| Gurkha Band 1947 |
Posted
on 28-Aug-02 12:10 PM
To compress the history of the Band into a short space is difficult, for it is a long and glorious one, and still in the making!
The Band was raised in November 1859 as part of an Indian Gurkha Regiment called The Sirmoor Rifle Regiment. It had 16 Bandsmen and one Naik (a leader) and soon became a part of Regimental life, playing for parades, polo matches, dinners and troop entertainment at the Regimental base at Dehra Dun, North East of Delhi. In the early days the Band travelled with the Regiment to other areas of India, Malta, Cyprus and Afghanistan.
1886 saw the raising of a second battalion which allowed for a further 16 Bandsmen and Naik and whenever possible these joined the already trained Band, effectively forming one large band. As the two battalions were often co-located this worked well enough but when separated, the Band would support each battalion with a smaller group both musically and as stretcher bearers on operational duties.
As no establishement existed for a Bandmaster in Indian regiments it was fashionable to employ European musicians at Regimental expense. The first on record was Sergeant Cliodetti, a retired Italian military musician. His contract commenced about 1875 after which he spent many years as Bandmaster, married four times and had 27 children!
When India was partitioned in 1947 Gurkha Regiments chose their new affiliations to either Britain or India. The 2nd Goorkhas, as the Regiment was now called, chose Britain and sailed for Sungei Patani in Malaya with the Band instruments. Sadly there were no Bandsmen to play them as they had all elected to remain in India!
In 1949 sanction was given to raise the Band again, with some 56 recruits commencing training. Ad-hoc musical instruction from co-located British Regimental Bandmasters was given until May 1951 when Captain J P C Bailey MBE was appointed as the first Director of Music. From that day forward they have delighted crowds with their fast and slick marching displays, lively concert music, ethnic Nepali folk tunes and colourful traditional dances.
In 1950 the decision was made to raise a 'Staff' Band for the Brigade and by 1958 there were two flourishing Gurkha Bands. This happy state continued for some twelve years when, because of financial stringencies, the two Bands were amalgamated. Hong Kong and the United Kingdom provided dual bases for the Band in support of the two Battalions of 2nd Goorkhas until 1994 when as a result of the withdrawal from Hong Kong the Band moved back to the United Kingdom permanently.
The Band has travelled extensively throughout the world. Australia, Brunei, Canada, South Korea and Malaya were visited in the 70's and more recently the Solomon Islands, the Falkland Islands, France, Canada, Korea, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Ascension Islands and the Balkans in 2000.
Today, musicians are recruited into the Band after their basic military training. Initial musical instruction then commences, first under the supervision of the Director of Music then after approximately four years, at the Royal Military School of Music, Kneller Hall in London.
The operational role of musicians is medical assistants, for which they regularly train and it was in this role they served during the Gulf War in 1991
Source from http://www.army.mod.uk/brigade_of_gurkhas/brigade_units/band_brigade_of_gurkhas/
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