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Yeomen of the Guards...

A historian is looking for some help linking up some great old marches with some great old Yeomanry bands...

Yeomanry
  Bands such as the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry were once a regular feature in the nation's musical life

Historian Philip Mather is hoping that formers players in the Reserve Army Band of the Royal Yeomanry can help him with his work researching the regimental marches of all Yeomanry regiments existing before 1967.

The intention is to hopefully produce a CD of the music that they regularly performed with their duties.

Contact

He told 4BR: "I'm looking to contact bandsmen who played in any pre 1967 Yeomanry or Royal Tank Regiment Territorial Army Band and who can recall the name of their regimental march.

There were no less than 34 Yeomanry Royal Armoured Corps and Royal Artillery regiments at this time, the vast majority having either a brass or military band."

There were no less than 34 Yeomanry Royal Armoured Corps and Royal Artillery regiments at this time, the vast majority having either a brass or military bandPhilip Mather

Original music and pictures

Philip said that a number of bands were actually existing civilian bands before joining the Yeomanry as a complete unit before reverting to their civilian status in 1967. The Lowestoft Town Band, for example, becoming the band of the Suffolk Yeomanry in 1961.

He hopes to be able to source the original sets of regimental march music, including those written by the bandmaster's themselves and never commercially published. Photographs of Yeomanry bands are also sought as part of the project

He added: "Many of these marches have been lost over time but some may still form part of a present day brass band's library."

Get in touch

If you can help, please contact Phil Mather at: philip.mather2@outlook.com

Image: The Band of the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry 1961 (courtesy of SRY Museum).

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