drummer boys

[tom compton]

dear pals can anyone tell me if there is any good books on drummer boys .my grandad was

a drummer boy in the 1st bat dorset .from 1884.to 1897 .he may have been a drummer in the 6th dorset in1914 18 war thanks tom

[uncle bill]

Tom. I don't know of any books trating this subject. I do know ,however, that drummers were used as runners in the war. Not an enviable job. Have you tried contacting the Keep at Dorchester yet ?

[charlesmessenger]

Tom

The closest I can come up with is Hugh Barty-King's The Drum, which was published as a paperback by The Royal Tournament in 1988. It certainly gives a good flavour of the drummer through the centuries.

Charles M

[Muerrisch]

Drummer boys is a popular misconception. I suspect it owes much to Kipling, 'Lew and Jakin' in 'Drums of the Fore and Aft' fame.

For a start, drummers were not strictly rank and file, and were paid more than private soldiers, not just in 14-18 but for a long period before that. Their senior status probably goes back to their use accompanying officers for parley.

It is true that many drummers were recruited [and paid as] boys, and paraded as supernumeraries, but their number, varied from time to time, was strictly limited. These boys were permitted to be sent on active service subject to the CO's wishes under 1914 regs. They were trained to use the bugle and flute/ fife etc, and indeed the military use of the drum had almost ceased except as a muster and parade function. Except in Light Infantry, drummers using the bugle were known as drummers, and badged with the drum badge. Most LI used the drum badge but the men were often referred to as buglers. There were no drummers in Rifles [except bandsmen, badged as bandsmen] and Rifles buglers wore a double bugle badge [not universal, some wore single, and there were several designs].

To this day, Guards Corps of Drums [the most visible on our screens] parade with drum and slung bugle, and a row or two with fife/ flute/piccolo only.

4 drummers to a company until 1913/14, then 2, total same, under a drum sergeant often incorrectly known as a drum-major.

Drummers were and are combat-ready, and often steady old soldiers, rather than striplings.

[tom compton]

thanks pals for the information .i am told by the keep that the 6th dorsets had no band , i am not sure about that ? i read somewhere that the 6th dorsets were given some instrurments to form a band in wareham in dorset before going to france .have you anything on that lawrence . all the best tom

[Muerrisch]

A band should have nothing to do with it, totally separate from the corps of drums.

[drummer]

LB1418...who then were the fellows who played the drums in the band. Were they from the Corps of Drums and if so, how chosen?

Thanks, Drummer

[Muerrisch]

A military band was established for a small number of percussionists: bass drum, side drum, cymbals usually. These were bandsmen not drummers: clothed differently, badged differently, and parading under the bandmaster or director of music. Styretcher bearers in war, although trained soldiers.

[drummer]

Much obliged, LB1418..

There have been several recent threads concerning Corps of Drums and the Band that certainly had this American confused but the fog is starting to lift. Is it a safe assumption that the two units had nothing to do with each other musically, administratively or militarily other than having the same overall CO?

Thanks,

Drummer

[Muerrisch]

The Corps of Drums were administered upwards through Drum Major, Adjt and CO.

The Band through Band Sergeant, Bandmaster, Band President [an officer appointed by CO] and CO.

On major ocasions the Corps of Drums, headed by the Drum Major, would precede the Band.

For minor administration, when not paraded, both drummers and bandsmen were attached to the companies in fours and fives [1914 style].

[drummer]

Thanks once again for the swift reply. I beg two more questions, if I may.

What would the duties of the Sergeant Drummer be when the Battalion was on war footing in the field? The table of organization on this site has him attached to the HQ Company.

And might a peacetime Home Service funeral be one of those occasions when the Corps of Drums fronted the Band?

Regards,

Drummer