The Central Band of the Royal Air Force is a military band

Military band

A military band originally was a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the title of Bandmaster or Director of Music...

, and the RAF

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

's main band. It has brass, percussion and woodwind instruments. Like the RAF's two other bands, the Central Band is part of the Royal Air Force Music Services. The band was formed in 1920.

History

The Band (also known as the RAF Central Band) was formed in 1920, shortly after the RAF had been formed in 1918. The RAF College Band was formed at the same time. On 22 April 1922, it became the first military band to broadcast on BBC Radio

BBC Radio

BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...

 in London. It was the first military band to release an LP

LP album

The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...

. Their version of the Theme from the

Dambusters March

The Dambusters March is Eric Coates' theme for the 1955 film The Dam Busters.-Origination:The composer's son Austin Coates recounted in a radio interview for the BBC that the march was not actually written for the film and had in fact been completed a few days before he was contacted by the producers...

 Dam Busters

The Dam Busters (film)

The Dam Busters is a 1955 British Second World War war film starring Michael Redgrave and Richard Todd and directed by Michael Anderson. The film recreates the true story of Operation Chastise when in 1943 the RAF's 617 Squadron attacked the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe dams in Germany with Wallis's...

reached No. 18 in October 1955, spending one week in the UK Top 20.

Personnel

All band members are fully trained military personnel. The current band master is Warrant Officer

Warrant Officer

A warrant officer is an officer in a military organization who is designated an officer by a warrant, as distinguished from a commissioned officer who is designated an officer by a commission, or from non-commissioned officer who is designated an officer by virtue of seniority.The rank was first...

 Skelton LRSM

Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music

ABRSM is an internationally recognised educational body and charity that provides examinations in music The organisation, based in London, UK, runs exams in centres all over the world...

 LTCL

LTCL DipTESOL

The Licentiate Diploma in TESOL is a professional qualification awarded in the teaching of English for Speakers of Other Languages by Trinity College London...

 ALCM

London College of Music

The London College of Music is a music school which is part of the University of West London in England.The LCM was founded in 1887 and existed as an independent music conservatoire based at Great Marlborough Street in central London until 1991...

. The Current Director of Music is Flight Lieutenant

Flight Lieutenant

Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many Commonwealth countries. It ranks above flying officer and immediately below squadron leader. The name of the rank is the complete phrase; it is never shortened to "lieutenant"...

 Piers L Morrell LRSM LTCL DipTCL RAF

Audio clips

• Flute solo
• RAF March Past - famous piece
  Royal Air Force March Past
  The "Royal Air Force March Past" is the official march of the Royal Air Force and is used in some other Commonwealth air forces.The original score was completed by Sir Walford Davies in 1918 for the new RAF; it combined the rhythm of the bugle call of the Royal Flying Corps with that of the Royal...
  
   by Sir Henry Walford Davies
• Battle of Britain Suite: Battle in the Air (1995 recording)
• Battle of Britain Suite: Prelude