Bandsmen are told to stand guard
By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent
Last Updated: 2:23am BST 19/05/2007
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The Army is so short-staffed that military bandsmen have been put on standby to replace infantry battalions guarding Cyprus.
Some musicians have threatened to resign if they are sent on the operation, The Daily Telegraph has learned.
Some bandsmen are saying that they joined up to be musicians, not soldiers.
"The worst thing about this is that we are essentially professional musicians who have not seen a rifle since our basic training," said one.
"The whole thing is ludicrous because we are musicians not bloody infantry. Three in our band are already saying if this goes ahead they will resign on the spot." The Corps of Army Music has 24 bands that total almost 1,000 musicians - the equivalent of two infantry battalions.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/05/19/narmy19.xml "Get your fat lardy arse out there you bloody whimp!!!"
