Joined in 1905
Second Leader 1927-Dec. 2, 1935

Cornetist Arthur Witcomb of Birmingham, England, joined “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band in 1905. He continued until 1911 when he was appointed director of the Fifteenth U.S. Cavalry Band. He returned to the band in 1913 and was appointed Second Leader in 1927.

Prior to joining “The President’s Own,” Witcomb played for the wedding of the Duke of Marlborough and Consuelo Vanderbilt in an orchestra directed by Herr Suck, was first trumpet at His Majesty’s Theater in London for a production of Julius Caesar with Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, performed for the Coronation of King Edward VII, and was first trumpet in an orchestra under the baton of Sir Edward Elgar. Witcomb also performed with England’s Coldstream Guards Band at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904. He left that band and traveled to Canada where he became a soloist and conductor of the Kilties Band in Belleville, Ontario.