What is the significance of the last post

Although the Last Post has come to carry such mournful weight and meaning, it was not originally used in a memorial context. In fact, the Last Post was just a simple song in its very first years.

First published and played in the s, the Last Post was one of many bugle calls used by the British Army. These calls were used to help soldiers keep track of time when living in encampments. So, the Last Post earned its name simply because it was sounded to signal that the last of these posts had been inspected.

For a number of decades, the end of such a security check was the only time during which the bugle call would be heard. It was simply the sound that let soldiers know their days were completed, and their location was secure. It was not until the mids that the Last Post changed in its use and significance. More than half a century after its inception and use in British army encampments, the bugle call took on greater importance.

Warfare had changed throughout the international community — no longer were all wars fought upon the sturdy soil of battlefields. The sea itself became a new battlefront, and many militaries sent their fighting men off to war on boats. And it has been infused by a mass of memories and memorials, so that what was once jaunty is now simply sorrowful. Arthur Lane, sounding the Last Post in Japanese prisoner-of-war camps, became known as "the musician to the dead".

He kept with him, for the duration of his captivity, a roll of army-issue toilet-paper, on which he dutifully recorded the names and details of each of the men whose funeral he attended. And at the end of the war, he counted up the names. He had sounded the Last Post for over 3, of his fallen comrades. Image source, Ministry of Defence. Image source, PA. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Fire chief Rik Vandekerckhove, has been playing the bugle at the Last Post ceremony in Ypres, Belgium, for more than 30 years.

Find out more. Image source, Getty Images. The Last Post played outside Rochester Cathedral, Image source, EPA. A Philippine army bugler plays the last post in Manila. Membership Testimonials - Your experience with us. Digital videos What is a digital video? Last Post. The Last Post is one of a number of bugle calls in military tradition which mark the phases of the day.

If you have any questions or need assistance click here to tell us 'What's up? The Last Post has nothing to do with the delivery of letters and parcels. It is, in fact, the bugle call that, from around the s, was traditionally used by the British army to mark the end of the day in a military camp.

It would sound when the duty officer did his rounds, ensuring that sentry posts were manned and that soldiers were going to bed, and was one of several such calls that sounded during the day, beginning with the Reveille in the morning. During conflict, it would also be used to mark the end of fighting.