We apologise for the absence of Band notes in the last Gazette. If we were to say that we have hardly stopped since the Winter edition came out it would not be much of an exaggeration.

In March Piper Parsons and Drummer Smith attended the TA Piping and Drumming in Edinburgh course at which we saw old friends, made new ones and generally flew the flag north of the Border. Immediately after Easter we held the MacLeod Medal and the other competitions which was swiftly followed a couple of weeks later by a highly successful band supper. Piper Jamie Baillie (ex-Edinburgh Universities OTC) was in the chair accompanied by sixty-odd pipers drummers, ex-bandsmen, old comrades and friends. Catering was provided by Piper Bill "Fergie" Fergusson and son Piper Tom Fergusson who served up a fine repast of Pie, Mash and jellied eels. This obviously catered to the "London" element of the London Scottish.

The MacLeod medal was presented to Piper Bob Vowles; The Novice was won by Terrence Smith; the Veterans went to P/M John Spoore and the drumming was won by Dmr. Chris Smith. This year a special award was instituted by the Band President, Colonel MacClelland OBE. It recognised the individual who made a significant contribution to high moral through a colossal miscalculation or mistake. It is a handsome trophy in the shape of two small hand held drums with regimental badges emblazoned on the side. For his efforts in raising the morale of the troops on Church Parade by leading us down Knightsbridge (instead of Pont Street) The Drum Major was awarded "The President's Tom-Tom".

We were asked back again this year to play at the Royal Caledonian Ball on the 2nd of May. This is certainly a very high profile event at which we were able to strut our stuff and show the hodden grey in front of, not only Scots in London but also the significant military presence who attend every year. On the 7th of May Princes William and Harry instigated and hosted "The City Salute" in aid of servicemen recently wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. This was a military pageant held in front of St.Paul's Cathedral and televised live on the BBC. The event raised money and awareness of the rehabilitation unit at Headley Court and the charity Help For Heroes. The TA was represented by Piper Parsons who had the privilege of being the lone piper at the end of the pageant and who played at the very top of St.Paul's.

The fun never stops in the Cockney Jocks. Two days later we were bussed down to Windsor to perform in the Royal Windsor Tattoo alongside our Regular Army colleagues and a host of international guest artists. This too was televised and to no-one's surprise we garnered the lion's share of the television coverage of the Pipe Bands with a particular ex-C/Sgt. Skilling getting most of the attention.

Between 12 and 17 June we were fortunate enough to be invited to participate in the commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the Battles of the Piave and Asiago in Italy which turned the tide of the war in this theatre and secured victory for the Italians and the Allies there. Although the London Scottish were not at these battles, other battalions of the London Regiment were and most significantly, the 2nd Bn Gordon Highlanders were there in 1918 complete with pipe band.

Space does not permit us to relate everything we did or thank everybody for their hospitality A special article on this trip will appear elsewhere. We were treated royally by the locals and the organisers did an excellent job of running a flawless event. We were joined by the Schiehallion Pipe Band as well as the Trinity Occasional Pipers of Edinburgh. Each day we would lay a wreath and play a lament at a different WW1 cemetery and then either parade through the town or beat retreat in the village square. We did this at several places along the river Piave, West of Treviso and on the last official day we drove several hours into the Mountains and paid respects at the site of the Asiago battle.

The food and drink was fantastic and after each parade or retreat we were dined in spectacular style by the local municipality. A couple of events did stick out, such as the airfield we played at on the Piave which was right on the front line in 1918. They had a special fly-past with several replica WW1 planes and Col.MacClelland had the signal honour of being taken for a flight as a passenger in a replica open cock-pit Tiger Moth.

On our final day we broke with the First World War and visited Venice. In 1945 the 1st Bn. London Scottish would up not too far from Venice so a few days after VE day, the pipes and drums were invited to beat retreat on St.Mark's Square. In the regimental museum there is an oil painting which reproduced a photograph taken at the time of the Pipes and Drums with the Basilica of St.Mark in the background. In 2008 we re-created this photograph and following in the footsteps of our wartime forebearers, we too beat retreat on St.Mark's Square, Venice.

We hardly had time to unpack before we were on parade again, this time for the TA 100 Pageant on Horse Guards Parade on 21 June. Never mind that we didn't actually get onto the parade Square and that we actually only played about 1/3rd of the parade down the Mall after the pageant – we were there and again made a large presence in hodden grey. Pipers Parsons and Bowler did have a small cameo in the main proceedings. They were give a tin hat, a gas cape and puttees to wear and told to march out in front of the "WW1" segment leading two columns of similarly dressed actors. As soon as we struck up, the concert brass band struck up and the 1917 Roll Royce armoured car roared to life and not only drowned out the sound of the pipes but it damned near asphyxiated the pipers as well.

The next weekend the band boarded a coach and was off to Holland to play in an international Military Tattoo near Arnhem on the weekend of 27-29 June. It entailed long rehearsals, one big show and lots of Heineken afterward. And then straight back on the coach for home again.

The Buckingham Palace Garden Party was a highlight of the summer. Some of the serving Ps & Ds were invited and it was very good to see that former Pipe Majors John Spoore and Chris MacPherson and former Drum Major Brian Alderson were enjoying Her Majesty's cups of tea and cucumber sandwiches too. We had just about enough time to walk back from the Palace before it was time for a change of uniform and straight into beating retreat for the Officer's mess cocktail party at Horseferry Road. The fun never stops.

One of the odder jobs we fulfilled this summer was playing for (or not as was the case) a television advertisement for a scooter – in Vietnam. No, we were in Battersea Park providing Background but the ad, and presumably the scooter, will be seen in Vietnam. What can I say? Our fame has spread far and wide – I just hope that advert doesn't.

On the first of August we hit the road again this time to Spain. This was a return visit to the International Bagpipe Festival in Xixon in the Asturias Region. As was the case two years ago there was some fantastic piping from various Spanish and Breton bands and it is always good to play with and see these other styles of piping. This was a real pleasure to do as it consisted of the band giving several small concerts at various placing around the city and when we weren't playing we could listen to and swap notes with the other bands.

In the court and social pages: Piper Gary Anderson attend the Grand Parade for the Centenary of Queen Victoria School, Dunblane, his alma mater. He wore his Hodden Grey and met many former Gordons in particular, the School's Pipe Major, P/M Geordie Ross and Drum Major Bert Tompkins. There we were fondly remembered by those who served in 1/51 Highland Volunteers.

Practice is still between 7:00 and 9:00 ish on a Thursday night at 95 Horseferry Road. The door is open and the bar is still reasonably cheap.