For the better part of a century, every day at various times from dawn to dusk, Sanawar hilltop resounded with the unmistakeable cadence of an Army bugle call. Although a tiresome nuisance for many, it came to be an accepted feature of daily life for anyone that lived and worked on the hilltop. Regular Army bugle calls were used to signal and announce various events and activities in the daily routine and time table of the Boy's School.

There were two bugle calls to get you out of bed in the mornings, one of them for 'school' time and another, (less strident) for 'free' time, (i.e., weekends, Summer camps and holidays). There were also originally two Mess or 'Cookhouse' calls, one for the junior houses and one for seniors. However, in about 1928 they were combined to make one single Mess call for all. There was a call to get you on parade, report for sick parade, fall in for school, assemble for Chapel or Prep, turn out at the double for fire drills, report for Band practice: one to summon the Duty Sergeants and, in the early days, three different calls to pack you off to bed for the night. Again however, the customary practice of playing the First and Last Posts every night before the lights went out, was ceased in Principal Agard. E. Evans's time. Thereafter, most working days ended with a short and simple "Lights Out". The longer and more complex 'Post' calls were heard only at Chapel on Armistice Days and on the occasional Sunday night when the Duty Bugler felt he was up to it.

There were always nine buglers in the brass section of the School Band from among whom the School Duty Bugler was routinely appointed. Notable among these in the 1940's was Ronald Brodie, (Lawrence, 1943-1947), three times winner of the Waugh Challenge Bugle and much admired by all for his exceptional skill with both bugle and cornet. Everyone knew when it was his turn as Duty Bugler.

The bugle calls routinely heard on the hilltop in those times are listed in the Playlist below. No, regrettably they are not played by Ron Brodie nor by any other Sanawar bugler. Modern recording technologies were still a long way off in those distant times, and whatever wire recordings might have been made have long since rusted away. The calls presented here were performed by a bugler from the Regimental Band and Corps of Drums, 1st Battalion, The Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment, (Berkshire & Wiltshire) in about 1991.

Click on the titles in the playlist to listen to the calls. The usual audio device controls are provided on the player, if needed.