Editing Last Post

{{short description|British and Commonwealth bugle call}}
{{about|the musical call}}
{{more footnotes|date=October 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}

{{listen
 | filename     = Last Post bugle call.ogg
 | title        = Last Post
 | description  = The bugle call "Last Post", performed by Sergeant Codie Lynn Williams of Dallas on a Bugle in G
 | format       = [[ogg]]
}}

[[Image:Last Post.png|thumb|240px|The "Last Post"]]
[[File:KP Nov 11 2012 gnangarra-6.jpg|thumb|right|An [[Australian Army]] bugler sounds the Last Post at a [[Remembrance Day]] ceremony in 2012.]]

The "'''Last Post'''" is a British and [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] [[bugle call]] used at military funerals, and at ceremonies commemorating those who have died in war.

==Versions==
The "Last Post" is either an A or a B♭ bugle call, primarily within [[Infantry of the British Army|British infantry]] and [[Royal Australian Infantry Corps|Australian infantry]] regiments, or a D or an E♭ cavalry trumpet call in [[Cavalry regiments of the British Army|British cavalry]] and [[Royal Regiment of Artillery]] ([[Royal Horse Artillery]] and Royal Artillery).

Its duration varies typically from a little over one minute to nearly three minutes.<ref>The Last Post Association recording (see External Links) is 1 min 23 s; the Queen's Own Hussars version is 2 min 40 s<!--Quickly Googling recordings finds 1′13″ to 2′51″--></ref> For ceremonial use, the "Last Post" is often followed by "[[The Rouse]]", or less frequently the longer "[[Reveille]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/customs/rouse/ |title=The Rouse and the Reveille (with MP3 audio) |publisher=Australian War memorial Web site|access-date= 12 November 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.army.gov.au/Our-history/Traditions/The-Rouse-and-the-Reveille |title=The Rouse and the Reveille (explanation) |publisher=Australian War memorial Web site |date=27 August 2014  |access-date= 12 November 2015}}</ref>

The two regimental traditions have separate music for the call.<ref>''Trumpet & Bugle Calls for the British Army'' 1966</ref> While the B♭ infantry bugle version is better known, the E♭ cavalry trumpet version is used by the state trumpeters of the [[Household Cavalry]].

==Origin==

The "First Post" call signals the start of the duty officer's inspection of a [[British Army]] camp's [[Guardhouse|sentry posts]], sounding a call at each one. First published in the 1790s,<ref name="BBC_2015">{{cite web |title=The story of the Last Post |date=11 November 2015 |website=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34768398 |accessdate=24 February 2022}}</ref> the "Last Post" call originally signalled merely that the final sentry post had been inspected, and the camp was secure for the night.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Last Post - Australian War Memorial|url=https://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/customs/last-post/|website=www.awm.gov.au}}</ref>

Its use in [[Remembrance Day]] ceremonies in [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] nations has two generally unexpressed purposes: the first is an implied summoning of the spirits of the Fallen to the [[cenotaph]], the second is to symbolically end the day, so that the period of silence before the [[The Rouse|"Rouse"]] is blown becomes in effect a ritualised night vigil. The "Last Post" as sounded at the end of inspection typically lasted for about 45 seconds; when sounded ceremonially with notes held for longer, pauses extended, and the expression mournful, typical duration could be 75 seconds or more.<ref name="BBC_2015"/>

From the 17th century, the British infantry had used [[Military drums|drums]] to make signals in camp or on the battlefield, while the cavalry used [[trumpet]]s. The first infantry drumbeat of the day was [[Reveille]], while the last was [[Tattoo (bugle call)|Tattoo]]. This originated with British troops stationed in the [[Netherlands]], after the Dutch call at the end of the day, ''Doe den tap toe'', meaning "Close the tap", a signal that [[beer tap]]s had to be shut and that soldiers drinking outside the camp should return.<ref name="Turner2014_Ch.1">{{cite book |last=Turner |first=Alwyn W. |date=2014 |title=The Last Post: Music, Remembrance and the Great War |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qhbvBAAAQBAJ |location=London |publisher=Aurum |chapter=Chapter one: Rouse |isbn=978-1781312858}}</ref>

The difficulty of hearing drumbeat signals over the noise of gunfire led to the gradual introduction of the [[bugle]], an instrument used by the [[Hanoverian Army]], during the reign of King [[George III]]. The bugle was found especially useful for the mobile tactics of the [[History of British light infantry|light infantry]] and the newly formed [[King's Royal Rifle Corps]] in the [[American War of Independence]]. A number of different systems were introduced across various parts of the army, and in 1798, James Hyde, a trumpeter in the [[Royal Opera House]] and a trumpet-major in the local [[British Volunteer Corps|Volunteer Corps]], was asked to "revise the trumpet and bugle soundings, and to reduce them to uniformity, which is hereafter to be strictly observed in all regiments and corps of cavalry in His Majesty's service".<ref name="Turner2014_Ch.1"/> 

The result was published in the same year as ''The Sounds for Duty and Exercise''. Hyde was dissatisfied with this edition and in 1799, produced another version with an additional chapter entitled "The Bugle Horn Duty for the Light Infantry as used by the [[Foot guards#United Kingdom|Foot Guards]]"; this included the first known score for the Last Post, under the title of "Setting the Watch". It is likely that Hyde used an amalgamation of existing calls; suggestions that the melody was inspired by [[Joseph Haydn]] lack any direct evidence.<ref name="Turner2014_Ch.1"/>

==Memorial usage==
[[File:Memorial Stained Glass window, Class of 1934, Royal Military College of Canada.jpg|thumb|Memorial stained glass window, Class of 1934, [[Royal Military College of Canada]] showing officer cadet sounding the [[bugle call]] for the "Last Post" or "[[The Rouse]]".]]

During the 19th century, the "Last Post" was also carried to the various countries of the [[British Empire]]. In all these countries, it has been incorporated into military funerals, where it is sounded as a final farewell, symbolising the fact that the duty of the dead soldier is over and that he can rest in peace.

"Last Post" is used in public ceremonials commemorating the war dead, particularly on [[Remembrance Day]] in the [[Commonwealth of Nations]]. In [[Australia]] and [[New Zealand]] it is also sounded on [[Anzac Day]], usually before the two-minute silence, which concludes with "[[The Rouse]]".

When the post is sounded during services such as Anzac Day, it is required of all current serving military members to salute for the duration of the call. During services organised by the [[Royal British Legion]], it is expected that no salute is given during the "Last Post" and Silence, as all personnel will have removed head dress as in church service prayer, have heads bowed, weapons inverted, and flags and standards lowered.

In Ireland, the "Last Post" as with the Commonwealth is sounded during memorial services, funerals and commemorations. The difference where the Irish are concerned is that the accompaniment of drums is incorporated into the performance.

In India, Last Post is played at the [[Amar Jawan Jyoti]] on [[Republic Day]] and ''[[Kargil Vijay Diwas]]'' ([[Kargil]] [[Victory Day]]).

==Menin Gate==

[[File:Last Post plaque Ypres.JPG|thumb|left|Last Post plaque, [[Menin Gate]], [[Ypres]], [[Belgium]]]]
[[File:Last Post Ypres 2018-11-11.ogg|thumb|Special ceremony in Ypres for the centenary of the armistice. A version of the Last Post at the Menin Gate is played exceptionally at 11am]]

Since 1928, the "Last Post" has been sounded every evening at 8 p.m. by buglers of the local Last Post Association at the war memorial at [[Ypres]] in [[Belgium]] known as the [[Menin Gate]], commemorating the dead at the [[Ypres Salient|Battle of Ypres]] during the [[World War I|First World War]]. The only exception to this was during the four years of the [[German occupation of Belgium during World War II|German occupation of Ypres]] from 20 May 1940 to 6 September 1944, when the ceremony moved to [[Brookwood Cemetery#Brookwood Military Cemetery and memorials|Brookwood Military Cemetery]] in [[England]].

On the evening that [[Polish Armed Forces in the West|Polish forces]] liberated Ypres, the ceremony was resumed at the [[Menin Gate]], in spite of the heavy fighting still going on in other parts of the town. These buglers or trumpeters, sometimes seen in fire brigade uniform, are members of the fire brigade representing the Last Post Association, who organizes the events. The Last Post Association uses both silver B♭ bugles and E♭ cavalry trumpets, with either British Army tradition being respected during services at the gate.

The Last Post ceremony has now been held more than 30,000 times. On 9 July 2015, a ceremony titled ''A tribute to the tribute''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lastpost.be/en/news/66/30000th-last-post-a-tribute-to-the-tribute |title=Last Post Association |date=10 November 2014 |publisher=lastpost.be |access-date=2014-12-02}}</ref> took place to commemorate the 30,000th ceremony.

==Other uses==

The "Last Post" was incorporated into the finale of [[Robert Steadman]]'s ''In Memoriam'', a choral work on the subject of remembrance. It is also incorporated into [[Karl Jenkins]]'s orchestral mass ''[[The Armed Man]]'', and in the movement entitled ''Small Town'', in [[Peter Sculthorpe]]'s 1963 chamber orchestra work ''The Fifth Continent''. A slightly altered version forms part of the slow movement of the ''[[Pastoral Symphony (Vaughan Williams)|Pastoral Symphony]]'' of [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]] and the ending of [[Mike Sammes]]' choral setting of [[Laurence Binyon]]'s poem ''[[For the Fallen]]''.

[[Robert Graves]]'s poem "The Last Post" describes a soldier's funeral during [[World War I]]. [[Ford Madox Ford]] used ''The Last Post'' as title for part of his tetralogy ''[[Parade's End]].''

In 2014 the Last Post was played upon arrival of the recovered bodies of the victims of [[MH17]] [[Eindhoven Airport]] in the [[Netherlands]]. The Last Post was chosen over the Dutch signal ''Taptoe'' due to the international character of the disaster.

In 2015, [[Lee Kernaghan]] recorded a version for his album ''[[Spirit of the Anzacs (album)|Spirit of the Anzacs]]''.

The "Last Post" was performed in 2015 at the state funeral of [[Lee Kuan Yew]], the founding Prime Minister of [[Singapore]].

''The Last Post'' is the title of a theatre play by David Owen Smith and Peter Came performed during Armistice Week at [[Lincoln Drill Hall]], Lincoln in November 2014.  The play concerns the Beechey family of Lincoln, UK.  Amy Beechey had eight sons who all enlisted to fight during the First World War; only three of them survived.  The bugle call is sounded during the final moments of the play.  The play was directed by Janie Smith and performed by people of Lincoln.

[[British Forces Broadcasting Service]] radio stations would play the "Last Post" before [[God Save the King|the National Anthem]] at closedown.

==See also==
*"Danmarks sidste honnør", the [[Danish Defence]] equivalent
*"[[Ich hatt' einen Kameraden]]" ('I had a comrade'), the [[Germany|German]] and [[Austria]]n equivalent for military funerals
*"[[La muerte no es el final]]" ('Death is not the end'), the [[Spanish Armed Forces]] equivalent
*"[[Reveille]]", a bugle call sounded at sunrise
*"[[Sonnerie aux morts]]", the [[French Armed Forces]] equivalent
*"[[Taps (bugle call)|Taps]]", the [[United States Armed Forces]] equivalent
*"[[The Rouse]]"
*[[Antoon Verschoot]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[http://www.lastpost.be The Last Post Association website relating to the Menin Gate] ([https://www.youtube.com/embed/OsS_quRT7NU a recording of "Last Post"] can be heard at this website)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051127010337/http://www.anzacday.org.au/miscellaneous/sheetmusic.html Sheet music] for the "Last Post" (from an Australian site commemorating ANZAC Day)
*[http://www.lastpostbuglecall.org.uk/ Last Post website] run by a trumpet player, with music, MIDI files and notes on performance and nomenclature.
*[http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/sound/last-post-anzac-day "Last Post" played at a ANZAC Day service in New Zealand, Flash sound player, listen online]
*{{cite book|author=War office|title=The Queen's (King's) regulations and orders for the army. 1868 &#91;2 eds.&#93;, 73,81. &#91;2 issues&#93;.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RCsAAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA178|year=1868|page=178}}
* [http://www.thequeensownhussars.co.uk/Music%20Files/Wma%20Files/14%20Evening%20Hymn%20&%20Cavalry%20Last%20Post.wma Recording (WMA) of cavalry version of Last Post, Regimental Band of the Queen's Own Hussars]

{{Bugle calls}}
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[[Category:Bugle calls]]
[[Category:Military music]]
[[Category:Ceremonies]]
[[Category:Funerary bugle calls]]
[[Category:Military life]]