FIELD MUSICIANS ON ROYAL NAVY SHIPS

Posts : 4 Join date : 2014-10-07

Field Musicians on Royal Navy ships - can anyone tell me what they did when they were not playing music? Did they become fighting men?

For instance, Bandsman Henry Goff (my great grandfather) on HMS Active was in the Zulu War and the Ashanti campaign and he earned a medal- what would he actually have done? Fighting on land, presumably - what weapons would have been used?

Thank you!

Posts : 2308 Join date : 2010-07-02 Age : 44

I would have thought, they would have been used mainly as stretcher bearers, as and when required.

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