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HISTORY
In 1888 the Royal Dutch Army Engineers Regiment Music Corps was first formed by NCOs and volunteer soldiers in the city of Utrecht. Now, 118 years later, volunteers from the Engineers Regiment again uphold the musical tradition of the Engineers Regiment (1748 – 2006).
In the early years the citizens of Utrecht could follow the parades of the band. However, in the early fifties of last century the band settled in the town of ‘s-Hertogenbosch and, from that time, were officially allowed to call themselves the Engineers Regiment Fanfare Corps. The members consisted mainly of conscript soldiers but with a core of professional army officers.
Thus, the oldest regiment of our armed forces had its own music corps up until 1995.
Due to a re-organization within the defense department, the “Engineers Regiment Fanfare Corps” was disbanded. At the beginning of 1997 the idea occurred to breathe new life into the “extinct” music corps. After discussions with the headquarters of the Engineers Regiment Corps, we started to correspond with almost all of those earlier recruits of the Engineers Regiment Fanfare Corps.
In September 1997, the first meeting was held at the “Lunetten Barracks” in the town of Vught, a terrain well-known to us. From this moment, the band was named “Old Members of the Engineers Regiment Fanfare Corps”
Presently, the band consists of 50-65 musicians, all dressed in the historical 1888 uniform.
TRADITIONS
During our shows we uphold the traditions of the Engineers Regiment. After the playing of the regimental march, (Colonel van Heemskerk van Beest March) a serving girl appears in historical costume to pour brandy from a small wooden cask carried on a strap from her shoulder.
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