Eric Coombes was born in Hertfordshire, in a little village named Shenley, just outside of London. As a boy, he remembers seeing London on fire after it was bombed during World War II. When he turned 18 years old he was called up for national service and was sent to Blenheim Camp, St Edmunds, for six weeks of basic training. After that, he continued his training for 10 weeks in the Royal Norfolk regiment. After training, he was deployed to Korea; Eric was really excited for his deployment, as it gave him the chance to travel the world for the first time. He remembers the crossing going well, he kept himself occupied with bingo, exercising, and at times, going ashore for a couple of hours when the ship pulled into port. Once landing in Hong Kong, they were put through a stiff training routine, learning how to use mortars and other weaponry. His regiment was then sent on its way to Pusan, Korea. On the way into Korea, Eric remembers the sound of heavy artillery fire not far away from where he was. When he arrived in Pusan, he had a couple of days to get comfortable before he started working. Eric’s role was mortar support, he recalls the very detailed way in which mortars work and how he used his training to operate them. His first experience with loss came when two of the people he signed up with were killed whilst on patrol, he remembers this being a very sad time. On another occasion, Eric remembers hearing about a company of soldiers being captured whilst on patrol. At the time he hoped they were captured by the Chinese, as stories spread about how horrible the Korean prison camps were. For Eric, the scariest time was being mortared whilst in a valley, his platoon had to quickly fall back whilst mortars were being dropped behind them. Eric wishes there could be no wars and talks about the tragic loss of life for both sides. He left Korea in September 1952.

Louis Davies grew up on music and a family legacy of military service. It was thus a natural path for him to enrol in the military at the age of sixteen, with the dream of being in a military band. Louis describes the process of auditioning for and training at Kneller Hall (then the Royal Military School of Music). Louis speaks with great pride about the legacy and global renown of Kneller Hall, recalling some of the powerful and touching performances he was part of while studying there. After over three years at Kneller Hall, Louis transferred to the Navy as a Royal Marines Bugler. He continued to pursue his dream of being a full-time musician in the military until ultimately leaving to take care of his family.

Coming from a musical and artistic family, John was attracted to military service as an opportunity to become a professional musician. He joined the Staffordshire Regiment, and after arduous basic training, joined the military band. He focused on the cornet and the double bass and describes his development as a musician. He puts his success down to hard work; he wanted to become a professional musician in a military band and he would do whatever it took to achieve this. He was then given the opportunity to train at Kneller Hall, which he describes as ‘the mecca for army music’. He practised hard and won a prize for the most improved musician on double bass as well as best double bass musician for that year. Following graduation, he spent time in Northern Ireland, then Gibraltar. Eventually he became an instructor in the Prince of Wales division and from there back to Kneller Hall as a student Bandmaster. Having graduated, he became the first black bandmaster and went to the Cheshire Regiment and from there to Bosnia and the first Gulf War. He describes his time with the Cheshire Regiment, during which he received a commission before retiring in 2000.