lukep said:
P.s Bandies are NOT marines. they are bandsmen/women. Any comebacks to that can feck off.
Err, I'll just feck off then shall I... or maybe not!
I take offence to that comment on behalf of the various Royal Marine and Royal Marines musicians and buglers who died in service of their country and have served the Corps in almost every theatre in the world.
To begin:
The Birth of the Corps - 28 October 1664
King Charles II sanctioned the formation of the Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot - the first Regiment to be formed specially for service afloat. The Regiment was raised mainly from the
Trained Bands of the City of London from which the RM derive the privilege of marching through the City of London with Colours flying, drums beating and bayonets fixed.
That is the begining, the Birth of the Corps, where the Corps was formed from the trained bands... therefore the FIRST were musicians. The first Commandos were from the Army, the army can still be commandos, the RAF and the Navy can all wear the Green beret, in fact, I had one of my own until the Hunt report in 1990 said that we were not commando trained and therefore should no longer wear it. The Hunt report also looked at paying us as Technical ranks, our clothing allowances and a plethora of other promises but the only thing that came from it was the loss of the green beret. So, we now wear the beret of the Royal Marines, a beret that only Royal Marines can wear. Look on OAM and you'll see about the wearing of berets (fleet and 3CDOBDE Marines and their head dress) and the fact that the Royal Marines Beret is just that, blue with red patch and the Globe and Laurel beret badge. I don't want this to sound like a history lesson or a rant!
During WW2 The Royal Marines Band Service had the highest mortality rate per capita of ANY of the armed forces that served. From their position in the TS on the battleships their escape, in the event of the ship being hit, was highly unlikely and in most cases, the guns would continue to fire until the sinking of the ship.
More recently, the band were involved in the evacuation of Aden, the Royal Yacht band were ashore on Cormaska beach and manned the liberty boats that were moving the refugees out to safety. The Falkland Islands, where the band carried out duties of guarding prisoners, stretcher bearing, first aid and a host of other tasks including morale of the troops by providing musical entertainment in the evenings.
They have been involved in Kosovo with medical squadron (releasing their commando comrades to be able to carry out other duties more suited to their profession).
http://www.royalmarinesbands.co.uk/Kosovo/Index_Kosovo.htm
As has already been pointed out in the gulf:
RFA Argus
http://www.royalmarinesbands.co.uk/argus_diary/Intro.htm
On the ground with Decon1
http://www.royalmarinesbands.co.uk/argus_diary/CLR/part1.htm
and Decon 2
http://www.royalmarinesbands.co.uk/argus_diary/CLR/decon2.htm
The above diaries were written by the people who were there and written in the spirit and the humour of a Bandy.
And even more recently in Afghanistan where 2 of them were and are involved in the repatriation of fallen Marines as well as carrying out other essential duties within the unit.
As a very proud serving Royal Marine and having many friends who are Royal Marines Commandos (SNCOs, JNCOs, Mnes and Officers) I am pleased that your views, that I am NOT a Royal Marine, are in a minority, thankfully, a very small minority. This has not been a rant at you, just for your information and hopefully education on our Corps.