HOW do you communicate with people who don’t speak your language – through music of course.

That was how the Rifles’ Waterloo Band made friends in Kazakhstan.

Six members of the 30-strong band, and two buglers, joined the infantrymen taking part in Operation Steppe Eagle.

However, their mission was slightly different to that of the rest of the 160-strong British unit.

The band spent a fortnight playing at military events and visiting schools and two of them had the most important job of all – acting as an alarm clock for troops.

John Brockman, of Littlemore, in Oxford and Matt Stimpson, of Witney, played Reveille on their bugles at 6am every morning to wake the camp up.

The band was set up more than 20 years ago and has played at prestigious venues including Birmingham’s Symphony Hall, Blenhiem Palace, the Royal Military Tattoo, at Horse Guards in London and at Windsor Castle.

The band, based at Edward Brooks Barracks, in Cholswell Road, next to Dalton Barracks, Abingdon, has also performed in Ukraine, Cyprus, Germany, Macedonia and France.

They have played at each other’s weddings and funerals, as well as at charity and military events.

Mother-of-two Jackie Mann, 44, of Radley Road, Abingdon, plays the trumpet, and has been in the Territorial Army for 20 years.

For her, the band and TA offer a chance for her to keep her own identity and play the instrument she loves.

She said: “When having my children, I only had minimal maternity leave, because it was nice to come out and be my own person. Luckily, I lived near the barracks.”

Attending band practice can sometimes be difficult for Jackie as her husband David is in the RAF, based at Brize Norton – but thanks to friends and babysitters she usually turns out.

Jackie said: “We’re a bit like a family. We know each other extremely well. We argue like a family, laugh a lot.

“It’s lovely doing something completely different. At home in my civilian life I don’t like to go camping – I only do it when I’m in a uniform.”

She said the band also worked with Kazakh counterparts during the exercise . She added: “We have had a fun time, with lots of music.

“It just felt that’s what we were here to do – the band’s function is PR on behalf of the British Army.

“We travel around and play music to them and hopefully it gives a good impression.”

When not in uniform Jackie is mum to Olivia, 12, who plays piano, and Finlay, 10, who plays clarinet.

She works part-time as a technician at John Mason School, and is about to start work as a health and safety inspector for Oxfordshire County Council.

Bugler John Brockman, 45, of Van Diemans Lane, Littlemore, has been in the TA for about 15 years and credits it for meeting his wife Amanda.

Her father Ivor Gerkin was the bugle major with the band and when he died, John played the Last Post at a memorial service to commemorate his life.

Soon afterwards, Amanda started visiting the TA bar and love blossomed.

BT engineer John said: “Amanda kept coming up to the TA bar with her mum. It was a standing joke – it took me three months to ask her out.”

As well as being a trained musician, John and fellow buglers have military training, ready for action if needed as radio operators, machine gunners or drivers, among other roles.

John said: “We can get called up at any time to go to Afghanistan.”

Matt Stimpson, 24, from Witney, first became a musician with the Bodicote Youth Band and is now a Rfiles bugler alongside John.

He said it had been a good experience, seeing a county he would not normally visit.