Question

[jock]

I knew an ex guardsman in 1REC, grenadier from Manchester. Don't think he was a drummer though. Had to leave the Legion early due to an unfortunate incident in Mayotte. Does this ring any bells ? I don't like to mention names on here

 

[Martin Scott]

The FFL bandsmen are part of a last line of defence and don't deploy first...The last bandsmen to deploy in the front-line were the Scots pipers who were shot 'holding the line' while 'advancing to contact' in normal step...Fuc.king awesome. Jock, can you confirm my last...Otherwise, bandsmen are first-aid orderlies or stretcher-bearers..

Eagle eye. How can somebody of your expertise and knowledge get some thing so wrong. Firstly Bandsmen are not just strecher bearers they are fully qualified medics and fully trained Infantry soldiers. Secondly the Drummers who are employed by Musique Principale all went through basic training and were asked if they wanted to join. During my second tour in FFL, I had quite a serious injury to my back instead of going civil, I had the option of joining Musique which I took up. Why ? Because someone in the gestapo found out that I was a drummer in The Corps of Drums In the Guards in the UK.
The best band bar none in the world is the band of the FFL, hard drinking, crazy fuckers every one of them. If anybody wants to know anything about life in the band give me a shout.

 

[Martin Scott]

I knew an ex guardsman in 1REC, grenadier from Manchester. Don't think he was a drummer though. Had to leave the Legion early due to an unfortunate incident in Mayotte. Does this ring any bells ? I don't like to mention names on here

Jock,
Think I know who you mean !!!!! He was a idiot and that's the polite version, when he was a guardsman as well.

 

[jock]

Were you in the same guards regiment ?
If i said his first initial was N would you be able to tell me the initial of his surname ? Then we will know it's the same guy !!!

 

[Peter Lyderik]

Martin Scott,

I would like to know more about life in la Musique. Do they only take people who already know how to play an instrument, or will they teach you? If you know, when did they stop serving mortars, or do they still? How long time were you in the band? And what else you might want to share with the rest of us about la Musique.

 

[Constantine]

So ex paras have a higher chance to go to the REP?

 

[Eagle eye]

Eagle eye . How can somebody of your expertise and knowledge get some thing so wrong. Firstly Bandsman are not just strecher bearers they are fully qualified medics and fully trained Infantry soldiers.

It goes without saying that FFL bandsmen are trained killers to begin with: but they don't deploy first in the current deployments of the FFL to tell war stories to this board..Read previous posts carefully..In war time scenarios, the musical instrument is definitely jettisoned first and replaced by either an automatic weapon or a vital supporting role (medic/stretcher bearer or other); as for the medic's training, I was a platoon medic and CTE12 was certified French Army "auxilliaire de santé" and not "infirmier" though I carried the title "infirmier de section".

A bandsman in a war scenario fits in wherever there is a need to but La Musique principale is definitely in the 'rear with the gear' in deployments today. Perhaps in the past like in DBP they were among the volunteers who parachuted at low altitudes in the last flights over the besieged enclave. Those bandsmen who did so are no longer with us or are very old...to ask them to post their 'war stories' is a BIT OF A JOKE ON THEIR MEMORY AND THOSE WHO ARE STILL ALIVE..I'm sure you're aware of the issue of rememberance unlike some on this board...

 

[Mick]

Without stepping on the toes of you guys.....I had two P&D guys (Pipes and Drums) under me on exercise and operations, one was a drummer and the other was a piper. Both of these guys were (CFA's which are Combat First Aiders) or they did like to call themselves Combat Medics as it sounded better than CFA. Both were train grunts to start with and became Advanced First Aiders during their time in the battalion. Good guys with good training.....however their is a difference between a Medic and Medic Quailified Band members in my mob so I would think both Martin and Eagle would have the goods on them in the legion as far as what the training differences are. On that point, in my experience even with their training they need to know more than what they do.....I always tried to teach them as much as I could during the down time between Op's etc because when you get rushed with banged up bodies you need more than two hands to do ya job. I always loved having my Medic Multipliers with me made my job easier......but of coarse if ya wanted to piss them off ya just had to call them Bandie Poofters or Stretcher Bearers! So doing that seems to work in the legion as well!
Starlight Out!

 

[Martin Scott]

Were you in the same guards regiment ?
If i said his first initial was N would you be able to tell me the initial of his surname ? Then we will know it's the same guy !!!

Jock was the inital C as in colllins , I dont know if it was the same guy .When I came back from the farm to Castel, for phase two of basic training we had a guy that was a ex- Grenadier with us . He was a slimy bastard and thought he was above everybody else.
He got his come uppantance anyway. I thought you were climbing up a big slab of rock this aftrenoon.

 

[Martin Scott]

Martin Scott,

I would like to know more about life in la Musique. Do they only take people who already know how to play an instrument, or will they teach you? If you know, when did they stop serving mortars, or do they still? How long time were you in the band? And what else you might want to share with the rest of us about la Musique.

Peter.
Firstly you have got to get in the Legion in the first place, you enter like anybody else at one of the recruitment centres in France, you go though the same interviews that legionnaires go through, at the end of selection you are asked as a individual if would you like to join Musique, if you have experience you may stand a better chance of getting in. But here's the rub you have to go to the farm and complete basic training like everybody else and then it depends if you get a good report from section commander.
Saying you have gone through that and still want a life as a musican, Legion marches and music are very different from say the British Army, so there is a through amount of training.
The FFL band is the public face of The Legion and as such you are expected to have a better turnout than say a ordinary legionnaire. Like the men in the REP the men of Musique Prinicipale consider themselves an elite and are the best military band in the world. Life in Musique was a blast I travelled all over the world with the band, and served for two years after eight with 1REC.
But the thing to remember is you are a legionnaire first and a musican second.
regards
Scottie

 

[jock]

Jock was the inital C as in colllins , I dont know if it was the same guy .When I came back from the farm to Castel, for phase two of basic training we had a guy that was a ex- Grenadier with us . He was a slimy bastard and thought he was above everybody else.
He got his come uppantance anyway. I thought you were climbing up a big slab of rock this aftrenoon.

Dont think its the same guy , his initial was R as in Rothschild and wasnt really slimey , more of a headbanger (we were all abit flakey though ..)

 

[jock]

Jock was the inital C as in colllins , I dont know if it was the same guy .When I came back from the farm to Castel, for phase two of basic training we had a guy that was a ex- Grenadier with us . He was a slimy bastard and thought he was above everybody else.
He got his come uppantance anyway. I thought you were climbing up a big slab of rock this aftrenoon.

Just had a thought. Did you ever come across a Grenadier called Paul Sellas (not Legion ) he is ex Rhodesian Infantry (he went awol from the Guards then returned) and also ran the BATT in the Gambia west Africa . More recently he has been very prominent in the middle eastern circuit notably Kuwait . You can't miss him allways beasting himself around the area with a bergan on .
old school , superb guy .
Just asking cos you mentioned you were a guardsman .The only other ex guardsman I have come across was an ex-irish guard called Barry Horrigan (Horrigan the horrible ) ex Regiment another top notch soldier (again not talking Legion here).