My dad has been playing the Last Post for Anzac Day and Remembrance Day for 48 years. He plays an Antique World War I English Bugle that my grandparents brought back from their trip to England many, many years ago. My grandparents found the bugle in an antique shop in Greenwich and brought it back for my dad. The red, blue and yellow tassels on the bugle represent the bugle was used by the Royal Regiment in the British Army.
I always get emotional when I hear the Last Post being played. It’s such a profound piece of music. Whenever I hear it played, I remember the diggers that lost their lives, and then I reflect on my own childhood memories of watching dad play his bugle.
When I was in primary school, I was given the opportunity like most kids my age to learn a musical instrument. I tried a few instruments before I settled on the clarinet. I remember Dad teaching me the technique on how to play the trumpet. I would purse my lips like a fish bottom and blow into the trumpet mouth piece only to create a sound that resembled a fart. After mouth farting like a trooper I realized the trumpet or any brass instrument was not going to be the instrument for me.
Having experienced playing a trumpet, I know how hard it is to play the bugle because the different notes are created by the pursing and blowing of the lips into the mouthpiece of the bugle.
This morning, we headed to the Salisbury RSL memorial park to attend the 8am Anzac Day service. Esther loves watching her Grandpa Colin play the bugle and she was in awe today when my dad played. I wanted to get a photo of him playing, but I didn’t want to put him off because we were in his line of view. He told me that he wouldn’t have worried if he saw me take the photo. I will try to get one on Remembrance Day in November.
Magdalene has heard the Last Post played twice since she was a newborn. She made quite the spectacle of not wanting to be in Jacob’s arms while the service was going on. Eventually my mum got up and took her away from the service to calm her down. She really just wanted to crawl around the people gathered for the service but she wasn’t happy when we wouldn’t let her.
I was surprised by the amount of people that gathered for the service and my mum told me that there were more people at the dawn service which is wonderful to see and know, especially since the First World War happened nearly 100 years ago.
