The Guyana Police Military Band MS is celebrating 150 years of service to the nation, the Force said in a press release.
The Band was established on August 22, 1858 and was initially named the British Guiana Militia Band. It had a complement of one Band Master, Christian A Ahrens, one Band Sergeant and twenty band privates. In 1957 the Band was drafted into the Guyana Police Force and serving members of the time were given the option to join the Force as policemen or resign, the release said.
Though the Band faced many challenges among the highlights of its history was playing at a cricket match in 1884 for Prince George who later became King George. Prince George was serving as a Junior Officer aboard the HMS Britannia when it visited Guyana. A cricket match was arranged between the ship’s crew and a team from the Georgetown Club and the Band was tasked with playing selected scores from the ship’s band library at intervals on match day.
Another major appearance for the Band was at Wembley, England in 1924 where it played at an exhibition and placed second. The Band also played at an exposition in Grenada and toured Suriname in 2005.
Along with Ahrens, the band has had 14 leaders: F Hartung, Charles Fricke, John Miller, G Horner, Captain A R Croal, Lieutenant Albert W Fawcett, Lieutenant Sydney W Henwood, MBE, ED; M V DeAbreu LRAM, ARCM; Edward Rogers, MBE; P G Small ARCM, LGSM, LRAM, FLCM, LGSM; Morris Watson, LRSM; Leon Waddle and Assistant Commissioner Cecil Bovell, DSM, FCV, BBCM, LGSM, RMSM (Kneller Hall).
Bovell is the first Guyanese by birth to be trained as Band Master and is currently the Director of Music and Culture of the GPF.
