The Massed Bands of the Royal Marines Beating Retreat on Horse Guards Parade – What is all that about?
by Marcher Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, forms an impressive backdrop for its Band Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, was opened in 1906; the magnificent building replacing the last of the training ships that had been moored in the River Dart. This was HMS Prince of Wales, which was renamed HMS Britannia, the fifth Royal Navy ship to bear that name. In early July 1916, HMS Britannia was towed away to be broken up and, according to the publication by Davies and Grove ‘the whole College was assembled whilst the [volunteer] band paid her the last farewell.’ This is the earliest mention, found to date, of a band at the College. It is also known that between the two World Wars the College band was entirely composed of Civilian College servants and, in 1956, the Voluntary College Band consisted of cadets and civilian staff. It had seventeen members, ten of whom were cadets. It was in 1956 that a Royal Marines Band, which marched into Dartmouth from HMS Triumph and became ‘
