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A little bit late but the 2009 season has drawn to a close for the Pipes and Drums, overall it has been another highly successful season for the band performing overseas in South Korea and Gibraltar as well as supplying a large number of personnel for this years Edinburgh Military Tattoo, of which the RAF took the lead with the RAF Pipes and Drums producing two files within the Massed Pipes and Drums.

During the month of August the RAF Leuchars Pipes and Drums were based at Redford Cavalry Barracks for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. RAF Leuchars supplied 19 band members who made up a part of the RAF Pipes and Drums. All service band members were officially detached to Edinburgh for the full month, whilst some of the civilian members took two weeks out of their annual holiday to participate in one of the largest Piping and Drumming showcases in the world.

The Tattoo shows run for 6 days a week for the whole month of August with a double show on a Saturday so you can imagine the thoughts of the RAF Leuchars Pipes and Drums members when they were informed of the competitions on weekends in between shows!! The first weekend saw the band competing at Inverkeithing, we did very well winning our grade and achieving a respectable 3rd in Grade 3.

The following weekend took us to the World Championships in Glasgow. We arrived at Glasgow Green with ample time to prepare, however a major hiccup occurred when the stewards insisted we were to park up in a position where we could not move until the end of the day. It is imperative that when we are on Tattoo duties that we leave the park by 3.30pm to allow us to get back for the double show in the evening. After an hour of drama we parked up and started our preparation, coffee and burgers! The initial tune up went well under the trees out of the rain, the band sounded well marching to the arena, but the rain kept coming. A good final tuning with some excellent assistance from our Army mates Neil Hall and Roddy Weir and we were off and running. No major dramas, one or two little bits, but we felt it was an overall good performance. However, once again it wasn’t to be our year as we failed to qualify. “That’s show business”. Back in Edinburgh the rain stopped and we went about our business, tired, dried out and disappointed.

The Pipes and Drums returned to RAF Leuchars at the end of August when preparations began for the Annual Airshow on the 10th September. The show was blessed this year with glorious weather so there were plenty of flying displays to be seen and also the Pipes and Drums were seen and enjoyed by thousands of spectators. A long but very good day was had by all.

October and the RAF Pipe Band Championships loomed ever closer. Again things started slowly but came together very well. Initially we had quite a strong entry for the Individual Competitions but unfortunately a few were forced to withdraw due to work commitments, however the remaining few who did compete did extremely well with pretty much all of them being placed in the top three of competitions entered. The Band competition on the Saturday saw us back up to strength and raring to go. Both runs went well, the Grade 4 competition was ok but could have been better but the Grade 3 Medley Competition went really well, everyone came off feeling great. The Drum Corps managed a clean sweep winning Bass, Tenor and Corps trophies, the pipers were placed third putting the band in 2nd place overall. The winners were RAF Waddington.

Two engagements remained moving into November. The first was a charity engagement at the Blythe Hall, Newport. The Pipes and Drums performed to a sell-out audience and helped to raise over £3000 for “Help the Heroes” and the second was the annual Remembrance Parade in St Andrews on a cold crisp 8th November, despite the cold the parade went well with no dramas.

In appreciation, I would like to take this opportunity in thanking all members of the RAF Leuchars Pipes and Drums for their dedication throughout the past year, without which we would not have been so successful. I would also like to say welcome and a big thank you to new members Alastair Inverarity, Alan Holmes, Duncan Campbell, Scotty Campbell and Stuart (George) Armstrong, all of whom have had their first season with the band and have made a big difference since their arrival. Also our thanks go to Cammy Campbell (Black Watch) for his assistance on jobs throughout the year. I would also like to welcome our latest new member, piper John Rankin and pass on my personal thanks to all the wives, girlfriends, boyfriends and employers who supported us throughout the year.

For me and a few members of the band the first engagement for 2010 will be at the end of January in Sydney, Australia as a part of the Edinburgh Tattoo. The first band engagement is on the 12th March when the Pipes and Drums will be performing at a charity concert at the Denny Civic Theatre, Dumbarton alongside the Band of the Royal Marines. The concert is being organised by the Armed Forces Veterans Association to help raise funds for servicemen and their families suffering from Combat Stress and similar problems.

Wishing everyone Slainte and the very best for 2010