My bandsmen were all as fit as fiddles!
I AM surprised that 348 military musicians have been medically downgraded because of stress injuries caused by playing their instruments on the march. For more than 40 years, I served as an Army musician and conductor and never heard of such an injury. I remember having to dip brass instruments in water to defrost before we could play. Clarinettists often had icicles several inches long hanging from their instruments, but parades continued no matter how inclement the weather. I served and played in the heat and humidity of Belize and what was then Malaya, and in the bitter cold of Austria and Germany, but at no time was anyone excused parade due to a repetitive strain injury or heat stroke. I was also privileged to serve with the Grenadier Guards where the musicians played and carried their trombones and cornets horizontally. Bass players managed the large tubas without question or complaint, though some might have wished they had chosen to play a piccolo! For the Queen’s silver jubilee, the band toured 65 towns and cities across the U.S. performing a complicated twohour marching display without any musician requiring medical attention or complaining of stress. A musician’s daily schedule might include an early morning rehearsal for a state visit, a rehearsal for Trooping the Colour followed by a guard mounting. This would entail marching and playing from Chelsea barracks to Buckingham Palace with the new guard, playing for the guard change and marching back to the barracks with the old guard. I have no recollection of a single musician complaining they had a problem carrying out their duties. In fact, they always performed with great pride and dignity. Does the report about medical issues among Army musicians reflect a change in the physical attributes and attitudes of today’s servicemen and women? Has there been a diminution of the pride in service which in the past carried us through many difficulties? Will we see an avalanche of claims for compensation and early pensionable discharges by this snowflake generation? Lt Col (rtd) DEREK KIMBERLEY,
Northampton.