JUST_A_MEMORY_OF_HMS

Every Sunday morning without fail [wet weather or dry weather routine] we had full ceremonial divisions. In those days, wet weather led to us using either the Nelson Hall and/or Gymnasium No1 and every now and again, the near-whole length of the Long Covered Way. Wet weather divisions did not involve a march-past so the need of a band was not a necessity. However, for dry weather divisions we had a band, the finest military band in the land, namely that of the Royal Marines {Chatham}, and they played incidental music as well as military music for the ceremonial march-past the saluting dais. Very infrequently for Sunday division, did we used our own Blue Jacket Band, formed by boy's under training [with previous musical skills and abilities] tutored by a Royal Marine musician. In 1953-54, they were Blue Jackets proper, defined as men who manned the sails, the guns and specifically fought the ship, as at that time only seamen and communicators were trained at Shotley and they were considered to be, and later officially called, the warfare branches or Operations Room [OPS] Branch. At no stage {then as now} was a stoker, a stores accountant, an aircraft handler, a sick berth attendant etc a Blue Jacket, and Ganges went on to train these branches later on.

The music is really the point of my memory recall, and especially the air's of the tune "Early one morning....." whose first verse went like this

Early one morning,
Just as the sun was rising,
I heard a young maid sing,
In the valley below.

CHORUS:
Oh, don't deceive me,
Oh, never leave me,
How could you use
A poor maiden so?

The tune and lyrics came from a very old English folk song, which was also called 'The lovesick Maid'.

The Royal Marines had long used this tune as their Regimental Slow March which was called the "Globe and Laurel" [this is one of their badges]

and they played this, and slowed marched to it before breaking into the quick [march] at the end of every divisions when they themselves marched past and saluted the Captain. Their quick march was and still is "A Life on the Ocean Wave" written in 1838 by that great Englishman Henry Russell. This is the first verse of the song:-

A life on the ocean wave! A home on the rolling deep!
Where the scattered waters rave, and the winds their revels keep!
A life on the ocean wave! A home on the rolling deep!
Where the scattered waters rave, and the winds their revels keep!
Like an eagle caged I pine, on this dull unchanging shore.
Oh give me the flashing brine! The spray and the tempest roar!
A life on the ocean wave! A home on the rolling deep!
Where the scattered waters rave, and the winds their revels keep!
The winds, the winds, the winds their revels keep!
The winds, the winds, the winds their revels keep!

We boys had marched past to many different tunes but always also to our quick march which is "Heart of Oak", originally a song from an 18th century English opera, this the first verse:-

Come, cheer up, my lads, 'tis to glory we steer,
To add something more to this wonderful year;
To honour we call you, as freemen not slaves,
For who are so free as the sons of the waves

(Chorus sung once...)
Heart of oak are our ships, jolly tars are our men,
we always are ready; Steady, boys, steady!
We'll fight and we'll conquer again and again.

This was the situation until the 9th June 1964, ten years on from my time, when Lord Mountbatten finally won the day? Lord Mountbatten had Russian relations and one in particular, an uncle, was the Grand Duke of Sergius of Russia. The Grand Duke commanded the oldest and most respected regiment in the Russian Army called the Preobrajenky Guards and they had a march which Lord Mountbatten admired tremendously. Not unsurprisingly it was called the Preobrajenky {Pre-ob-rajenky} March and Mountbatten wanted it to be adopted by a British regiment. The Royal Marines agreed but as a slow march [the original march was fast enough to be of use to a cavalry regiment}, and on the evening of the 10th June 1964, on Horse Guards Parade London, they proudly slow marched to this wonderful and 'goosepimple-giver' stirring music. The 'Global and Laurel' and 'Early one morning' had gone for good.

The Preobrajenky March was much used by the Massed Bands of the Royal Marines [repeated at several points in the mile long procession] during the Royal Ceremonial Funeral for Lord Mountbatten on the 5th September 1979.