50 Last Posts
‘‘I'll do it until my lips won't let me anymore, or I run out of wind.’’ Rob Webb
Those finding it hard to get out of bed on Anzac Day for the dawn service should think about Rob Webb.
While most will either make a short walk or drive to the local cenotaph, Webb will travel nearly 700 kilometres to do one of the most important jobs at any Anzac service for the 50th time - playing the Last Post.
Brought up in Taihape, Webb recently moved to Kerikeri.
But he still makes the trip to Taihape every year to play the iconic bugle song.
‘‘It’s my hometown and I appreciate what the old fellas did.’’
He said he was from a musical family and had played in the Taihape brass band when it was around.
‘‘The guy who was doing [the Last Post] gave up when I was 14 years old, and I stepped in and have done it ever since.’’
The task has had interesting moments, such as the time a fox terrier came up to him while he was playing and decided to sing along.
‘‘I think he thought I was out of tune.’’
Webb admitted to mucking up the Last Post every now and then, but said it was a tough song to play on a bugle on a cold morning without the opportunity to warm up.
‘‘In Taihape you get -7 degree frosts sometimes.’’
The emotion of the occasion also made it hard, he said.
Webb’s military links go beyond his bugling, and include a stint as Taihape RSA president and more than 20 years in the territorial forces.
He had two overseas deployments, both to Fiji, for training exercises, and said he enjoyed the experienced.
‘‘It was like a club, really, going to meet your mates each year.’’
He understood there was no one else in Taihape able to perform the bugler role.
‘‘I’ll do it until my lips won’t let me anymore, or I run out of wind.
‘‘Plan B is a tape I have given them. It is of me playing the Last Post.’’
He also had some tips for people who may be playing the Last Post for the first time at a dawn service.
‘‘Block out the crowd, and think of those who you are playing for.’’