A salute to Australia
From building and moving props to playing in bands, performing guard drill and singing, members of the Air Force took part in every facet of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo – A salute to Australia, recently held in Sydney. Photographers LAC Rodney Welch and AB Neil Richards covered the event from every angle.

An Australian first More than 1300 performers from five countries participated in the first Australian-hosted Edinburgh Military Tattoo from February 3-8. * Australian Military Bands – Royal Australian Navy Band Sydney – Australian Army Band Sydney – Air Command Band Sydney, supported by RAAF Central Band Australian Pipe Bands – Royal Australian Regiment Pipes & Drums – Pipes and Drums of the Australian Army Reserve – Tasmanian Police Pipe Band – Australian Federation Tattoo Pipe Band – Scots College Pipe Band – Royal Caledonian Society – Queensland Police Pipes and Drums – New South Wales Police Mounted Display and Band British Military Bands – Band of the Royal Marines Scotland – Band of the Scots Guard – Central Band of the Royal Air Force British Military Pipe Bands – The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards – The Royal Highland Fusiliers – The Kings Own Scottish Borderers – The Highlanders – The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders – Royal Gurkha Rifles – RAF Pipes and Drums International Participants – New Zealand Army Band – Top Secret Drums Corps (Switzerland) – United States Marine Corps – The King’s Guard (Norway) – Lothian and Borders Police Pipe Band (Scotland) – Queens Colour Squadron RAF Display Groups – The Tattoo Highland Dancers (Scotland) – The OzScot Highland Dancers (Australia) – Australia Federation Guard – The Tattoo Choir   From www.edinburghtattooaustralia.com.au   An historic precedent The first Edinburgh Tattoo took place in 1950. There were eight items in the program. The Tattoo has always been staged at Edinburgh Castle. Rehearsals take place at Redford Barracks in Edinburgh. More than 11 million people have attended the Tattoo. The annual audience is about 217,000. About 100 million people see the Tattoo each year on international television. About 70 per cent of each audience is from outside Scotland and over half of that 70 per cent are from outside the UK. The average number of participants is 1000. More than 30 countries have been represented at the Tattoo. The first overseas regiment to participate was the Band of the Royal Netherlands Grenadiers. The year was 1952, and there were also performers from Canada and France. The first lone piper was Pipe Major George Stoddart. He played in every performance for the first 11 years. His son, Major Gavin Stoddart, followed his father as lone piper at the Tattoo and became Director of Army Bagpipe Music for 12 years. About 56km of cabling (the distance from Edinburgh to Glasgow) is required to stage the Tattoo. 2004 marked the Tattoo’s sixth successive sell-out season, generating £3.7 million (AUD $8.8 million) in box office receipts. The Tattoo is set up and run for charity. Over the years, it has gifted £5 million (AUD $11.9 million) to service and civilian organisations. At the last official independent count, visitors to the Tattoo contributed an estimated £88 million (AUD $209 million) to the Scottish economy. The word “tattoo” comes from the closing-time cry in the inns in the Low Countries during the 17th and 18th centuries – “Doe den tap toe” (turn off the taps). Not a single performance of the Tattoo has ever been cancelled.

Members of the Air Command Band perform in front of the replica Edinburgh Castle at Aussie Stadium in Sydney. UK military bands featured prominently at the Australian-hosted ceremony. Members of the RAF Queens Colour Squadron present arms at the Edinburgh Tattoo in Sydney. The Australian Federation Guard present arms during the Edinburgh Tattoo – A Salute to Australia. The recreated Edinburgh Castle at Aussie Stadium stands more than 25 metres high and fills the entire southern end of the stadium. The replica castle was designed to be faithful to the original in every detail. CPL Roxanne from RAAF Central Band sings with representatives from the other two service bands.

 

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