"STEADY AND STRONG"

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 61, 14 March 1939, Page 8

"STEADY AND STRONG"

ALDERSHOT TATTOO THEME

PREPARATIONS FOR JUNE

(By Air Mail, from "The Post's" London Representative.) LONDON, February 13. •'Steady and Strong" is to be the theme this year of the Aldershot Tattoo, which takes place from June 7to June 17. It will combine with a symbolical version of "Drake's Drum." The main features of the Tattoo, which becomes an increasingly popular spectacle* and which was seen last year by 530,000 persons, were planned six months ago. The opening item, "Changing the Guard," will illustrate the contrasts between the old and the new mechanised Army. A display in lighter vein is an illuminated mechanical drive as a modern interpreta,tion of the artillery drives of the past, with their teams of galloping horses. The rescue of a beleaguered garrison by troops landed ■ from an air troop-carrier will portray the Royal Air Force in a humane rather than a destructive role. The nation's rally to Queen Elizabeth's call to arms in the sixteenth century and a symbolised version of the legend of Drake's Drum, supposed to sound whenever England is in danger, provide a fitting climax to the programme.. , One of the objects of the Tattoo 5s to show as much as possible of the work and equipment of the modern Army. Public demand has made it clear that a minimum of nine performances is necessary to cater adequately for the increasing number of Tattoo enthusiasts. Grandstands and enclosures capable of seating 77,500 have been built on three sides of the natural amphitheatre at Rushmoor Arena. More than 200 special excursion trains will serve Aldershot, and about 12,000 coaches and buses will bring spectators from all parts of the country.