COAST BUGLER TAKES CUE FROM GRANDFATHER
ADAM Turner puts the bugle to his mouth, closes his eyes and remembers his grandfather.
The 36-year-old civil engineer will this morning stand atop Elephant Rock at Currumbin and play the Last Post as the glowing rays of the sun appear over the Pacific Ocean at this year’s Anzac Day dawn service.
The Southport resident, who has played the instrument for more than 20 years, will play the tunes of remembrance and think of his own grandfather, World War II veteran John Bruce McEachran, who was the bugle’s original owner.
“My grandfather played the bugle during World War II and this is the one I will play,” he said.
“When I play, I think of what a massive honour it is to be allowed to play at the dawn service.
“It is really nice down here in the morning at dawn.”
McEachran served with the Light Horse in a pre-war militia before enlisting in the AIF in 1940.
He served with the 2/1 Battalion in the Middle East, Ceylon, and on the Kokoda Track in New Guinea, between April 1941 and September 1945.
During this time he was a soldier, but also the bugler for his unit.
McEachran continued to play the bugle at Anzac Services and Returned Servicemen’s Functions until his death in 1988.
The historic bugle which will be played in today’s commemorative service was bought in France in 1937 for use by the AIF.