2009 marks the 20th anniversary of the IRA bombing of the former
School of Music in Deal; this weekend record numbers of
spectators are expected to attend Sunday’s special Memorial Bandstand
concert in Deal.
The Royal Marines School of Music left Deal in 1996 for
Portsmouth but each year the band returns to perform on the
Memorial Bandstand at Walmer Green on the Deal seafront. It’s a
hugely popular free event attended by 4-5,000 people every
year.
Built in 1992, the bandstand is a tribute to
the memory of the 11 Royal Marines
musicians killed by the IRA on September 22 1989. Their
names are inscribed on 11 sides of the structure and each year the
bandstand is re-dedicated in their memory.
KM Group
publishes the official souvenir programme for the event, usually
titled “Marines on the Green”, and carries it for free in its
East Kent Mercury newspaper, covering Dover and Deal.
Editor Graham Smith says “we first produced
the programme two years ago, after we approached the Deal Memorial Bandstand Trust,
which maintains the bandstand.
“As it's a special concert, this year’s
programme is titled “The Band Plays On” and is being carried with
our paper on July 9.” The 32-page colour publication is also
available online.
It features an introduction by Prince Philip,
Captain General of the Royal Marines, a feature by John Perkins, a
former director of music at the Deal and now chairman of the Deal
Memorial Bandstand Trust, looking back at the events of September
22 1989 and their aftermath. Additional copies of the programme
will be distributed on the day.
At 2pm on Sunday, July 12, the band will march
from the former depot church, into Canada Road, stopping parallel
to the memorial garden on the site of 1989 IRA explosion before
re-entering south barracks, to the Jubilee Gates into Dover Road,
onto The Strand, and Walmer Green, where the annual performance
will take place. Organisers are expecting up to 10,000
spectators.
East Kent Mercury is supporting an appeal to raise £15,000 to
renovate the bandstand.
(July 9, 2009)