The Mons Bugle was donated the Loyal Edmonton Regiment after decades of being missing, following the end of the First World War, where it was used to mark the end of the fighting.
Captain Richard Dumas explains its storied past.
“Just to put things in perspective, Canada’s population was just under 10 million. Over 600,000 served. Sixty-five thousand were killed and another 175,000 were wounded.”
Watch below: The Mons Bugle played a pivotal role in the First World War but the instrument sat silent for decades after being lost. It will sound once More for Remembrance Day this weekend.
“The war is declared over. The armistice is declared from Mons, Belgium, and it was at that ceremony that this bugle was played.
“It was the ceasefire call.”
“At the end of the war, there was a colossal feeling of jubilation. It was surreal. You can imagine the death and destruction that these guys endured. All of a sudden the war is over. Such a huge sense of jubilation. Now, their only preoccupation is getting home. Like a lot of really neat artifacts that survived the First World War, it was just left and unaccounted for.”
“Whether or not you’re a military historian or a history buff, you hear this bugle play and after 100 years, still crystal clear, you know they don’t make things like they used to… Your mind is focused on those bugle calls, the revelry and the last post. It’s very, very chilling.”
You can hear the Mons Bugle played on Remembrance Day in Edmonton at City Hall at 10 a.m., at noon from the Legislature Plaza or at 3:30 p.m. in the Winspear Centre.
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