Undervalued bands

I’m very sad, but not surprised, to learn of the selling off of Kneller Hall and the cuts being inflicted on our military bands (Richard Morrison, January). When I was serving in the Devonshire and

Dorset Regiment during the 1980s, our band had been significantly reduced to 24 musicians, when once it had been about 40 strong. This had quite a detrimental effect on the band’s sound, while important instruments such as the oboe and bassoon disappeared from the lineup. Eventually, or perhaps inevitably, the regimental band was disbanded, after many years of faithful service. I don’t believe politicians and civil servants are the only culprits. There have been many in the Army who intensely disliked bands and thought them a waste of manpower. Attitudes might have changed, if only the musicians’ wartime role of

medical assistant/ambulance driver had been developed more. Perhaps then, military bands would have appeared more relevant to MOD chiefs who, after all, only look at things from a military and economic perspective.

Trevor Aston, Weymouth