MILITARY BAND FOR N.Z. AIR FORCE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19640, 7 November 1933, Page 8

MILITARY BAND FOR N.Z. AIR FORCE

KINGSFORD SMITH OPENS FUND. For some time citizens Interested In air defence have felt the need of some means of bringing the activity of the Air Force more prominently before the public. With this end in view a movement has been started to raise funds to purchase instruments for a full military band that would be a credit to the New Zealand Air Force and the Dominion as a whole, and incidentally the first full military band in New Zealand. For those who may not know, a military band is not necessarily so-called because it is attached to a military unit, but it refers to a particular instrumentation which includes reed instruments, and thus has a wider musical range than the ordinary brass band. The Air Force Band, when it is formed, will consist of approximately 37 players, who will be recruited for the purpose.

Sir Charles Kingsford Smith is associated with the movement, and has opened the fund with a substantial gift. Committees are, being formed in all towns throughout the Dominion, to be known as "The Friends of the Air Force" committees, who will organise dances, bridge parties, and other function to raise the necessary funds. A Trust Board is being arranged to administer the funds until the required amount has been raised, and Mr T. C. A. Hislop, Mayor of Wellington, has consented to act as chairman, and representatives from other centres will be elected almost immediately. The organisers of the movement hope to have the full amount required by the end of the year.