Making music is commonly believed to the Bermuda Regiment Band's sole military role, but as the staff and students of East End Primary School quickly discovered after Hurricane Fabian, the normally immaculately uniformed musicians are also miracle workers with other talents in times of national crisis.

In fact, whenever the Regiment is embodied, they too are billeted at Warwick Camp and assigned duties just like everyone else in the army.

So, in the wake of Fabian, when the call came to put up tarpaulins and help in the clean-up of St. George's, the musicians were happy to put their practical skills to work. For within their ranks are people with all sorts of practical skills, including masonry, carpentry, plumbing, and chainsaw handling.

Dispatched to East End Primary School, the scene which greeted the 35 men and women, led by Director of Music Major Barrett Dill, was formidable. Not only was the roof cracked, but also leaves, branches and fallen trees were everywhere around the grounds, and the entrances were also blocked by trees which would have to be sawed up and removed before work could begin.

Rolling up their sleeves, the Band set to work with a will, clearing, cutting, raking, hauling and moving heaps of material to trucks provided by Works and Engineering. They also put a tarpaulin on the roof.

In three days they did what principal Mrs. Judy Alexander called "an awesome job", and not once did their enthusiasm, cheerfulness or energy slip - despite the fact that they rose at 6 a.m. each day, and left Warwick Camp at 7.30 a.m. for a full day's work, armed with a box lunch of sandwiches, fruit and cool drinks. At 6.30 p.m. they would head back towards the Causeway to begin the slow journey back to barracks. Following something to eat, the tired team would prepare for the next day and get some well-earned rest.

"For the first three days, we had no electricity at Warwick Camp, which meant no hot water and no showers (to clean up after a hard day's work)," Major Dill says.

Down in St. George's, the Salvation Army and the warm hearted citizens took the soldiers to their hearts, providing fish chowder and vegetable soup. In addition, the local supermarket refused to let Major Dill pay for bottled water.

Originally detailed to spend one day clearing up, the operation at East End Primary stretched to three days. Even so, what the Band accomplished in such a short time left the school astonished.

Gratitude did not, however, stop there. When the children returned to school they, too, wanted to say a big 'thank you' to the men and women who had worked so hard to restore their school to normalcy. So they made a very large poster, filled with the signatures of everyone in the school, and written around a central illustration which said: "East End salutes the Bermuda Regiment". Each child also wrote a letter of appreciation, all of which were accepted on behalf of his team by a very surprised and deeply touched Major Dill.

Noting that similar thank-you's were sent to the BTC and Belco teams, who also worked hard to restore their services, Mrs. Alexander said: "Without all of these people we would not have been able to function. We were ever so grateful. Many of them people also had damage and no telephone or electricity themselves, so we just wanted to say 'Thank you'."

Paying tribute to what she calls "an awesome job", the principal said the Regiment Band had really worked hard.

"They were just so pleasant and had such willing hearts. The camaraderie as they worked together was really rewarding for all to see," she says. "We knew they were tired but they just went on giving to us. By the time they got to us they had already done work in the town of St. George's, but you would not have known it by their attitude and the happy hearts with which they helped us, so we were very, very appreciative."