The Royal Marines Band Service is the musical wing of the Royal Navy and an independent element of the Royal Marines. It currently consists of five military bands plus a training wing – the Royal Marines School of Music at HMS Nelson – and its headquarters is at , Whale Island, Portsmouth.
History
The development of music in the Royal Marines is inextricably linked with the evolution of British military bands. Lively airs and the beat of the drum enabled columns of marching men to keep a regular step. The drum was the normal method of giving signals on the battlefield or in camp. As long ago as the days of Drake and Hawkins the drummer's rhythm would advertise the changing watches or beat the men to quarters. Royal Marine Drummers were first mentioned in the 1664 Convening Order, at the formation of Corps and so pride themselves as being the oldest Branch in the Corps.
Without doubt, groups of musicians existed in the Service before 1767, when Royal Marines Divisional Bands were formed at the naval dockyard-bases of Chatham, Plymouth and Portsmouth and the naval gathering-point of Deal in the Downs, and Marine bands (along with professional bands paid for by captains) plus their respective corps of drums provided music on board ships before and during battles of the Napoleonic Wars (e.g. during the long sail into action at the Battle of Trafalgar). The modern history of the Service, though, begins late in the 19th century, when the task of forming a Royal Naval School of Music to provide Bands for the Royal Navy was assigned to the Marines, with the school being founded in 1903. From then on the Band Service became an integral part of the Corps. Its original home was Eastney Barracks, Portsmouth; where it remained until 1930 when it was transferred to the Royal Marine Depot, Deal.
Second World War
By the end of the Second World War, 225 musicians and buglers had been killed in action, which was a quarter of their strength at the time, and the highest percentage of any branch of any service, after Bomber Command. After the outbreak of the Second World War, the service moved to Malvern, then divided with the Junior Wing moving to the Isle of Man and the Senior Wing to Scarborough.
Post Second World War
The bands reunited at Bradwell Grove camp, near Burford, Oxfordshire in March 1946 and finally returned to Deal in early 1950 under the supervision of the Commandant of the Royal Marine School of Music, Brigadier Roy Smith-Hill.
The amalgamation of the Divisional Bands with the Royal Naval School of Music to form today's Royal Marines Band Service, also took place in 1950 when the headquarters and training establishment were renamed the Royal Marines School of Music.
The Band Service are notable for performing the theme music from Gerry Anderson's successful 1965 TV series Thunderbirds in the final scene from the 1966 film Thunderbirds Are Go. The band performed the music on the parade ground of the Royal Marines Depot, Deal, where they marched under the leadership of their Senior Drum Major Charles H. Bowden. This sequence was synchronized with the end credits of the film, with the very last scene of this shot (and indeed, the whole film) showing the band standing in a large representation of the words 'THE END'.
Deal bombing
At approximately 8.20 am on 22 September 1989, the Royal Marines School of Music at the Royal Marine Depot, Deal was bombed by the IRA; this resulted in the death of eleven Royal Marines Musicians - Musn Mick Ball, B/Cpl John (Andy) Cleatheroe, B/Cpl Trevor Davis, Musn Richard Fice, Musn Richard (Taff) Jones, B/Cpl Dave McMillan, Musn Chris Nolan, B/Cpl Dean Pavey, Musn Mark Petch, Musn Tim Reeves and Musn Bob Simmonds plus the injury of 22 other Royal Marine Band Service members. A memorial garden is now situated in the grounds of the old barracks where the bomb went off. This was built in remembrance of the eleven who died and was restored after an arson attack some years later. Every year the families and friends of those that died join together at the garden to pay their respects and lay flowers in a memorial service. The Bandstand near the Walmer Lifeboat station is also dedicated to those who died in the bombing, with the names of those killed engraved on each face. Each July a Royal Marines Band returns to perform an outdoor concert in it.
Modern era
In 1992 the band was opened to women when the Royal Navy began to fully integrate women (who were then members of a separate branch) into the service. In April 1996, the School of Music was moved to Portsmouth dockyard when the Deal Barracks were closed. It was initially housed at the former Royal Naval Detention Quarters — the cells were converted to individual practice rooms.The Royal Marines School of Music
Band of HM Royal Marines HMS Collingwood were present on the Isle of Man for the Tynwald Day ceremony on Monday 6 July 2015.
The Bands of HM Royal Marines participate in various annual events such as the Royal British Legion's Festival of Remembrance, the Remembrance Day Service at the Cenotaph, the Lord Mayor's Show as well as accompanying Royal Navy and Royal Marines contingents at guard mounting duties in London.
Furthermore, the Massed Bands, numbering some two hundred musicians from normally at least three Royal Marines bands, perform their Beating Retreat ceremony every two years at London's Horse Guards Parade in celebration of the birthday of their Captain General (currently Charles III). Because of its popularity, it is generally over three nights. The most recent events were in June 2012 in honour of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, in June 2014 in honour of the RM's 350 years of service to the nation and also the first to feature a guard of honour company from 40 Commando Brigade and bands from the United States Marine Corps and the Netherlands Marine Corps, and in June 2016, also marking the 90th birthday of HM the Queen and the first to be streamed live on Facebook. The latest event was slated for a May 2018 date, marking the 65th anniversary of the 1953 Coronation of HM the Queen and will be followed by another in 2022, marking the milestone 70th anniversary since the assumption to the throne of HM the Queen and the centennial of the modern Royal Marines (due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 event was cancelled).
Another event hosted by the Royal Marines Band Service is the Mountbatten Festival of Music, named after former Life Colonel Commandant Royal Marines Admiral of the Fleet The Earl Mountbatten of Burma, which takes place every year in the Royal Albert Hall.
Present organisation
At present, there are a total of five Royal Marine Bands and attached Corps of Drums: Band of HM Royal Marines, Portsmouth (The Royal Band) () Band of HM Royal Marines, Plymouth () Band of HM Royal Marines, Scotland, Rosyth () Band of HM Royal Marines, (replacing the Band of Britannia Royal Naval College) Band of HM Royal Marines, Commando Training Centre Royal Marines The Band of the Royal Marines School of Music in Portsmouth (The Training Band) brings the total number to six.
Officers and Bandmasters
All Directors of Music are Commissioned Officers, who are commissioned from within the ranks of the RMBS (there are no direct entry officers in the RMBS), on completion of the 12 month Bandmasters' Course (at RMSoM in Portsmouth) and once they have passed the external LRSM directing exam. Once commissioned they attend a music college for a period of one to two years, to study advanced conducting; usually at the level of MMus. Officers in command of Bands are either a Captain or Major, with the senior position of Principal Director of Music being a Lieutenant Colonel. Each Band also has a Warrant Officer Class 2 Bandmaster who acts as the Band Manager and deputy conductor. There are also four Warrant Officer Class 1 Bandmasters, in positions such as Bandmaster/Chief Instructor at the School of Music and PRO. The senior Bandmaster is a WO1 who holds the appointment of 'Corps Bandmaster' and is the chief non-commissioned advisor to the Principal Director of Music on all matters music and personnel.
Corps of Drums The bands are always led by 'buglers', who are trained on both the side drum and the bugle as well as the Herald Fanfare Trumpet (natural trumpet); this section of the band is referred to as "the Corps of Drums", which since 1903 is now situated at the front of the band. Whilst similar to army corps of drums, these are members of the Royal Marines Band Service, although they retain their own rank structure. RM Buglers have a similar history to Army 'drummers' in that they were used to convey orders on a ship on drums and bugles, and would then mass onshore into corps of drums, though they were still expected to work as individual soldiers,Fact Sheet - The Drums of the RM also known in slang by the Royal Navy as drummers. These drummer-buglers trace themselves back to the raising of the Royal Marines in 1664 as a maritime foot regiment, with six drummers attached to its battalions, making them the oldest specialisation in the Royal Marines. Today's buglers carry out duties ranging from repatriation services (sounding Last Post bugle call), mess beatings (drum displays), beating retreat (marching displays) and concerts on behalf of the Royal Marines and the entire Royal Navy.
Instruments and leadership Like the British Army, Military snare (side) drums (MSD) are the principal instrument of the corps of drums; with the bugle being another core instrument. Bass drums are often used during parades and drum displays, while cymbals and single tenor drums are used during parades and ceremonies only. Bass drummers, cymbalists and tenor drummers on parade however, are for the most time percussionist, not buglers. Herald Fanfare trumpets (natural trumpets) are also performed on such occasions where a bugle fanfare would be inappropriate for such. The corps is led by a drum major and a bugle major serves as the principal player for it. The Corps Bugle Major and Corps Drum Major have specific ceremonial roles within the RMBS. The Warrant Officer Class 1 rank also acts as the specialist advisor for all RM Buglers in addition to the current Corps appointment they hold at that time. Currently (2026) the Corps Drum Major of the Royal Marines holds the WO1 rank, but the predecessor held the Corps Bugle Major appointment (WO1 from 2022 - 2024.)
Drum major A drum major holds the rank of Sergeant Bugler, Colour Sergeant Bugler, or warrant officer class 2. "Drum Major" is not a rank itself but an appointment. The Corps Drum Major RM, the most senior drum major in the Royal Marines, can hold the rank of warrant officer class 1 or 2, depending on the current structure of the Corps of Drums. Drum majors in the Royal Marines are now always drawn from the buglers branch and always started their careers as a bugler and are required to have passed a number of courses in music, military skills, and leadership throughout their military careers before being considered for an appointment as a drum major. They are responsible for band ceremony, discipline and administration.
The insignia of appointment is four point-up chevrons worn on a wrist-strap whilst in shirt-sleeve order, or four large point-up chevrons worn on the uniform sleeve, surmounted by a drum. Royal Marines drum majors do not wear any additional badges to indicate specific rank. In addition to the drum major sash, the uniform features hussar style braiding across the front of the tunic.
Bugle major