Dagenham Girl Pipers
| Dagenham Girl Pipers | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1930 |
| Location | London |
| Pipe major | Sheila Hatcher |
| Tartan | Royal Stewart |
| Website | www |
The Dagenham Girl Pipers are a female pipe band based in Dagenham, Greater London. The band was founded in 1930, and toured extensively as a professional organisation before and after the Second World War, with several members performing during the war for the Entertainments National Service Association. It is now an amateur band under the leadership of pipe major Sheila Hatcher.
The band was formed in 1930 by Rev. Joseph Waddington Graves, the minister of Osborne Hall Congregational church. He chose 12 girls from the Sunday school with an average age 11, and they had their first practice on 4 October under the direction of Pipe Major Douglas Scott-Taylor. The girls were initially taught in secret, as Taylor thought teaching women would damage his reputation.
The band's first performance was 18 months later, to an audience of journalists, who filmed the event. The band wore the Royal Stewart tartan.
By 1933 some of the girls had reached the school leaving age of 14 and Graves decided to make the band a professional organisation, with the girls as paid employees and himself as manager. The band was a success and by 1937 was fulfilling 400 engagements a year, sometimes with multiple bands on tour at the same time. Edith Turnbull and Peggy Iris were made pipe majors of the band.
The Girl Pipers toured to pre-war Germany, and at one performance Hitler was heard to remark: "I wish I had a band like that." The band was touring in the Black Forest in August of 1939 when Graves became aware of the rising military tension, and the band curtailed their tour and returned to Britain, two weeks before World War II broke out. The group disbanded at the outbreak of World War II, but 10 girls were allowed to work full time for the Entertainments National Service Association and others worked part time. Peggy Iris and Margaret Fraser joined a concert party entertaining troops in Africa, giving over 1000 shows in three years, and were awarded the Africa Star.
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