Band History
In 1947, a band was formed at RAF Kinloss comprised mainly of national servicemen. Around the same time a band was formed at RAF Edzell with many players coming from the pre war band at RAF Montrose, including the officer in charge, Flt Lt George Sutherland who had secured new tartan for his band, namely Ancient Sutherland. In 1957 the band from Edzell moved to Kinloss who then adopted this tartan and wore it until Kinloss closed. In the mid 90’s both Kinloss and the RAF Lossiemouth band were struggling for numbers so they decided to merge, with the Lossiemouth personnel making the move as they were the smaller of the two. The Kinloss band thrived and enjoyed many years of success in competition. When RAF Kinloss closed in 2012 the band moved again and became the RAF Lossiemouth Pipes & Drums. In 2016 the band adopted the RAF tartan in line with the other RAF pipe bands.
The band is composed of service and MoD personnel from RAF Lossiemouth as well as civilians from the local community. The band attends the whole range of traditional highland events as well as official functions, competitions and a number of charity events and has also sent contingents to form part of the Massed RAF Pipes & Drums in tattoos around the world. They had, until the demise of 201 Sqn, a regular overseas commitment in Guernsey providing musical support for the RAFA Battle of Britain Wings Appeal for which they raised close on £100,000 over the years. They hope to maintain their link with Guernsey with the view to return and perform again in the future. The green and white hackles proudly worn in the glengarry prior to 2016 represented the colours of Guernsey.
The Pipe Major is currently Barry Ashby. Barry took over as Pipe Major in 1990 and has been at the helm ever since. The band reached its competing peak in 1995 winning 38 trophies, 30 of which were for first place. They included the Grade 4 and Grade 3 Champions of the North of Scotland and the North of Scotland Champion of Champions in both piping and drumming. Also that year the band was placed fourth in the British and second in the Scottish Championships. During this period the band won the RAF Pipe Band Championships for an unprecedented nine years in succession. The Drum Sergeant is currently Joe Dempsey. Joe has been a member of every current RAF pipe band during his career and has been our lead tip since 2006. In 2001 the band was promoted to Grade 3b but is now back to Grade 4a at their request following posting and retirement of several key players. New members are always welcome, contact can be made through our Facebook page. Starting in 2022, the band receives generous sponsorship from Boeing.