Rotorua bugler sought for Anzac commemorations

Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick is on the lookout for an accomplished bugler to play a historic military bugle at this year's special Gallipoli commemorations on Anzac Day.

Mrs Chadwick is chairwoman of Rotorua's WW100 Committee which is co-ordinating arrangements to commemorate the 100th anniversary of World War I, including a special Anzac Day service this year.

She said that a local family, the Martins, had made available a valuable and historic bugle that was more than a hundred years old and had been played at Gallipoli early last century.

"It's a precious family heirloom but it is also very old and not easy to play.

"So we're on the lookout for someone who might be accomplished in the art of bugle playing and who could potentially play the instrument at our Anzac Day service this year. That would be a very special moment if we could make it happen," Mrs Chadwick said.

The bugle has been tested by a professional musician and is in perfect playing condition.

She said the bugler would hopefully be available to play The Last Post and Reveille at a consecration ceremony for the district's new 'Field of Remembrance' on Thursday April 23, and on Anzac Day, Saturday April 25.

The bugle belonged to New Zealand soldier Frederick William Johnson, MM (military medal), the great uncle of former Rotorua surveyor Luke Martin.

Mr Martin said it would be a great honour for the family to have the bugle played on Anzac Day this year, 100 years after Mr Johnson played it when he was fighting at Gallipoli.

He said his great uncle took the bugle with him wherever he went in World War I.

"Fred joined the army as a boy and was a professional soldier when war broke out. He and his brother were on the first ship out of New Zealand as part of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.

"Fred fought at Gallipoli, and then in France and Belgium. He, unlike his brother Charlie, survived the war and was in London when the armistice was signed in November 1918. He threw the bugle in the air while celebrating and lost it.

"To cut a long story short, the bugle was found by another New Zealand soldier and returned to Fred's family in Wellington a few years later. Fred gave the bugle to his sister, my grand mother, and it has been passed down through the family ever since.

"I very much doubt there is a piece of military history like this in New Zealand and to hear it being played on Anzac Day, once again, will be a very moving experience," Mr Martin said.

Mrs Chadwick is inviting anyone with the right experience and skills to help with playing the historic instrument to contact her personal assistant at the Office of the Mayor on (07) 348 4199 or email her office at mail@rdc.govt.nz.