…By Joseph Benjamin for TDPel Media.
Soldiers from the Royal Regiment of Scotland will be performing at the King’s coronation this weekend, but they have found it hard to find time to practice due to a “seriously busy few months” of combat training and exercises.
Four servicemen, including drummer and Fusilier Declan Tytler and piper Lance Corporal Ryan Steele, have been learning and rehearsing new music for the historic occasion.
However, practice has not been on their minds much amid an intensive programme of combat training and exercises over the last few months.
Juggling Busy Schedules
L/Cpl Steele said it has been a “juggling act” to fit everything in.
Private Graeme Thomson and Lance Corporal Ryan McAllister will be marching as part of the ceremonial parade on Saturday.
While the pressure is on to keep their steps in line, their day jobs have not stopped either.
Training for Readiness Tests
They recently engaged in a Nato readiness test with the Canadian Army, undertaking hundreds of hours of training across a vast area with challenging terrain, weather, and obstacles, including mine fields and enemy camps.
Pte Thomson said it had been “gruelling”, and there is very little time for a break, with the next test always around the corner.
Despite Busy Schedules, Honored to Perform
Finding time to practice for the coronation has had to fit in around a seriously busy few months full of exercises and wider combat training regimes.
But the soldiers said they are honored to be performing at the historic occasion and to step into these events that will be marked in the history books forever.