Royal Marines on an RAF Parade Ground!!!

P wrote:

All gone I'm afraid Rich, underneath a 60s-70s extension at that end.

I know that Paul, was just going to see if there was any trace on the outside. The other side of that building at Brize still has traces of an anne e that has been demolished. The position of the AMQ in the background might give us a clue as its in about the right position for Brize as well.

EDIT - found a photo of mine that might help. This is the building in question at Brize. Looking at the two photos I do not think it is Brize.

I can confirm that a Royal Marines Band from the Royal Navy School of Music which at the time in 1947 was established in Burford not even five miles away from Brize, attended the air station. This was to provide the music for a combined services parade to celebrate the King's birthday. It also states that there were approx 100 Royal Marines on parade.

I would like to thank everyone who has helped me pinpoint where the photograph was taken. I have no doubt that it is Brize Norton. Many thanks.

The very small entry reference the Kings Birthday Parade at Brize Norton starts on line 17 of the left hand column. This page is from the 1947 July edition of the Globe and Laurel. The reason that the RNSM was in Burford was that in 1940 it was considered that Deal in Kent, which was the school's permanent home was too close to the German forces in France. The School moved and commenced a nomadic existence through the West Country, Worcester, the Isle of Man, Scarborough and Oxfordshire before returning to Deal in 1950. Its home in Gloucestershire was Burford.

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According to Wiki the Royal Marine Band Service lost 225 men in wwii, and that was approx a quarter of its strength. As a percentage only Bomber Command lost more.

canberra;151959 wrote:

According to Wiki the Royal Marine Band Service lost 225 men in wwii, and that was approx a quarter of its strength.

Traditionally musicians tend to have 'mathematical' brains. This was put to good effect in WWII by employing them in the transmitting rooms of warships. This was a British term for the gun control room which contained a number of mechanical computers which analysed the information from the director tower on the ship. It took into effect air temperature, the number of times a gun had been fired, the deviation of barrel elevation as each gun rotated (due to imperfect bearings) and a host of other factors. It was generally reckoned that the third salvo from the ship would hit an enemy which was many miles away.

This room was considered to be extremely vulnerable and hence was usually buried deep within the ship - the consequence being that if the vessel was severely damaged by enemy action, the occupants had little chance of escape.

archives.chicagotribune.com/1941/12/14/p...y-of-popular-science

Can't remember the source of this information, but it came to light when Paul F and I were writing the Naval report for English Heritage.

Carnaby, you are absolutely correctsee below:

"For the first part of the 20th century, the Royal Marines' role was the traditional one of providing shipboard infantry for security, boarding parties and small-scale landings. The Marines' other traditional position on a Royal Navy ship was manning 'X' and 'Y' (the aftermost) gun turrets on a battleship or cruiser. During both World War I and World War II Royal Marine detachments were limited to Cruisers and above and until the latter part of the 20th century Royal Marine Bands were also carried on those ships. In times of war the Bandsmen traditionally operated the ship's comprehensive fire-control system, situated for stability and safety at the lowest deck of the ship. Consequently, when ships were sunk, almost inevitably the entire ship's band was lost".

Their role today is different as every musician has a secondary role as a military medic or stretcher bearer.