In the early Summer of 1885 there was a "Great Kent March" by Salvation Army Officer Cadets. They were known as "Life Guards" and the march was headed by a band of 25 brass instrumentalists, each wearing a white pith military helmet (the normal military headgear of the day), a red guernsey, blue trousers and gaiters and carrying a knapsack and water bottle. Later it was suggested that a permanent band might be established. A War Cry advert called for volunteers; it read:

If you're young, if you're saved, if you're physically fit, if you can play a brass instrument.....are prepared to leave home and family for 6 months active service for God and the Army...then be at Clapton Congress Hall on 12th March 1887.

The Household Troops Band was formed with Staff-Captain Harry Appleby as bandmaster. No salary was offered and no guarantee was given apart from food and clothing. On June 1st 1887, the pioneer 25 members of The Household Troops Band left Clapton Congress Hall to march into Salvation Army history. Their first tour lasted six months. The next year in October, the band left for Canada as the first British Salvation Army band to cross the Atlantic. The tour was a tremendous success and led to Canada's own Household Troops Band being formed.

Whilst they were away a second group of players was inaugurated under the leadership of Samuel Webber and the tradition continued. On October 14th 1889 in the country village of Whitchurch in Hampshire, it is reported that The Household Troops Band led a march of over 1000 Salvationists in a great march for liberty. The local Salvationists had suffered persecution and injury in the WhitchuRch Riots and over 800 had been imprisoned for conducting open-air services. As a result of this demonstration and others led by the local Corps, The Salvation Army won a landmark legal case and with it, the right to play and preach in the open-air.

The first Troops band returned home to Britain in 1891 and later members of both bands amalgamated. Then six years after it all started, in 1893, the band was dissolved to make way for a new band, and it was from the ashes of The Household Troops Band that The International Headquarters Staff Band (now known as The International Staff Band) was formed.

The Household Troops Band Today

Over a century later, in 1985, the then National Bandmaster Captain John Mott, formed a new Household Troops Band at the National School of Music, at Cobham Hall.

The band you see today is drawn from many different Salvation Army centres, from as far North as Glasgow....from sunny Bournemouth, from the fine city of Norwich and the band includes at least two Welshmen! The members are selected for their Salvationism, stamina, flexibility...and their musical skills of course! Major John Mott is still the Bandmaster.

The band hold just a few rehearsals in preparation for the Summer Tour which is the backbone of the work undertaken, hence the need for a high degree of skill. The tours, which usually take place during the last week of August, are conducted mainly in coastal resorts where the holiday crowds are largest and the local Corps resources are sometimes stretched because of the holidays.

One of the features of the band is that they march every day to the afternoon open-air venue. This is sometimes difficult because of traffic, but with good organisation and the co-operation of the local police, is usually achieved. Then in the evening, a Festival is held in the local Citadel.

The band's tours to date have been: 1985 South Coast, 1991 Bournemouth area; 1996 East Coast; 1997 Essex, Kent and Dorset; 1998 Devon and Cornwall; 1999 Major Cities of England and Wales; 2000 South Coast of England, 2001 Scotland; 2002 USA and Canada; 2003 Eastbourne and the South Coast England; 2004 East Midlands; 2005 East & South Coast of England; 2006 Taunton Flower Show and South West; 2007 Singapore and Australia.