Colonel Bogey March

	Colonel Bogey March "Colonel Bogey March" is the authorised march of The King's Own Calgary Regiment (RCAC) of the Canadian Forces. This version is performed by the United States Navy Band.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

The "Colonel Bogey March" is a popular march that was written in 1914 by Lieutenant F. J. Ricketts (1881–1945), a British Army bandmaster who later became the director of music for the Royal Marines at Plymouth.

History

Since at that time service personnel were not encouraged to have professional lives outside the armed forces, British Army bandmaster F. J. Ricketts published "Colonel Bogey" and his other compositions under the pseudonym Kenneth Alford.^[1] Supposedly, the tune was inspired by a military man and golfer who whistled a characteristic two-note phrase (a descending minor third interval  Play ) instead of shouting "Fore!". It is this descending interval that begins each line of the melody. The name "Colonel Bogey" began in the later 19th century as the imaginary "standard opponent" of the Colonel Bogey scoring system,^[2] and by Edwardian times the Colonel had been adopted by the golfing world as the presiding spirit of the course.^[3] Edwardian golfers on both sides of the Atlantic often played matches against "Colonel Bogey".^[4] Bogey is now a golfing term meaning "one over par".

Reception

The sheet music was a million-seller, and the march was recorded many times. At the start of World War II, "Colonel Bogey" became part of British way of life when the tune was set to a popular song: "Hitler Has Only Got One Ball" (originally "Goering Has Only Got One Ball" after the Luftwaffe leader suffered a grievous groin injury, but later reworded to suit the popular taste), with the tune becoming an unofficial national anthem to rudeness.^[5] "Colonel Bogey" was used as a march-past by the 10th and 50th Battalions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, the latter of which is perpetuated today by The King's Own Calgary Regiment (RCAC) of the Canadian Forces who claim "Colonel Bogey" as their authorised march-past in quick time.

The march has been used in German commercials for Underberg digestif bitter since the 1970s,^[6] and has become a classic jingle there.^[7]

The Bridge on the River Kwai

English composer Malcolm Arnold added a counter-march, The River Kwai March, for the 1957 dramatic film The Bridge on the River Kwai, set during World War II. The two marches were recorded together by Mitch Miller as "March from the River Kwai – Colonel Bogey". Consequently, the "Colonel Bogey March" is often mis-credited as "River Kwai March". While Arnold did use Colonel Bogey in his score for the film, it was only the first theme and a bit of the second theme of Colonel Bogey, whistled unaccompanied by the British prisoners several times as they marched into the prison camp. Since the film portrayed prisoners of war held under inhumane conditions by the Japanese, there was a diplomatic row in May 1980, when a military band played "Colonel Bogey" during a visit to Canada by Japanese prime minister Masayoshi Ōhira.^[8]

References

External links

• Melody
• The real Colonel Bogey from Music & Vision Daily

The Colonel Bogey March melody was used for a song of The Women's Army Corps, a branch of the U.S. Army from 1943 until its absorption into the regular Army in 1978. The lyrics written by Major Dorothy E. Nielsen (USAR,) were this: "Duty is calling you and me, we have a date with destiny, ready, the WACs are ready, their pulse is steady a world to set free. Service, we're in it heart and soul, victory is our only goal, we love our country's honor and we'll defend it against any foe." Verification of this may be found at^[1]

1. ↑ Army Women Songs