The Band That Went to War: The Royal Marine Band in the Falklands War

By Brian Short and Julian Thompson

A first-hand account of the Falklands War from the perspective of the Royal Marine Band Service members who fought in the conflict.

The Royal Marines are renowned for their military skill and also for having one of the finest military bands in the world. These highly trained and talented musicians are equally at home parading at Buckingham Palace, playing at the Royal Albert Hall, or on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier in a foreign port.

Why then when the Argentines invaded the Falklands in April 1982 did these superb musicians get involved in what became a serious and deadly military campaign? The answer is that, in addition to their musical expertise, the RM Band Service members are trained for military service and fully qualified in a multitude of military and medical skills, providing support to their comrades, the fighting commandos.

The Band That Went to War is a graphic first-hand account of the Falklands War as it has never been told before. It describes the roles played by Royal Marine musicians in the conflict; unloading the wounded from helicopters, moving tons of stores and ammunition, burying their dead at sea and guarding and repatriating Argentine prisoners of war. These and other unseen tasks were achieved while still ready to provide morale boosting music to their commando brethren and other frontline troops. These men are not just musicians; they are Royal Marines.

Praise for The Band That Went to War

“I really enjoyed this account of how the Band of the Royal Marines were involved in the attempt to liberate the Falkland Islands back in 1982 . . . Brian Short’s excellent book is really entertaining.” —Books Monthly

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jan 30, 2022
• ISBN: 9781399096416

Brian Short

Brian Short has a BA and PhD from the University of London, FRGS. He is a Professor Emeritus (Geography) at the University of Sussex. He has been a council member of Sussex Archaeological Society and editor of the Sussex Archaeological Collections and was a founder member Sussex Downs Conservation Board (forerunner of the National Park). He was also an invited founder member of Board of Trustees for the County History Trust (for the Victoria County History), and was appointed as a member of the VCH panel of peer reviewers in 2006. He has been president of the Sussex Record Society since 2011 and is currently an editorial board member for the journal 'Landscape History' and Collins internationally renowned 'New Naturalist' series. He is also currently chair of an external advisory board to the Centre for Regional and Local History at the University of Leicester.

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Introduction

Ihave often had cause to recall the mantra, ‘The military environment and the musical temperament are not natural bedfellows.’ It takes a very special person to flourish in the Royal Marines Band Service and I have never been more reminded of this than when reading this book. Brian Short, its author, is very much a case in point. Bright and intelligent with an active and creative mind, he was, during his Service career, an excellent musician with a quick wit and an open, sometimes almost anarchical, sense of humour. A great practical joker, I remember vividly my first concert with the Commando Forces Band in our regular venue, the Globe Theatre in Stonehouse Barracks. In the middle of the first piece there was a kerfuffle above as a rubber chicken dropped from the heights. Looking up, I saw a large banner with an arrow pointing straight down at me with the words: ‘Under New Management.’ It was never proven but I suspected the ‘Hand of Short’ in this. This was the first of a number of such incidents that occurred during my tenure with this remarkable group of musicians.

It is Brian’s inimitable character that has given rise to this informative, sometimes moving and always entertaining account of his and his colleagues’ experiences during the Falklands campaign of 1982. Couched in his own distinctive style and being written some thirty-eight years after the events described, it is a very personal account that makes no pretence at historical accuracy but which is, nevertheless, clearly well-researched, painting a telling picture of life ‘at the sharp end’ for this group of specialists during a unique period. I recall that, at the end, they had counted not far short of forty different jobs they had been tasked with, in addition to their ‘paid job’ of making music: from stretcher-bearing to paint-stripping; from humping stores to guarding prisoners, the list is long. All, however, were carried out tirelessly, with flexibility of approach and energy, to the best of their abilities.

There is a story that, when 42 Commando were paraded to be told of their deployment to the Falklands, the CO read a list of the units joining them. When the name of the Commando Forces Band was announced, there was some amusement in the ranks. The RSM, who had some experience of RM Musicians, promised them that, when they returned, they would be ‘laughing on the other side of their faces’. Was he right? I can only draw the reader’s attention to the quote by John Muxworthy repeated in the ‘Up Channel Night’ chapter.

When we returned to Southampton, I was interviewed by one of the journalists and asked whether or not I had enjoyed the experience. I thought that ‘enjoyed’ was not a word I would wish to use but, had I been asked if I was glad that I went, then the answer would have been ‘Yes’. What the two RM Bands involved – Commando Forces in Canberra and Flag Officer 3rd Flotilla in Uganda – did during the Falklands campaign not only cemented the relationship between the Band Service and the troops they serve for years to come, but also demonstrated the need for a number of flexible and willing people to undertake unspecified tasks as and when they occur at short notice. This has been more than reinforced by the performance of RM Band ranks in subsequent operations such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

Personally, I could not have wished to be there with a better group of people. Brian has here provided an enduring record of their activities. I salute them all!

Lieutenant Colonel John Ware RM (Retd)

Chapter One

The Band That Went To War (and Won!)

You could be forgiven for thinking that the title of this book suggests that in the spring of 1982, the Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines, Commando Forces Plymouth, single-handedly defeated the Argentines and removed them from the Falklands. Well yes, we were embarked on the SS Canberra for the full duration of the war and a bit beyond, but I will admit the title is firmly tongue-in-cheek. Perhaps it should more accurately be titled ‘The Band That Went To War, on the Winning Side’?

With the title explained and that acknowledgement made, I will start by paying tribute to the thousands of soldiers, sailors, airmen and of course Royal Marines who accompanied us to the South Atlantic. Between them they took care of the dirty business of war and delivered violence in the way we expect some of the best military men in the world to do. They were facing a superior in numbers [but not in quality] invading army. Their courage in removing this entrenched enemy, who had invaded British soil and made captives of its lawful inhabitants, deserves the highest recognition. It is also very important to remember that many of them made the ultimate sacrifice, and that should not be in any way forgotten or undermined by the rather light tone of this book. When the names of the fallen appear in this book, do more than just read their names: take a moment to reflect that just like you, these were real people with lives, hopes, careers and families, all of which were impacted by the failure of diplomacy.

How then would a band of professional musicians have contributed in any way to a war, you might reasonably well ask? Well, after accepting that the band could not have done it alone, this book aims to give an insight into some of the many roles, responsibilities and duties undertaken by the Royal Marines musicians during the Falklands war. You will notice the use of the word war and not conflict or crisis, or any word that suggests it was anything other than war. There are official definitions of a war and no doubt in some Whitehall office or for some pedantic armchair warriors the Falklands does not officially count as one, but it was warlike enough for me, thank you very much, and since a lot of people were killed or wounded in the fighting, as far as I am concerned it was war, okay!

This book itself is not meant to be a comprehensive chronological diary of the Falklands War but is written from my Swiss cheese of a memory, first-hand accounts of some of the band members and my own contemporaneous hand-scribbled diary. As the author, it will of course draw heavily on my own experiences, diary and memories, but I am grateful to those that served in the band at the time and who also wanted to contribute. I hope they and all members of Commando Forces Band feel their own war experience is somehow reflected in some small way. There are a lot of people I have to thank, in particular Major General Julian Thompson and Lieutenant Colonel John Ware for their wonderfully written Foreword and Introduction to the book. For their personal contributions: Bryan Walker, Irfron Higgins, Jorge Podesta, Tony Richardson, Paul Coker, Martin Dale and James ‘Wiggy’ Whitwham. Also Gary Pumford, Andrew Dusty Miller, Mac Mcarthy, Geoff Naylor, Paul Foley, Phil Smith, Buster Brown and Derrick Douglas for their suggestions and jogging my ailing memory. Sincere thanks to Commander John Muxworthy RN [retired] and his wife Angela for the wonderful quote and photographs from his book The Great White Whale Goes to War. Warm thanks to Alyson Attwood for releasing her late husband WO2 Trevor Attwood’s diaries for reference and to John Pring for his photographic advice. Susie Cox at P&O Heritage for her kind assistance. Finally, I also need to give credit to the late Band Sergeant Russ Ireland for the use of some of his photographs. Russ unfortunately passed away a few years ago while I was still researching the book, but his help and support was invaluable. Luckily, before his passing Russ had the foresight to share his photographic slides with John Ware. Time, dust and scratches have taken their toll, but where usable they have been included as part of the important band record of that time in 1982 when musicians were called to war.

My apologies to any of the band who do not feature during the narrative; this is only because I had not written about you in my diary at the time or have not been passed on such memories by other contributors. Anyone not named specifically can take solace in their name appearing in the nominal roll at the end of the book. Talking of memories, this book is being written some thirty-nine years after the event. It is written by a man who forgets what he went out to the garage for and what he had for dinner yesterday. Therefore, there will be mistakes, gross errors and serious omissions, for all of which I accept responsibility as mine and mine alone.

At this point a caveat worth noting is that for a book about a war there might just not be enough ‘war’ in it for the casual reader who is looking for a blow-by-blow account of fighting and heroic acts. This is not a war book per se, but a book about a specific group of people in a war, namely musicians who up until this point in their careers had practised and produced music to entertain people. I hope that this attempt to tell their story from an entirely different perspective, one that has not been explored before, will satisfy the informed military enthusiast, the interested musician, or maybe the casual reader. There are plenty of Falklands War books out there, but my account is a personal one of being a professional musician in a war with a pretty good band of guys. I hope you enjoy it.

The Band of HM Royal Marines, Commando Forces, Plymouth, doing what they do best.

As luck or perhaps good planning would have it, when we were ‘asked’ to attend the war, we took with us the roughest, toughest gang on planet Earth, the Royal Marine Commandos. If this sounds a little parochial and insular, or to use a well-known Royal Marine phrase ‘Corps Pissed’, then I make no apology, as the Royal Marines hammer that into the individual regardless of whether you are a Commando or a bandy (as RM musicians are affectionately known). When you see how the Marines are trained at the Commando Training Centre in Lympstone and work with them throughout the Corps, you are left in no doubt as to their professional ability when it comes to fitness, endurance and committing violence against our enemies. So, like taking your big brother to school to sort out a bully, the Marines were definitely our first choice to take to a war (other cap badges are available).

The much-coveted Green Beret of the Royal Marines: the Globe & Laurel cap badge reflecting the many battle honours the Corps has earned around the world in its long history since 1664.

No matter how ‘Corps Pissed’ I happen to be, however, I do acknowledge the professionalism and skill sets of other branches of the armed forces that took part and who were of course invaluable to the success of the mission: the Royal Navy, the army (in particular the Parachute Regiment) who joined the Marines of 3rd Commando Brigade under Brigadier Julian Thompson RM. Also the regiments that arrived in theatre aboard the QE2 that made up 5th Brigade and also made their mark on the enemy in well-documented and fierce battles. There was of course Royal Air Force involvement with Rapier missile squadrons deployed on the ground, RAF pilots flying Harriers from the carriers and the famous ‘Blackbuck’ Vulcan bombing and Shrike anti-radar missions, all of which are more than worthy of just a footnote. As one of the smaller but complete units, most of the work undertaken by the Commando Forces Band was in supporting the Red, Green, Blue and various Brown Berets, leaving them to do what they are good at: committing acts of gross violence against a common enemy. I like to think of us as the oil, helping to keep the war wheels turning and contributing to the overall success of the mission.

Even among our relatively simple duties, there were some moments of danger, courage and of course humour, which I hope will combine to provide an interesting read in this book. If you make it to the end, I hope you will see that the band did their very best in a bad situation, getting stuck in and their hands dirty in more ways than one. Perhaps some of the grittier details may surprise you and cause you to view those talented smart musicians in a different light when you next see them marching on Horse Guards Parade, the Royal Albert Hall or at a royal wedding. They are today – and we were then – professionals, with a thinking skill set that goes well beyond marching and music, and occasionally across the blurred border into the military skill set when required. Royal Marine musicians know the dangerous end of a gun, but does the Royal Marine Commando know the dangerous end of a bass trombone?

Corps Drum Major James ‘Wiggy’ Whitwham proudly leads the massed bands of HM Royal Marines on Horse Guards Parade during one of the many high profile spectacular beating retreat ceremonies.

It is also worth pointing out that the Commando Forces Band’s Falklands War experience is not a unique one for Royal Marine musicians. During the Falklands War there was also a small band on the hospital ship Uganda and a solo bugler on HMS Antrim, all providing largely unseen but important active service. The Royal Marine Band Service (RMBS) has a long and proud history of taking part in conflicts in their secondary military role in times of war or conflict, for which they still undertake regular and intensive military training. Not exactly loved by musicians, military training weeks are seen as a necessity rather than an enjoyable experience, but time and time again the training has been shown to be useful and effective. No one joins the Royal Marine Band Service wanting or expecting to go to war, but history and experience show that you really ought to be prepared, which through training and that Globe & Laurel cap badge ethos we were, and they still are today.

Our going to war was not a first for Royal Marine Band Service members. During the Second World War many capital ships had small RM ships’ bands embarked. As well as their musical duties, their action stations were often in gun-plotting compartments or deep down in the magazines sending up heavy ammunition. The nature of these roles meant that their action stations were below decks beneath many locked-down watertight hatches, which if the ship was hit or torpedoed caused a great many of them to be lost when those ships went down. Their loss is worth much more than a few lines in this book, but that would need someone with more talent and research to tell their story and do credit to their sacrifice.

In more recent times, if you see any Royal Marine Band on a parade or concert, you will see that they sport an impressive collection of medals from modern-day conflicts, hard-earned in the likes of Iraq and Afghanistan. One of their recent operational deployments involved them in their medical role helping to combat the Ebola crisis in Africa and medical deployments in support of the Royal Navy. As I write this in February 2021, some of them are working in support of the NHS in hospitals dealing with the Covid-19 crisis. As a result of being deployed into the hospitals, at least one of them caught the virus in doing their duty, so even though they may not have played music as much in that year, the band service is still providing a useful service and the taxpayer still getting their money’s worth.

A musician is not just for Christmas, music or war. Here David Thornber, a former Royal Marine musician himself, was both surprised and delighted to be given a vaccination by two serving members of the RMBS during the Covid-19 epidemic of 2021.

In closing this chapter, the modern Royal Marine Band Service in 2021 is much smaller than when I served, but if anything, they have increased on the high professional and musical standards that I enjoyed, and yet still provide an essential military role when required. If I am not preaching to the converted, then go and check them out at your earliest convenience and you will be impressed. Note to politicians: yes, they are great entertainers and musicians, but in the turmoil of world politics, you never know when you might need them for a more supportive or military role.

The Royal Marine Band playing at the Royal Albert Hall during one of their many Mountbatten Festival concerts.

Chapter Two

It’s Not All About Me, But...

Having bought, borrowed or stolen this book, to get the most from it I suggest you need to understand something about me, my background, my style of writing and my deeply warped sense of humour. In short, you need to know why I wrote the book and to understand a little about me. I have not just casually clambered aboard the ‘write a book, sell a book’ bandwagon for the Falklands’ fortieth anniversary; I have written this book because I feel it is a story that needs telling, and since no one else has stepped forward it may as well be me before it is too late and the story is lost. Another important prompt for writing has been that in recent years I seem to be attending more funerals than weddings, and slowly moving up that unwanted ‘promotion’ ladder myself. Looking through the band nominal roll at the end of the book, there are already a good number of names who sadly are no longer with us, so yet another reason for me to commit our story to paper.

One year in the writing, five years in the remembering and thirty-eight years in the forgetting, I hope it does justice to the band’s war efforts. It is published in time for the fortieth anniversary, but who among us will be around for the fiftieth? So, having put my head above the parapet and committed an inordinate amount of time to this project, I will say that this chapter is not just an excuse to write about myself, but hopefully over the next few paragraphs the actual purpose will become clear and some of the associated detail of added interest to the reader. If you disagree, then take the book back to the charity shop and claim your pennies back.

To start with, it might not be quite so unusual for me to be the second member of my family to serve in the Royal Marines, but I wager it would be quite unusual or even unique for two people from the same family to have served with exactly the same name. The first Royal Marine Brian John Short was my father, and he served in 42 Commando Royal Marines in the mid-1950s. Sadly, he was killed at Suez while taking part in an amphibious beach landing at Port Said, Suez on 6 November 1956. This was just two months before I was born and so, sadly, I never met him. This is not just a clumsy attempt to garner sympathy, but I think the back story in this case is interesting, important and helps explain a lot about me and my early life.

Putting aside the politics of the time and the disastrous result of that particular military intervention, my father was one of only thirteen Royal Marines killed during that operation. As in all wars, this led to life-changing events and consequences for thirteen sets of parents, wives and children, and for me to be born two months later without a father. So the consequences of war were visited upon me before I even took my first breath, and subsequently thoughts of the consequences of the Falklands War on other families and children were never far from my mind during my time in the South Atlantic. It is the difference between empathy and sympathy, which in various circumstances I would advise is important to know.

My father’s name as it appears on his headstone in Gosport Royal Navy Cemetery. The epitaph reads: Brian J. Short; Marine RM 11158; 42 Commando RM; 6th November 1956; Aged 22 Years.

It sounds like a tough start to life, but one that I refuse to overthink. It is just one of those things in my life that has always been, and over which I had no control. It is also relevant as there were times during the Falklands War that I did wonder if history was somehow going to repeat itself and the name Brian John Short Royal Marines might appear on another small war memorial somewhere, a coincidence I am pleased to report was duly avoided.

My early life in Plymouth was neither particularly easy nor bad, except for when a new stepfather entered the picture. We disliked each other in equal measure, but he being a grown man had the upper hand, a hand with which he frequently used to hit me. As I grew up in Plymouth, I became more resentful of my childhood but also more resilient and self-sufficient, traits that would become useful later in life but would also put emotional barriers in place. Of course, like everyone else, I