It was pure luck that I had this amazing experience. I was in my final couple of months as Colonel Commandant QARANC so a few more weeks and I’d have missed it. The original Coronation plan had been for the Master General to represent all of the Army Medical Services, so without the timely and vocal intervention of Colonel Graham Johnson as Colonel AMS successfully making the case for the individual Corps' Colonels Commandant to also parade, I would have missed it. So, on two counts at least I was very, very fortunate.
We were to be part of the 100 strong senior officers' cohort which included all but the Service Chiefs who were in the Abbey. However delighted I was, I confess to anxiety creeping in very quickly. I had not marched in formation for at least 20 years and more on this later.
The detailed instructions were only being released close to the event but we knew that they would include a video of the hat's off routine required during the 'Three Cheers'. So, after 20 years of not marching and never having done 'Three Cheers' while on parade, I could only wait to find out what was required. More on this later too.
There was then the matter of changing my rank crowns and cap badge to the Kings Crown. These were in very high demand and very short supply, but mine arrived in the nick of time. The cap badge was a different fitting to the Queens Crown I had on my No 1 dress hat so required some nifty work with a scalpel to get it fixed, and changing crowns on gold cord shoulder boards required some strong arm manoeuvres with a large pair of pliers. With only minor damage to my fingers the job was done.
Overnight rehearsal! By this stage I had my niggling concern about the drill, hoped that I had got the uniform right and now remembered that I hadn't actually stayed up all night for at lest 20 years either. I did remember though that if things were as interesting and lively as they often were on night duty then it would not be difficult to stay awake.
We were briefed during the afternoon in the Guards Chapel by the Garrison Sergeant Major the now very well known WO1 Vern Stokes, Coldstream Guards, at which point I think we all recognised that the overall Coronation plans were way beyond anything seen before. This was indeed going to be interesting. GOC London District spoke and found a polite way of telling his fellow Generals and not quite so very senior officers that our job was to suspend any notion of independent thought and simply to do exactly as we were told.
It was lively too as we assembled in Main Building, changed into No 1 dress and caught up with colleagues and friends. A sense of excitement and 'Aren't we lucky?' was evident. Then on to the coaches at 2200 for the short drive to Wellington Barracks. 100 senior officers did exactly as they were told to exit Main Building in good order, but still nothing had been left to chance and there were guides posted at every doorway, lift and staircase to make sure we didn't wander off.
We were held at a road junction and so witnessed the procession from Waterloo Station. Imagine. In the dark, band after band with troops marching behind each one, all in full dress uniform, across Waterloo Bridge to the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben with the London skyline lit up behind. Quite a sight.
The QARANC contingent and their AMS colleagues were now held, along with the rest of the Army, in the (massive) underground car park at the Barracks so one of the highlights during the rehearsal and on the day was spending time talking to our personnel. They were in tremendous spirits in spite of the tough rehearsals that you will read about elsewhere. I was incredibly proud.
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Now, I have only ever marched on a parade square. The route to the Palace garden involved cobbles, speed bumps, gravel, kerbs and grass and quite a lot of changing direction. But we arrived in good order. Fascinating just how deep in our brains these skills have embedded. I needn't have worried.
We were able to move around and chat for a while then formed up to wait for the main procession to arrive. On the day the procession would go behind us onto the grass but it was flooded in parts so they marched between us and the Palace and straight out of a side gate. Or at least that had been the plan but it was locked!! The man with the key was duly found and everything started up again. Another unexpected and unique treat to watch the entire procession march past just a few feet away. We followed the procession behind 'our' band round the Victoria Memorial, up Birdcage Walk and were brought to a halt on Horseguards. There, the Guards officer designated to keep us in order passed on the feedback from the GOC London District that the Senior Officers Cohort had generally done well but please could we not fidget quite so much on the day. It was generally agreed among the senior officers that we would not need to fidget quite so much on the day because we would not be quite so incredibly cold on Saturday afternoon as we were in the very early hours of Wednesday morning. We were freezing and had been very happy to set off marching again just to warm up.
Walking across Horseguards as dawn was breaking was magical. Still wide awake I captured the memory and started to look forward to doing it all again in daylight.
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| Buckingham Palace Garden |
Others will describe their experience of the Coronation procession and the overall day so I will return straight to Buckingham Palace Garden.
The 'Three Cheers' was incredible. Concentrating hard on getting the hat off onto shoulder, up in the air, back to shoulder, back on head routine correct and in time with everyone else I was completely unprepared for the wall of sound. The volume and resonance was immense. Fortunately there were two more to go, to focus on and enjoy.
Having been delighted to find myself on the very front row I had realised once in-situ for the rehearsal that we were so far to one side that however much I tried to swivel my eyes (without fidgeting of course) I was not going to be able to see The King and Queen. All I could see were a couple of the ground floor french windows and net curtains. But those curtains twitched and Prince George appeared resplendent in his red tunic followed by the King. They opened the door and watched the parade leaving the garden while chatting and pointing at the activity. What a bonus.
A guardsman had been positioned at the garden gate to say repeatedly as the senior officers passed, "Sirs, Ma'am's, you are moving into public view, please stay in step". Cheeky I thought. We had completely nailed it some time ago.
There was one last treat to come. The march up Birdcage Walk behind the Pipes and Drums. I was very conscious that this would be my last ever and I needed to not only concentrate on what I was doing but take it all in and remember the moment, how special it felt, what it meant, and once again how extraordinarily lucky I was to have had such an experience.
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| Master General AMS, Senior Health Advisor (Army) and the AMS Colonels Commandant in Buckingham Palace Garden |
Col (Rtd) Carol Kefford Former Colonel Commandant QARANC
