The Royal Marines Band Service is the musical wing of the Royal Navy. It currently consists of six Bands and its headquarters is at HMS Excellent, Whale Island, Portsmouth. It is the only branch of the Royal Marines which is open to women. 　　The development of music in the Royal Marines is inextricably linked with the evolution of British military bands. Lively airs and the beat of the drum enabled columns of marching men to keep a regular step. The drum was the normal method of giving signals on the battlefield or in camp. As long ago as the days of Drake and Hawkins the drummer's rhythm would advertise the changing watches or beat the men to quarters. 　　Without doubt, groups of musicians existed in the Service before 1767, when Royal Marines Divisional Bands were formed at the naval dockyard-bases of Chatham, Plymouth and Portsmouth and the naval gathering-point of Deal in the Downs, and Marine bands (along with professional bands paid for by captains) plus their respective corps of drums provided music on board ships before and during battles of the Napoleonic Wars (e.g. during the long sail into action at the Battle of Trafalgar). The modern history of the Service, though, begins late in the 19th century, when the task of forming a Royal Naval School of Music to provide Bands for the Royal Navy was assigned to the Marines, with the school being founded in 1903. From then on the Band Service became an integral part of the Corps. Its original home was Eastney Barracks, Portsmouth; where it remained until 1930 when it was transferred to the Royal Marine Depot, Deal. 　　By the end of World War II, 225 musicians and buglers had been killed in action, which was a quarter of their strength at the time, and the highest percentage of any branch of any service, after Bomber Command. After the outbreak of World War II, the service moved to Malvern, then divided with the Junior Wing moving to the Isle of Man and the Senior Wing to Scarborough. 　　The bands reunited at Burford in 1946 and finally returning to Deal in 1950. The amalgamation of the Divisional Bands with the Royal Naval School of Music to form today's Royal Marines Band Service, also took place in 1950 when the headquarters and training establishment were renamed the Royal Marines School of Music. 　　The Band Service are notable for performing the theme music from Gerry Anderson's successful 1965 TV series Thunderbirds, in the final scene from his 1966 film Thunderbirds Are GO. The band performed the music on the parade ground of The Royal Marines Depot, Deal, where they marched under the leadership of their Corps Drum Major WO2 Bowden. This sequence was synchronized with the end credits of the film, with the very last scene of this shot (and indeed, the whole film) showing the band standing in a large representation of the words 'THE END'. 　　At approximately 8.20 am on 22 September 1989, the Royal Marines School of Music at the Royal Marine Depot, Deal was bombed by the IRA; this resulted in the death of eleven Royal Marines Musicians - Musn Mick Ball, B/Cpl John (Andy) Cleatheroe, B/Cpl Trevor Davis, Musn Richard Fice, Musn Richard (Taff) Jones, B/Cpl Dave McMillan, Musn Chris Nolan, B/Cpl Dean Pavey, Musn Mark Petch, Musn Tim Reeves and Musn Bob Simmonds plus the injury of 22 other Royal Marine Band Service members. A memorial garden is now situated in the grounds of the old barracks where the bomb went off. This was built in remembrance of the eleven who died and was restored after an arson attack some years later. Every year the families and friends of those that died join together at the garden to pay their respects and lay flowers in a memorial service. 　　In 1992 the band was opened to women when the Royal Navy began to fully integrate women (who were then members of a separate branch) into the Service. In April 1996, the School of Music was moved to Portsmouth dockyard when the Deal Barracks were closed. It was initially housed at the former Royal Naval Detention Quarters — the cells were converted to individual practice rooms — but moved out less than a year later when it was acquired by English Heritage due to his architectural heritage and later designated a Grade II listed building. 　　Band of HM Royal Marines HMS Collingwood were present on the Isle of Man for the Tynwald Day ceremony on Monday July 6th 2015.