The Band of the Royal Air Force College

Director of Music: Squadron Leader Chris Weldon LRSM ALCM RAF
Bandmaster: Warrant Officer Gary Stevens BA LRSM Dip Mus (Open)
Band Sergeant: Flight Sergeant Ian Laidler GDLM, LRSM
Drum Major: Chief Technician Simon Carter LLCM

History

During the First World War Cranwell was the base of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) Training Establishment, HMS Daedalus. A strong musical tradition was quickly established on the station and the first recorded concert by a volunteer orchestra took place in November 1917, conducted by Petty Officer B J Hales. In 1918 the RNAS became part of the newly formed Royal Air Force with flying training continuing at Cranwell, along with the activities of a volunteer brass band and an orchestra. On 5th February 1920 Cranwell was formally accepted into the Royal Air Force, a day which is celebrated annually as Founder’s Day. The Band of the Royal Air Force College, one of the first two permanent RAF staff or professional bands, was established two months later. The first Bandmaster was Warrant Officer A E Halford, who had been Bandmaster of the First Battalion of the King's Regiment. It would appear that at the time of his transfer he upset the Colonel of his old Regiment by persuading several of the Regimental Bandsmen to join him at Cranwell. Drafting a number of musicians from RAF Uxbridge, who were certified ‘free from infection and fit to travel’, quickly averted this problem, the Colonel was placated and the The Band of the Royal Air Force College began it’s life with twenty five musicians.

Click here for a larger image

The Band was initially formed to support College functions, which included weekly dining-in-nights, daily parades and Sunday Church Parades, a custom that continued until the late sixties. The combination of early morning parades and late dining-in nights afforded little opportunity to perform away from the RAF College, the only break from this routine being the summer months when the Band would tour seaside resorts to perform public concerts. During such a tour in 1923 the Band travelled to Wales and became the first military Band to broadcast on BBC Cardiff. Over the next few years, through a number of similar broadcasts from other regional radio stations, the Band became well known to a much wider audience. Warrant Officer Halford retired in 1932 claiming to be the only person ever to have conducted a military band in an airship! During this early part of the Band’s history, affairs of State figured prominently with the coronation of King George VI being the most notable event.

On declaration of World War II the Band was playing on Plymouth Hoe under the direction of the legendary Wing Commander George Sims, composer of the 'College March' and the man responsible for the changes which led to RAF Music Services becoming the force it is today. The war changed the entire role of the Band, which, although still committed to the RAF College, was also tasked with providing entertainment for all the RAF bases in Northern England. This was interspersed with lengthy detachments to London, where they were required for morale boosting marches through recently bombed areas. A six month tour with the British Expeditionary Force in France was planned but had to be cancelled when the advance of German forces forced the evacuation of musicians from The Central Band of the Royal Air Force, deployed as the first BEF Band, who escaped via Boulogne shortly before its capture.

Click here for a larger image

The Band continued to perform throughout the post war years taking part in the Funeral of King George VI and the subsequent Coronation of our present Queen. In 1950 it was decided that the Band should be the first to have a Corps of Drums and the RAF College provided £300 for the purchase of instruments. Five extra musicians were employed taking the Band from twenty-five to thirty members. However as the Band’s official establishment did not allow for a Corps of Drums the new musicians were all wind players who, as so often in the armed forces, were expected to double as drummers whenever the occasion called for it. Unsurprisingly this arrangement was never really successful but continued for twenty years until a formal request to establish a Corps of Drums for every RAF Band was turned down by the MOD. During the 1960’s the Band gradually performed an increasing number of engagements away from the RAF College with regular appearances in the Royal Tournament and The Edinburgh Tattoo joining the usual summer concerts. In 1973 the administration and control of all Royal Air Force Bands passed to the Ministry of Defence and the RAF College lost its direct control of the Band which bares its name. RAF Music Services was subsequently reduced to five bands with the closing of the many Bands posted to places such as Cyprus and Singapore, necessitating more frequent and prolonged excursions away from home. Overseas visits to Canada, Cyprus, Germany, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, USA, Falklands Islands, Poland, Hungary and Israel have featured in the Band's itinerary, presenting a greater challenge to the flexibility and adaptability of today's RAF musicians.

Click here for a larger image

The Band of the RAF College Today

The Band of the RAF College has undertaken a wide variety of engagements in what has been a very busy year, not least with all the regular engagements that come in but also because it was a special anniversary year for the Royal Air Force. The 70^th anniversary of the Battle of Britain saw many cities, towns and indeed most RAF Stations commemorating the occasion with memorials and parades. The band set about an entire season of almost back to back Parades including a very prestigious memorial with RAFA at St Pauls Cathedral.

2010 was also a celebratory year for the band as it was the 90^th anniversary of the formation of the Band of the RAF College. We chose to commemorate this in true style with a grand reunion barbecue and knees up held in the band room itself at RAF Cranwell. Past members from as far back as the 1950s attended and were fascinated speaking to our current personnel about the ways in which the job and indeed the RAF has changed over the years. The band’s Big Band ‘Swing Wing’ played a set to entertain the masses followed by a spontaneous reunion dance band made up of current and those past members still in the habit of taking their instruments with them wherever they go!!

Click here for a larger image

Various concerts up and down the country have been performed by the Concert Band and Swing Wing, with monies raised going to charities such as RAFA, the Benevolent Fund, Help for Heroes and local station charities of choice.

Larger scale concerts have been those such as the annual Massed Bands tour ‘The RAF In Concert’ working along our peers from the other RAF Bands in some of the finest concert halls in the country such as The Sage, Gateshead; Symphony Hall, Birmingham; Manchester Bridgewater Hall and closer to home Nottingham Royal Concert Hall. The regular series of concerts at Cranwell’s own Whittle Hall and a spectacular Concert up in Perth, Scotland took the band to the end of the Christmas season and a very well deserved break.

The start of 2011 began with our annual Schools Liaison Concert series, a tour run with the RAF Careers Liaison Office aimed at not only promoting RAF Music Services, but also recruitment in the wider RAF. Swing Wing have also been busy with a concert tour in Scotland already under their belts and several local charity concerts including a guest spot with renowned London based trumpeter Andy Greenwood.

Click here for a larger image

A new Concert programme is being well rehearsed for forthcoming concerts in commemoration of 90^th anniversary of the RBL at Southwell Minster, Lichfield, Oakham and Congleton and a D-Day celebration Concert in Wigan.

The band has just had their annual inspection parade wearing their new ceremonial caps and are busy learning a new display with the recently appointed Drum Major, CT Joyce, for the forthcoming season of Freedom Parades, Standard Presentations, Graduations and Sunsets.

An imminent trip to RAF Kinloss, Armed Forces Day in Edinburgh and yet another Schools Concert Tour will see the band working North of the border quite frequently this year.

With Cosford, Waddington and Eastbourne Airshows in the diary and the forthcoming Prom concert at College Hall Officers Mess, Cranwell with Brian May and Kerry Ellis, the Band of the RAF College moves into the Summer Season in excellent form and are looking forward to another exciting and varied year.