oldest band, with their overall history of over three hundred and thirty years. It is however, important to consider that until 1762, all military bands were formed as and when required, and then immediately disbanded when not, and that they consisted only of hired, civilian musicians; becoming integrated professional soldiers in 1762 and from 1763.
The page contains the current structure of the British Army. The British Army is currently being reorganised to the Future Soldier structure.
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.
Future Soldier is a reform of the British Army resulting from the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy published in March 2021. The aim of the reform is to create a more lethal, agile and expeditionary force, able to fight and win wars and to operate in the grey-zone between peace and war. Future Soldier was published on 25 November 2021 and deals with the organizational changes of the British Army, with changes to personnel and equipment were set out in the Defence in a Competitive Age paper published on 22 March 2021.
The 1st Deep Reconnaissance Strike Brigade Combat Team is a formation of the British Army, currently headquartered in Delhi Barracks, Tidworth Camp, Wiltshire, as part of the 3rd Division.