Mr Brehaut first joined the 2nd Guernsey Company at L’Islet with the Lifeboys at age seven in 1950.
After joining the band and working his way up through the ranks, he became a junior officer.
‘At age 21, my wife and I were asked to take on the junior boys on a temporary basis,’ he explained.
‘Well, that temporary basis lasted 55 years.’
In more recent years his three daughters have helped out in the company by becoming officers and two are still serving.
‘I really enjoy working with the youngsters in the company.
‘I was completely flabbergasted when I heard I had been nominated, let alone when I made the New Year Honours list.
‘For me, I’ve already had recognition for my work in the form of enjoyment with the company and spending time with my family in doing so,’ he said.
‘But it has been a very exciting time to have known about this award and keep it under wraps until now.’
As well as the band, the 2nd Guernsey Company Boys’ Brigade are involved in the North Show, they play sports together, take trips together and regularly go kayaking off the north of the island.
In total, Mr Brehaut has seen more than 1,000 boys go through the company and, although he has now retired, he still maintains a secretarial administration role.
You need to be logged in to comment. If you had an account on our previous site, you can migrate your old account and comment profile to this site by visiting this page and entering the email address for your old account. We'll then send you an email with a link to follow to complete the process.