There are several places throughout the world that are maintaining daily live buglers. Last month’s newsletter mentioned the hejnał mariacki sounded hourly at St. Mary’s Basilica in Krakow, Poland.
Several UK Army units continue to use live buglers for daily calls. Most US Army posts now use recordings for daily sounding of Reveille and Retreat. As far as I know, West Point is the last US Army post still using live buglers daily for the Reveille and Retreat ceremonies, and the US Marine Corps uses live buglers at Marine Barracks, Washington, on 8th and I.
Last Post is sounded every evening at Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium in memory of soldiers lost in World War I. The ceremony has been held every night at 8pm since 1928, except for an interruption during World War II. This ceremony is currently conducted by the Fire Brigade and is typically sounded by a squad of buglers. Due the current pandemic, however, there is no public crowd allowed but the tradition is continuing with a lone bugler.
Last Post is also sounded daily at the Tower of London after the tower is locked during the centuries old Ceremony of the Keys. This is an interesting case where Last Post is not sounded as a memorial, but for its original military meaning- that all posts have been checked and everything is now secure for the night.
A trumpet call, composed by Z. Bagiński, is played daily at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, Poland at 11:15am. Why this time? A 1939 German bombing raid stopped the clock tower at that time.
Do you know any other places that still use live buglers on a daily basis? If you do, let me know by sending an email to buddy@thedutybugler.com