Historical Notes
The Growth of Army Bands in Canada.
Canada had a golden age of bands during the period 1951-1994; let us hope that it will not be the last. The usual financial pressures are blamed for the drastic reductions made in 1994. We attempt, on this page, to give some insight into the bands during that time and include some historical information which will help to put things into context. Dates to keep in mind when reading this article (discounting the war years) are 1951, 1968 and 1994, years in which drastic changes were made to military bands in Canada.
Army inspection reports for 1869-70 show 46 bands in the Canadian Militia. The bands of the 29th Battalion (Highland Light Infantry of Canada) had 11 musicians, the band of the 45th Bn., (45th Battery, 45th Fd. Regt. RCA) had 21 and the 65th Bn. (Fusilliers de Mont-Royal) had a newly organized brass band of 15. The first of the Militia bands to become a permanent full-time band was the Royal Canadian Artillery Band at Quebec which was organized in 1899.
The Canadian Army recognizes seven types of bands; these did not necessarily apply to the Navy or the Air force at the time but since 1968 apply to all three services.
1. Brass Band: All brass with the possible exception of Saxophones. No brass bands were formed in the Permanent Force.
2. Military Band: Regular concert band instrumentation. In 1956 there were 90 military bands authorized for the regular and militia forces.
3. Drums and Fifes: Known as the "Drums". In many cases the fifers doubled as buglers. In 1956, four such units were authorized for the regular and militia forces.
4. Pipe Band: Known as the "Pipes". Composed of Drums and bagpipes. Usually attached to highland regiments but later becoming very wide spread. In 1956, 40 such groups were authorized for the regular and militia forces.
5. Bugle Band: Known as "Bugles". Bugles only; In 1956, a total of 60 bands and trumpet bands were authorized for the regular and militia forces.
6. Bugle Band: Known as "Bugle Band". Composed of drums and bugles. Originally confined to rifle regiments but now more widely used.
7. Trumpet Band: Composed of trumpets and drums.
During World War I, the 6th, 11th, 12th and 14th Battalions were authorized to take their regimental bands overseas. The 7th and 9th Battalions took their brass bands with them without prior authority. In November 1914, every Canadian Expeditionary Force battalion was optionally increased by one Bandmaster and 24 men. In France, every infantry Battalion in the Canadian Corps had at least one band; some of the Engineers and Pioneers also had bands, as did Divisional Headquarters. Two bands, the bugle band of the 259th battalion and the brass band of the 260th Battalion accompanied their groups on the Siberian Expedition.
Following the War, the regular Canadian military bands almost vanished, as was true in many nations of the world. In 1928 there were 4 authorized military bands in the permanent force (Army): Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, Royal Canadian Regiment, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry and La Musique du Royal 22e Regiment. A look at the Navy and the Air force will be the subjects of separate pages.
At the outbreak of WW II, after the fall of France, unit bands were reinstated. In 1940 nine bands were authorized for the various Holding Units. One was stationed at Camp Borden, the other eight to circulate among the units of the two Canadian Infantry divisions. Lieutenant A.L. Streeter was given the task of organizing these bands. In 1941 three of these bands had actually been organized but only the No 1 Canadian Infantry Band was able to function independently. The other two, the royal Canadian Artillery Band the Royal Canadian Service Corps Band joined together for special occasions. Attitudes changed and as the value of the bands on both military and civil morale became evident bands were established to a much greater extent.
In 1942, there were 136 bands authorized in the active force in Canada and 69 overseas with a total establishment of 5535 personnel. This did not mean that all were operational, however. Overseas in 1944, there were only ten full time bands and 33 in Canada, plus numerous part-time bands. After the war in 1947, the bands were again reduced to nil but at the same time, three bands were reconstituted, (the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, Royal Canadian Regiment and La Musique du Royal 22e Regiment). In March 1950, the regimental army bands had a total personnel of only 62, which by 1956 had grown to 515.
The following military bands were authorized for the active force as of December 1951:
Royal Canadian Horse Artillery;
Royal Canadian (Coast) Artillery;
Royal Canadian Signals;
Royal Canadian Regiment
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry;
27th Canadian Infantry Brigade: ( a military band for the 1st Canadian Infantry Battalion, a Pipe Band for the 1st Canadian Highland Battalion and a Bugle Band for the 1st Canadian Rifle Battalion); and,
La Musique du Royal 22e RegimentIn addition, three Trumpet Bands and twenty-four Bugle Bands were authorized as part-time bands.
The following bands were authorized for the reserve forces in 1952:
106-30 piece military bands;
24-Pipe Bands;
5-Brass Bands;
40-25 piece Trumpet or Bugle Bands;
95-20 piece Trumpet or Bugle Bands; and,
80-15 piece Trumpet or Bugle Bands.
Records dated 1958 show that the number of full time bands in the regular force had grown to twelve:
Royal Canadian Signals;
La Musique du Royal 22e Regiment;
Royal Canadian Engineers;
Royal Canadian Artillery;
Royal Canadian Horse Artillery;
Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps;
Canadian Guards;
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry;
Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians);
Royal Canadian Regiment;
Royal Canadian Dragoons; and
Royal Highland Regiment of Canada (Black Watch).
Finding trained musicians to man the regular force bands was a daunting task, so the government authorized the opening of recruitment to European candidates. Reciprocal agreements were made with European governments in which immigration was allowed for musicians recruited for the bands. Many musicians came from Great Britain and Holland and to a lesser extent some recruitment was made from other European countries. This method met with great success as the musicians were already trained in some of the finest training systems in Britain , Holland and other countries. The resulting high quality of Canadian bands was self-evident. With continued recruitment from Europe and the very high standard of auditioning in Canada, the bands were the envy of the military music world.
1968 saw a reversal of fortunes when the Canadian Government through the Defense Minister, Paul Hellier, implemented the very unpopular unification of the armed forces. The idea was to integrate all three services into one with each service carrying on its own tasking (land, sea and air), while all of the common tasks of administration, supply, medical etc., would be unified. Theoretically, this would give the ability to move administrative and logistics personnel between services seamlessly at a great cost saving. The unified force would all be dressed in one green uniform with only trade badges to distinguish between them. This was a pipe dream that was to a great extent doomed to failure. Individual loyalties to each service were greatly offended and made the resistance to the plan greater, when sailors entered foreign ports they became the butt of ridicule as the only navy to wear green instead of the world wide Navy Blue, to the point where Captains gave permission to the sailors to leave the ship in civilian clothes. Air force personnel were similarly treated and the army, losing their regimental specific uniforms, were likewise troubled.
As part of this masterful plan, the bands were also unified. The plan worked somewhat more successfully for the bands as there was less resistance; this is not to say that there were not the same bruised loyalties. The Navy had a school of music in Esquimalt, British Columbia since 1952, this became the Canadian Forces School of Music and took on the training for all three services.
From 1968 the following bands were in the Canadian Armed Forces, as the unified force was called:
Titles now began with CF (Canadian Forces).
Navy.
CF Stadacona Band (Halifax, NS)
CF Naden Band (Esquimalt, BC)
Air Force.
CF Central Band (Ottawa)
CF Air Command Band (Winnipeg)
Army.
Regimental names survived.
La Musique du Royal 22e Regiment
Royal Canadian Regiment Band;
Royal Canadian Artillery Band;
Vimy Band (Signals); and,
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Band.
Bands of the reserve force mainly survived with some adjustments to official status and number of personnel.
Tri-Service.
The Canadian Forces School of Music (Esquimalt, BC).
The bands took another hit in 1994 when they were reduced yet again in the number of bands and of personnel with the following bands surviving:
Navy.
CF Stadacona Band (Halifax).
Air Force.
CF Central Band (Ottawa).
Army.
La Musique du Royal 22e Regiment
Royal Canadian Artillery Band (Edmonton).
Editor's note:
I welcome any corrections that may be offered, the aim is to have an accurate record.