Martyn was one of the ‘quiet men’ of the Regimental Band. He was quiet and unassuming in all his endeavours.
Martyn played many roles within the Band in his long career at Regimental Duty. Besides being a very reliable trombone player, he was at one-time both the music librarian and Band Secretary. He was also a very eager member of the cast when it came to performing in the band cabarets during the nine years in Paderborn.
Martyn, above all, was ‘Mr Fixit’. He could build shelves, build scenery, decorate, repair instruments etc! If something needed to be done then Martyn was the man for the job.
He was a keen competitor in all sports and was a member of the very successful band football team. Martyn was also a quality runner and spent many hours out on the roads in the many areas where he served.
He ‘lived in’ for most of his service and appeared to be the ‘Godfather’ figure to the younger members of the band. Martyn was on many occasions nicknamed ‘Willie’ after the German International footballer, Willie Honess.
In such a few words it is difficult to do justice to his contribution to the Band and Regimental life in general. One thing is for sure, Martyn Hoeness was proud to be an ‘Irish Hussar’.
