Bass drum

A bass drum of the Telegraph Btn band, 1909. A normal issue pattern with painted shell. Large wooden drum with stretched parchment skin over both faces of the drum (front and back). The skin is clamped onto the drum with ropes which are threaded round the circumference. The drum is painted with red, blue and white banded decoration bearing the words 'Telegraph Battalion Royal Engineers'. Beneath this is the figure of Mercury with the motto 'Ubique' below. There is also a list of campaigns from the Ashanti War 1873-4 to Somaliland 1902-4.