Roll over image to zoom in
Gold on Blue: A life in the Royal Marines Band Service
£9.50
This is the story of a fourteen-year-old boy who joined the Royal Naval School of Music at its wartime camp at Burford in Oxfordshire in the late 1940s. He rose through the ranks to spend 6 ½ years as the professional head of the Royal Marines Band Service, retiring shortly before 11 colleagues were killed at Deal by IRA terrorists.
It is the story of a life in music. Of voyages in HMS Sheffield, HMS Hermes, the QE2 and theRoyal Yacht Britannia. A life of duty, honour, ceremony and tradition that includes Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, the 1966 World Cup Final and the honeymoon cruise of Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales.
This is not a story of one triumph after another. It is the story of someone who, occasionally, was in the right place at the right time. Someone who saw opportunities and embraced them.
Someone who, if he was given the chance, would do it all again.
Read more
Additional information
| Publisher | Independently published (18 Mar. 2022) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 408 pages |
| ISBN-13 | 979-8435222012 |
| Dimensions | 15.24 x 2.59 x 22.86 cm |
by R M.
What Mr Hoskins appears to have forgotten is that the RMBS is a relatively small and close knit ‘band of brothers’. Many former musicians who have served with him may feel that some of his stories are somewhat embellished, or indeed at such a variance with that which actually did occur, they would be inclined to quote HM Queen Elizabeth.
by Larry Pogson
Nothing to dislike this was a factual detailed account of Lt Col Hoskins career within the Royal Marines Band Service from a being a New Boy Entrant to the ultimate accolade of being appointed Principal Director of Music Royal Marines.
A truly fascinating read.
by Old B
This is a marvellous account of a fascinating career where hard work paid dividends. There is the occasional flash of frustration and anger but there are most definitely no axes being ground. If only his clarinet ‘misplaced’ very early in his service only to resurface at his retirement could have spoken of its’ journey too!
by Steven
This book makes a great gift for all the family, written with a passion for a bygone era and a true account of a life in service.
by Mr F.
Written in a style and form that is easy to read and which places the reader in the midst of the events recorded, especially those on board HMY Britannia. I was particularly moved by the chapter dealing with Lord Mountbatten of Burma and the fortitude of his daughter Patricia, Lady Brabourne following her father’s assassination.
by GH
Colonel Hoskins has put together the experiences of one man’s personal journey and career, spanning a significant period during which the Royal Marines Band Service underwent much downsizing as a direct result of the Royal Navy’s reduction, too. The 40 years’ service the book recalls has rarely been paralleled in other autobiographies, especially on such a niche military subject.
It is a well written and easy to follow account – I’m a fairly slow reader but I seemed to finish this book in no time at all. This is a humble-to-exalted story of an expert witness to part of our nation’s history, recently past. Although it’s not meant to be an exhaustive historical account, I thoroughly commend it as both a prime source for the historian and a unique life story for the recreational reader.