This document discusses remembering and commemorating the First World War. It begins by asking why we should remember the war, noting that while it was a long time ago, the suffering caused by war continues today. It then asks how we should remember, suggesting ways of learning about all sides of the war such as visiting memorial sites, researching family histories, and putting oneself in the perspective of those who lived through it. The document advocates remembering all who suffered in the war, on all sides, and notes that war continues to devastate children around the world. It argues that education and learning are key to reconciliation and peace.

1. 1
THE
LAST POST
Children and young people,
families, schools
Gallipoli
LAST POST

2. 2 3
During these four years of the centenary of the First World War, we face two very
difficult questions that each of us will answer in her or his own way.
The first question. Why should we remember? It was a very long time ago after
all, so how can remembering possibly be relevant to our lives today? Well, because
the suffering and dying, the grieving and the raging, caused by wars, are evident
all around us. That Great War, the First World War, was thought to be, hoped to be,
the war to end all wars. Of course it did no such thing, but instead led directly to
continuation of the war 20years later, the Second World War, in which even more
millions of people died all over the world, and the consequences of that war have
led to more and more wars, and so it has gone on. But the First World War was a
war that changed everything and everyone. It was catastrophic to the countries and
continents involved, to the millions who died or were wounded, to their families. It
was a war unlike any other in its intensity, in the destructive power of the technology
used, tanks, gas, machine guns, wire.
The second question. How should we remember? By discovering all we can about why the war was fought, how it was to live
through that war, and on all sides. By visiting, either virtually - through books and film and drama, and archive material, letters,
diaries - or actually, by going to the places where people fought and died, where they are buried, by tracking down family who
were alive at the time and finding out their stories, by looking back to discover more of those who lived then in your city or town or
village, who went perhaps to your school. By travelling back in time in our mind’s eye so we can witness how it was for them then.
These are the only ways left to us, now that the last of them has died.
It is so important now to remember not just how our side lived and died, but how this war tore the heart out of other families,
other communities, other countries, out of the people who were our enemies then. They too were sent off to war to fight for their
country. They too believed they had right on their side. They too were brave, or not. They too won some battles, lost others. They
too suffered and died. They too had grieving mothers and fathers and children. They too lie in cold graves, some remembered, some
altogether forgotten. So when we blow our bugles, it should be for all of them.
In 2015 it will be the Centenary of Gallipoli we shall be thinking of particularly. And as we do it will be our soldiers and theirs we
shall be remembering, all the soldiers and sailors, on our side and on the Ottoman side. No campaign in that war was more hard
fought, nor more terrible, nor more futile. It left thousands upon thousands of families grieving all over Turkey, Australia, New
Zealand, India, Newfoundland and Britain. It resolved nothing. They were young lives all wasted.
And when those letters arrived home, with that dreaded news, it was the children who suffered as much as anyone. Their lives
too were changed for ever, shadowed now by grief, in Istanbul, Sydney, St John’s, the Punjab, Auckland, London. This is the
same suffering endured by children all over the world today who lose fathers and brothers in wars everywhere. And of course,
war has become even more indiscriminate now, the fearsome technology of war having even greater power to kill and maim
and destroy. Millions of children now live with the terrible consequences of our modern wars, and so many die. War is the great
destroyer of young lives, bringing disease and starvation wherever it goes. It must surely be our aim to find a way to end war. For
me, I believe that only education and learning can bring true reconciliation and peace. And learning about the wars of the past,
at the moment The First World War, is an essential part of that, and can help us understand one another better. That way only lies
hope and peace.
Michael Morpurgo
Michael Morpurgo writes...
CONTENTS
3 Foreword by Michael Morpurgo
4 Last Post week
6 Remember Gallipoli/ Çanakkale
10 Young soldiers
12 First World War families
22 First World War Schools
Image: With thanks to The Army Children Archive (TACA)
Resource edited and compiled by Virginia Crompton
Music curated and edited by Paul Sartin
Piano parts arranged by Thomas Hamill
Last Post transcribed by Thomas Hamill and the Music Department at Merchants’ Academy, Bristol
MUSIC SECTION
26 Çanakkale Turküsü
28 Pack up your troubles
34 Old Gallipoli’s a wonderful place
36 Dear Anzac Pal
38 Madamoiselle from Armentières
41 Settings of the Last Post

3. 4 5
20-26 April
Last Post week
Young people and children may have direct experience of separation, death, conflict or army life.
The material included deals with these themes and should be handled sensitively.
Butterknowle Primary
Case Study- Butterknowle Primary
Butterknowle Primary is a tiny village primary school located in
Teesdale. The whole school and community got completely involved
in the project from the Head to the cook, children took up brass
instruments, they built a copy of the village war statue and read out
the names of every man who had been killed from the village. They
sang songs from the First World War and the present day. Every
member of the school was dressed in period costumes as was every
member of staff at an exhibition of the children’s work - they had
researched the local history of Buttterknowle. Everyone was really
proud of what they had achieved and the Head is using the project as
a stepping stone to establish long term music-making for the school.
The Last Post project is a music and memory project for the First World War centenary. For 2015, The Last Post project
is marking the Gallipoli centenary on 25 April and Last Post week will take place from 20-26 April.
Across the country, communities will be holding Last Post events during this week. A tea party, a school assembly, a special concert –
whether simple or spectacular-everyone is welcome to join the Last Post project.
It is easy to take part: choose someone to remember – share their story at your event – play the Last Post for them on any instrument.
The 2015 pack explores some of the ways the First World War affected families, young people and schools.
A range of activities are suitable for use in the classroom or for working with young people. There are briefings and worksheets with activities
which can be copied and handed out
• Choose from the activities which explore Gallipoli, young soldiers, families and schools, or research your family’s or
school’s First World War heritage
• Sing the Last Post songs including the Turkish Gallipoli song ‘Çanakkale Turküsü’ and the UK hit
of 1915 ‘Pack up your troubles’
• Learn to play the Last Post yourselves on any instrument
• Hold a class event or school assembly, family get together, or community event during the Last Post week (20-26 April)
and play the Last Post yourselves for one of the people whose story you have explored. Small, medium or large events
it’s up to you – all are welcome. Invite the community to share your Last Post week. We are making a special effort to
include older people – grandparents and older people in the community, care home residents and Age UK.
Contact the Last Post team for more ideas.
One hundred schools will receive free Last Post plaques as a legacy and you can share your story via the Lives of the
First World War website.
Case Study- Ballywalter Community Association
Ballywalter Community Association in Northern Ireland held their
2014 Last Post event with the children of Ballywalter Primary
School.
BCA provided costumes and artefacts from the war – medals,
uniforms, gas masks. Older people shared their experiences of war
with the children before a tea dance. Everyone learnt songs of the
period from the Last Post Song book and dances that were popular
1914 - 1918. The Last Post was played on the flute.
Case Study -“Penn Road friends and family”
Nancy Buchanan shared the treasured letters between her great-grandmother
Dora Lloyd and Dora’s teenaged son Frederick, Nancy’s grandfather, at the
Penn Road Last Post. The letters give a glimpse of life in London and of the
family’s concerns during the war, as well as some fun:
“Two soliders went into a café in Salonika and ordered Turkey without any
Greece. The waiter said, “Sorry, gentlemen, but I cannot Servia”. The men
were very annoyed, “Please go and get the Bosphorus, waiter.” The boss came
and grasping the situation said politely, “I am sorry, gentlemen, and of course
I don’t want to Russia, but I cannot allow you to Roumania.” So the soldiers
got up and went away Hungary.”
Case Study-Towcester Guides
Towcester Guides leader, Michele Rogers, sees global potential in the Last Post Gallipoli: “As guiders we can see the
opportunity to link into talking to guide units across the world. There is a massive amount about contacting guides across
the world online at www.wagggs.org/en/home. This would be an excellent way for girls to recognise the important role that
the movement did and does play and they could directly share experiences with counterparts maybe in Turkey or even in
Australia. The project also fits into several guide badges-Guiding Traditions, World Cultures, World Issues, The Commonwealth
Award and Baden Powell Challenge awards (for older guides)-as well as a Go For It (slightly different to Badges) called Blast
from the past.”
Image: With thanks to Nancy Buchanan
Image: Ballywalter Community Association in Northern Ireland

4. 6 7
The Gallipoli Çanakkale campaign was very international. Soldiers came from across the world to fight the armies of the Ottoman
Empire, Germany and Austria Hungary. From Australia and New Zealand, France and French West Africa, Britain including Ireland,
India and Newfoundland.
Newfoundland is an island which is now part of Canada and in 1915 was a colony within the British Empire. The regiment arrived at
Gallipoli in September 1915 and was one of the last Allied units to withdraw from the Peninsula. 22 Newfoundlanders lost their lives.
Some 15000 soldiers from Indian army regiments served at Gallipoli. The 1/6th Gurkhas are remembered for their courage during the
Battle of Sari Bridge. 4779 Indian soldiers were wounded and 1358 of them lost their lives.
France sent many thousands of men to Gallipoli. 27,000 were wounded of whom 10,000 died.
New Zealand’s archive and history site
www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/the-gallipoli-campaign/gallipoli-in-brief
www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/interactive/gallipoli-casualties-country
Australian Anzac and War Memorial sites
www.awm.gov.au
www.anzacday.org.au
Gallipoli Education site
gallipoli100education.org.uk
Turkish archive website
www.canakkalemuzesi.com
Gallipoli Association
www.gallipoli-association.org
This is a photo of the German
leader Kaiser Wilhelm II
meeting the Ottoman Minister
of war during a visit to Turkey
in 1917. On the same day, he
visited Gallipoli.
Worksheet - The story of Gallipoli/Çanakkale in pictures
On 25th April 1915, British and
Allied troops landed on a series
of beaches around the Gallipoli
Peninsula. They wanted to capture
the capital of the Ottoman Empire
(based in Turkey) and knock one
of German’s key allies out of the
war. Here at V Beach, many British
soldiers were wounded or died.
Soldiers from many countries took
part in the battle which claimed more
than 145,000 lives. This picture shows
wounded Ottoman prisoners being fed at
an Australian hospital at Mudros in 1915.
The fighting at Gallipoli quickly
sank into stalemate and by May
1915 trench warfare had taken
hold of the battlefield. There
were a series of costly attacks
in which many men died. This
photograph shows the Third
Battle of Krithia on 4 June 1915.
The Allies were unable to defeat the
Ottoman Army. In December they
started to withdraw and this picture
shows HMS Cornwallis, the last ship
to leave Sulva Bay, firing at Ottoman
positions. The last soldier left on
January 9, 1916.
Conditions were very harsh, heat, lack of water
and poor food caused many to die of disease.
The land was rocky and there were steep cliffs.
This picture shows an ANZAC (Australian and
New Zealand) road-making party.
7
Why is Gallipoli Çanakkale being remembered this year?
Which countries took part in the Gallipoli Çanakkale campaign?
What do the pictures tell you about this part of the First World War?
Primary & Secondary
© IWM.Q50473 © IWM. Q70701
© IWM. Q23732
The First World War in 1915 is particularly remembered for the Gallipoli campaign – known in Turkey as Çanakkale - in which soldiers from
many countries tried to take a strategic peninsula from the Ottoman Empire in an attempt to control the Bosphorus straits and capture
Constantinople (modern day Istanbul).
The Allies hoped to knock the Ottoman Empire out of the war, weakening the Germans. However, the Ottoman army fought with great
courage to repel the attack. Soldiers lived and died in terrible conditions from April until December 1915 when the Allies withdrew.
Tens of thousands lost their lives.
Estimates vary greatly but there were more than 250,000 Allied
and more than 300,000 Ottoman casualties between 25 April
1915 and 9 January 1916. 58,000 Allied and 87,000 Ottoman
soldiers died.
The Gallipoli campaign is linked to the development of national
identity in Australia and New Zealand; in both countries the
courage of troops at Gallipoli is remembered as the ‘birth of
the nation’.
The connection between the First World War and national
identity also applies to Turkey. The Ottoman Empire – which
was governed from Constantinople - allied with Germany at the
start of the First World War and with Germany was defeated.
The Ottoman Empire, which had united many territories of
Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (from the Balkans to
Iraq, from Syria to Algeria) was disbanded and much of it divided
between the Allies.
However absolute the defeat of Germany and the Ottomans, the Gallipoli campaign was a proud victory for the Ottoman Empire and the
hero of Gallipoli, Mustafa Kemal, was to become the great political force and moderniser of Turkey, Ataturk.
Following the harsh treaties at the end of World War One, Mustafa Kemal led the Turkish war of independence which resulted in the
establishment of the modern Turkish state in 1923. He was given the name ‘Ataturk’, father of the Turks.
Each year special ceremonies are held in Turkey to remember those who lost their lives during the Gallipoli / Çanakkale campaign, and
Ataturk’s speech is read out.
Gallipoli/Çanakkale briefing
ACTIVITY
© IWM.Q13774 © IWM.Q13682
© IWM.Q13356
Learn to sing the Turkish Gallipoli song ‘Çanakkale Turkusu’ featured in
the music section along with other British and Australian songs from
the Gallipoli campaign.

5. 9
Worksheet - Poetry
Primary & Secondary
Much of Gallipoli Çanakkale is preserved as a place of remembrance. There is a special ceremony each year at which Ataturk’s
moving speech recognising the enemy’s losses is read. These words are also carved in stone in English and Turkish at Anzac
Cove on the Gallipoli Çanakkale peninsula.
ACTIVITY
Read Ataturk’s words in the photograph above.
Write a poem or speech to the soldiers who lost their lives during the Gallipoli campaign.
Who will you play the Last Post for?
8

6. 10 11
Worksheet - Young Soldiers
Primary & Secondary
Thousands of teenage soldiers served during the First World War and at Gallipoli.
In Australia soldiers were not allowed to enlist unless they were 21 years old, or 18
with parental permission although boys aged 14-17 boys were accepted as musicians.
There are many examples of Australian boys who faked their age in order to sign
up. The full number of under-aged soldiers will never be known but many have been
identified from the Roll of Honour including Private James Charles (‘Jim’). He is
believed to be the youngest soldier on the Roll of Honour. Jim was 14 years 9 months
old when he died at Gallipoli.
[SEE www.awm.gov.au for more information].
The Ottoman army contained young soldiers like the man on the left, many as young
as sixteen. In Britain you had to be 18 to sign up and 19 to serve overseas but it is
estimated that 250,000 under 19s saw active service overseas.
The youngest British solider known to have fought in the First World War was 12 year
old Sidney Lewis who fought at the Somme before his mother contacted the War Office
and had him discharged.
Some secondary schools in the Ottoman Empire lost entire year groups to the Gallipoli
campaign. See examples in the section on schools.
All countries involved in the war had
young soldiers such as the cousins
Bal and Pim Bahadur from the Indian
army. See their picture and 300 other
photographs of the Indian army in the
First World War at the Girdwood Collection
which the British Library has published
here: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
Commons:British_Library/Girdwood
Write a diary for a young soldier from one of
the Gallipoli / Çanakkale armies.
Hugh Dennis – the British actor and comedian – is one of
many people who lost a family member at Gallipoli.
Hugh’s great uncle Frank Ambrose Hinnels died on 17 October
1915, aged 18 years.
In the family photo he is pictured with his brother Godfrey,
Hugh’s grandfather, and their parents.
Frank probably died in an area known to the British as ‘Hill 60’,
and is buried in the “7th Field Ambulance” cemetery in Turkey,
a Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery. Some 11,000 Allied
troops have known graves in the region.
Images: With thanks to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
There are a total of 31 Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) cemeteries and six memorials on the Gallipoli peninsula.
The CWGC has a database for all those from the Commonwealth who died in the First and Second World Wars.
Gallipoli is part of modern day Turkey, using the CWGC database you can look for local connections with Gallipoli.
To find a local person commemorated in Gallipoli, use the advanced search function on the CWGC database.
Here is a link to the database. http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead.aspx
If you have a known name, enter the details. In the fourth box, Country (Commemorated in) select Turkey including Gallipoli. In the sixth
box, select First World War. Then select the search box.
Alternatively if you do not have any names and want to try to find a local connection, you could enter a place name in the very last box
called, additional information. By using this option the database will produce a list of those casualties that provided the CWGC with an
address after the war.
These names may be for people whom once lived where you live today.
Find out whether anyone has relatives who served at Gallipoli. The simplest way is to ask the family and find out more from special
websites like the IWM’s Lives of the First World War www.livesofthefirstworldwar.org.
You can also use the Commonwealth War Graves search engine to find people who lost their lives at Gallipoli from your area.
Worksheet - Researching
Secondary
ACTIVITY
Young Soldiers
Ottoman soldier Image: With thanks to Barry Blades
Images: With thanks to Hugh Dennis
ACTIVITY
Below:Commonwealth War Grave Cemeteries on the Gallipoli Peninsula
BBC iwonder guide
How did Britain let 250,000 under age
soldiers serve in WW1?
www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zcvdhyc
10

7. Separated families: soldiers as fathers
During the First World War, more than 70 million men across the world were mobilised to fight.
More than 8 million British men served in the military. Many were fathers.
Although the majority – 88% or nearly nine out of ten – returned to their families, more than 700,000 British men died.
Between 1914-18 hundreds of thousands of children’s lives were affected because their fathers were in the army.
Half a million British children lost their fathers.
Families were very aware that they would be separated and worried children might never see their father again.
Some took special photographs which are being collected and displayed on a flickr album called
‘Faces & Families’: http://www.archhistory.co.uk/taca/1914-18.html
First World War families worksheet
Primary
Create a picture of a “First World War family” dressed in the clothes worn during the First World War. This can be
made up, based on one of the pictures above, or researched from your heritage.
Draw a First World War family.
• Composition: who is in your First World War family?
• Context: where are they pictured? Have they got any ‘props’?
• Clothes: how are they dressed? Is anyone wearing uniform?
• Expressions: what do their faces say?
The Army Children Archive www.archhistory.co.uk chronicles the lives and times of regular British Army soldiers from the seventeenth
century up to today. The two Flickr albums, ‘A Sentimental View’ and ‘Faces & Families’, are part of their ‘The Army Children of the First
World War’ project. Read more about ‘The Army Children of the First World War’ project and explore the photographs here www.archhistory.
co.uk/taca/1914-18.html
ACTIVITY
Images: With thanks to The Army Children Archive TACA)
Images: With thanks to The Army Children Archive TACA)
Find out more in Remember
the world as well as the war
www.britishcouncil.org
12 13

8. 14 15
Worksheet - First World War Posters
Primary & Secondary
How did the children of soldiers feel when their fathers were serving in the First World War?
Write the conversation between the mothers and children in the posters
Create your own poster to describe the experience of soldiers’ children during the First World War
ACTIVITY
With thanks to The Army Children Archive TACA)
Images: with thanks to The Army Children Archive TACA)

9. 16 17
Primary & Secondary
This postcard was written to James McCarthy by his daughter Annie. She was 4 years old. Sadly he died in the war and her postcard was
found in his pocket and returned to the family. Annie is pictured with her brothers a few years later. She grew up, married and had children
of her own. This story has been shared by her grandson, Gary. Their experience was very common during the First World War but reading
the postcard brings it home. It’s very sad.
The best place to start is by asking relatives. When you have names of soldiers you can
find out about their lives online The Lives of the First World War website offers access to the
records of many of those who served. Suitable for use with adult supervision.
Research stories of how families in your community were affected in the war.
Focus on the experience of children.
ACTIVITY
With thanks to Catherine and Gary Blakeley for sharing their family story and archive material.
Gary Blakeley, in Toronto, Canada, shared his own family’s postcard and story when he saw a copy of ‘Dreaming of Daddy’ that The Army
Children Archive (TACA) had posted online in their ‘Sentimental View’ album.
Gary’s great grandfather James McCarthy served in the 1st East Lancashire Regiment and died in Bosinghe Belgium on July 6, 1915.
The Dreaming of Daddy postcard sent to him by his young daughter was recovered from his body and sent home to his family.
The postcard was written by Gary’s grandmother, Annie McCarthy when she was four years old, and Gary thinks she may have had some
help from her mother, Catherine McCarthy.
The postcard reads, “Dear daday just to let you no I am longing to see you. Dear daday you have been a long time
away from your own little Annie and John and Jimmy. To my darling dady Annie McCarthy”.
Annie’s father was due to come home on leave for the first time since the war had started about two weeks after the day he was killed.
The McCarthy family
James was born in around 1882 and spent most of his childhood in Burnley.
At the age of sixteen or seventeen (1888), he joined the East Lancashire Regiment and was
sent to South Africa with the 1st Battalion to fight in the Boer War and later to serve in India.
The family do not know when James returned to England, but on June 4, 1910, he married
Catherine Cummins and their first child, Annie (who wrote the postcard), was born a few weeks
later. By this time, James was working as window-cleaner.
Little information is available until the outbreak of the First World War, but James was an
active reservist with the 3rd Battalion of the East Lancashire Regiment (ELR) and so on the day
war broke out, 4 August 1914, he received orders to proceed to Barracks in Preston.
On August 22, James McCarthy left England for the last time aboard the troopship Braemar
Castle, landing in France at Le Havre. He served on the Western Front until the morning of
Tuesday, July 6, when he was killed, along with about nineteen other men by German shells
which landed on, or near, a trench they were holding just east of the Yser Canal in Belgium.
What happened to the McCarthy children?
The photo shows the now fatherless children Annie, John and Jimmie. What happened to them?
Annie McCarthy (on the left)
Annie was the eldest of the three, and Gary’s grandmother and she wrote the Dreaming of Daddy postcard.
After the First World War, she helped her mother, Catherine McCarthy, who married Johnny Walsh, to bring up her brothers, James and
John. When she was older she didn’t like living in Johnny Walsh’s house (her mother had died), and went to see her uncle, Michael
McCarthy, to seek advice. He told her to get married, which she did.
Her husband, David Frankland, came from a large family with a dozen siblings. Annie and David had three children: Catherine, Gary’s
mother; David; and Joe. David served with the King’s Own Royal Regiment in Korea.
James McCarthy (seated)
James, or Jimmy, was born in December 1914, and never met his father who had left for war in August. In 1931, Jimmy joined the army
aged 18 and served with the Lancashire Fusiliers. He was wounded in the arm, and was demobbed in 1946.
After the war he went back to school to learn to be a builder, and that was his work for the rest of his life. He met and married Gladys who
worked at Woolworths in Burnley. They had three girls, including twins. Jimmy died in 1981.
John McCarthy (on the right)
John, or Johnny, worked at the brickworks in Burnley, alongside his stepfather, Johnny Walsh. John lost part of his little finger in an
industrial accident there when he was about fourteen. Big sister Annie, seventeen at the time, kept this news from her mother, Catherine,
so as not to upset her. John recovered from the loss of his finger, but he had poor health and died in 1941 when he was only twenty-nine.
He never married, and had no children.
Image: With thanks to Gary and
Catherine Blakeley
Images: With thanks to Gary and Catherine Blakeley
Dreaming of Daddy briefing
Worksheet- Dreaming of Daddy

10. 18
Primary
Worksheet - Propaganda
Secondary
In the Ottoman Empire, the children of soldiers who had given their
lives, or martyrs, were often presented at state events.
Some were formed into a special choir and performed for important
visitors including the leader of Germany, Kaiser Wilhelm when he
visited Istanbul.
In Britain children were also depicted in recruitment material to
motivate men to enlist.
One of the most famous posters shows the future – in it, children ask
their father what he did in the war.
In other postcards, children spur their fathers on to fight
courageously.
What is propaganda?
Do you think that these are examples of propaganda?
What do children represent in these images?
Is this use of children during political occasions
and in posters/postcards effective?
ACTIVITY
Images: with thanks to The Army Children Archive TACA)
Images: with thanks to The Army Children Archive TACA)
Worksheet - Letters
ACTIVITY
Soldiers and their families wrote millions of letters during
the First World War
Write the letters which children are writing
Write a letter from a father-soldier to his children
18
Images: with thanks to The Army Children Archive TACA)
19

11. 21
Plan your Last Post event
Who will you play the Last post for?
The Last Post is about remembering
individuals and communities that were
affected by the First World War. This could
be someone who fought at the front line,
or someone who stayed behind.
It’s EASY to take part!!
TO BEGIN! Head to our free resources page- use our handy
event toolkit to plan your event
Ask yourself 3questions
when planning...
1 Find someone to remember
2 Find a date and location for your
Last Post event
3 Register your event
It could be a school assembly, a special lesson, a community
event or a samll family event. Events can be big or small and
don’t need to be complicated to organise. It’s about getting
together with people in your school or the wider community to
remember the First World War.
And get access to a hard copy of the Last Post
Gallipoli resource pack which contains archive
materials, activities and songs from the First World
War era. You will also be able to apply for funding and
access backing tracks to some of the musical pieces.
TO FINISH! When you have decided who, what and how all that’s left to do is
REGISTER YOUR EVENT
All events registered before 20th April can apply
for expenses of up to £200
www.thelastpostproject.org.uk
20

12. 23
Read more about British schools at
http://www.ww1schools.com/
Read more about the impact of the First World War
on schools in New Zealand at http://www.nzhistory.
net.nz/war/children-and-first-world-war
During the First World War many schools supported the ‘war effort’.
When war broke out in August 1914, British schools responded enthusiastically to the call to enlist. Some public schools formed ‘Pals
battalions’ of ex-pupils.
Head teachers encouraged eligible pupils to join the army; teachers
also volunteered.
Schools celebrated the numbers who had volunteered by publishing
‘Rolls of Honour’- lists naming all the ex-pupils who were serving.
As the war progressed, these lists which had celebrated the patriotism
and courage of pupils were changed into ‘Names of the Fallen’ as
many died.
In the Ottoman Empire pupils and teachers volunteered for the army
during the Gallipoli/ Çanakkale campaign. Galatasary High School for
example is still known for the high numbers of pupils who fought and
died at Gallipoli/ Çanakkale.
Mustafa Ozturk of Erciyes University, Kayseri has provided two further examples of Ottoman schools which were badly affected by the First
World War: Edirne High School and Trabzon High School.
Edirne Lisesi was founded in 1882, Erdine Lisesi was the first high school in Trace outside Istanbul.
It is said that all teachers and students of the high school went to Gallipoli Front and none of them
came back.
Trabzon Lisesi was founded two years earlier, in 1880. Although the distance between Trabzon and
Gallipoli is 1,365 km, the school did not have any graduates for three years because the majority of
students went to the Gallipoli front and never came back.
Ottoman schools also offered pupils military training according to Turkish historian Nazan
Maksudyam who explores the impact of the First World War and children in her work. She has found
that the Turkish ‘scout movement’ Türk Gücü Cemiyeti (Turkish Strength Association, later renamed
as Ottoman Strength Association) was founded in 1913 and grew throughout the period. The
Ottoman Strength Association was compulsory in all schools and pupils were trained and drilled with
and without weapons.
In New Zealand we find the same story. Pupils were enrolled as Cadets, wore uniform and drilled on
the school grounds. There they learnt to shoot and took part in military exercises. Wellington school
even provided instruction in fighting with bayonets and issued pupils with certificates of proficiency.
1643 of Wellington’s former pupils served during WW1; 222 died and 350 were wounded.
In the UK, public schools were famous for the high numbers of volunteers and their courage. Harrow School for example counts 2917 former
pupils who served in the First World War of whom 690 were wounded and 642 lost their lives; nine Victoria crosses were awarded.
Throughout the Ottoman Empire, so many teachers were conscripted to the army that many schools closed altogether. Ottoman schools
which remained open assisted the war effort by training boys in military drill, akin to the British cadet forces which operated
in British schools.
In some cases, school facilities were commandeered by the army to billet troops or for training.
This happened at East Boldon Elementary School which was occupied by 300 troops and at King Edward VI school in Retford where
corrugated iron huts were provided for girls displaced from their classrooms by the army.
Other schools were converted into military hospitals. Lincoln School became the 4th Northern Military Hospital for the duration of the war.
Chatham House school sustained bomb damage although no
one was killed. The children of Upper North Street School in
Poplar East London were less fortunate when their school was
hit by a bomb which killed 18 and left 30 seriously wounded.
Soon after the war started, Belgian refugees arrived in Britain
and children joined local schools. However as numbers grew
and the war continued separate Belgian schools were set up in
the UK. 100 Belgian Primary and 15 secondary schools with
approx 10,000 pupils had been set up by 1918.
National campaigns harnessed the school-labour force.
Pupils at Busbridge School Godalming collected eggs which
were hardboiled and sent to troops. (They wrote their names
on them before sending.)
In September 1918, pupils from the same school collected
more than 300 lbs of blackberries to make jam for soldiers.
School children also collected nuts and shells for gas mask
charcoal, acorns for animal feed, dandelions for medical
supplies and scrap metal for ammunition.
School children often made useful items such as gloves and
hats themselves. There was also less food available in the
UK and school playing fields were converted into allotment
gardens to improve the food supply.
Children in New Zealand also took part national programmes
and in fund-raising. Imaginative campaign ideas included,
in 1918, a competition between Auckland and Wellington to lay a line of pennies along the main road between the two cities. That is a
distance of more than 600 km. Children at schools on the route brought pennies to school to add to the trail.
In New Zealand, schools collected bottles and sent ‘comforts’ such as scarves to soldiers. Classes sent letters to the front line and received
postcards from the troops. They were encouraged to donate their pocket money to war victims including refugee children in Belgium
and Serbia.
Librarian Zvezdana Popovic has been researching the support given to Serbia by British women and schools during the First World War.
British secondary schools raised funds for Serbian hospitals by sponsoring hospital beds [see letter]. The letter from this London
headteacher [above] asks for news of where ‘their’ bed as “the girls take much more interest if they know where the beds are”.
The campaign to sponsor hospital beds involved many British secondary schools listed below.
Aske’s Hatcham School 1915-19, Blackheath High School 1917, Cambridge County School for Girls 1918, Camden School for Girls 1918,
Cheltenham College 1918, Clapham High School 1918, Croydon High School 1918, Croydon England Downe House 1918, Farrington School
Chistlehurst 1917-18, Fulham County Secondary School 1918, Garrats Hall, Banstead c.1918, Heathfield, Ascot 1917, James Allen’s Girls’
School 1918, Kentish Town County School 1918, Leytonstone School 1918-1919, Mary Datchelor Girls’ School 1918, Norland Place School –
Old Girls’Association, North London Collegiate School 1918, Paddington & Maida Vale High School c.1918, Prior’s Field School, Godalming
1917-1918, Putney County School 1917-1918, South Hampstead High School 1917, St Paul’s Girls’ School, Streatham County Secondary
School 1918, Tollington High School, Muswell Hill 1917, Sydenham County Secondary School 1918, Tunbridge Wells High School 1917,
Tunbridge Wells High School 1918, Tiffin Girls’ School, Kingston-upon-Thames 1918, Wimbledon High School 1917.
Image: With thanks to Zvezdana Popovic
The Last Post for schools briefing
Edirne High School and Trabzon High School,
Ottoman schools affected by the First World War.
Harrow School War Memorial Photo
credit Stephanie Wolff
22

13. 24
During the First World War schools were affected in many ways. Some were used by the military as training grounds. Some schools
encouraged pupils to sign up when they left. Even primary schools were involved in national campaigns such as blackberry collecting to
make jam for the troops.
Find out more about the schools and the First World War at www.ww1schools.com
Research the First World War heritage of your school.
(If your school is new, find a school in your area which dates back 100 years.)
Pupils at Shrewsbury School in Surbiton researched former pupils who were of an army age in 1914-18 and
discovered the names of 5 young men who had not been remembered in their memorial. In 2014 they dedicated a
second memorial to these young men.
Find suggestions on how to research stories of schools and the First World War:
www.ww1schools.com/researching.html
© IWM.
ACTIVITY
Worksheet - First World War Schools
Primary & Secondary
Q_013388
Music Section
© IWM. Q 54101
Image: with thanks to The Army Children Archive TACA)
Trench mortar shells made at a training
school by boys in the United Kingdom
during the First World War.
Girls pose with cabbages grown for their
school during the First World War.
© IWM. Q 31152
25

14. 26 27
Çanakkale Türküsü
On 25 April 1915, thousands of troops landed on the coast near the town
of Gallipoli – in Turkish ‘Gelibolu’ – in the Çanakkale region.
Çanakkale Türküsü is a song still well-known and widely sung in
Turkey, although its origins are unknown and surrounded by legends.
Some believe that the words were found in the pocket of a dead soldier
at Gallipoli, others that it was composed by a woman, Kevser Hanım, who
was one of the musicians, writers and artists sent to the front to boost
the morale of the soldiers. It is mentioned in a letter written by a soldier,
Seyfullah Nutku, to his mother:
“Dear Mum, for days on end some soldiers have passed by
the Çanakkale/Gallipoli streets and they have sung a song.
In this song they said that ‘Aynalıçarşı in the Gallipoli,
Mum, I’m going to make a stand against the enemy.”
In his diary entry from Galippoli on 18th December, 1915, Second
Lieutenant Mehmed Fasih writes:
“18.00 hrs. My men are singing their traditional songs.
They tell of deep sadness and a sense of mourning. They
were singing these same sad songs when we left Mersin,
But most of the men who were singing then now lie covered
with earth.”
Chan-ak-alay e-chin-der vor-do-lah beni
Ul-mey-den mezara koydular beni
Off gane-shleem aye-vah
Chan – ak –alay e-chin-der eye-na-lur char-sur
Ana ben gideom dush-mana kar-shuh
Off gane-shleem aye-vah
Chan-ak-alay e-chin-der beer u-zoon selvey
Key-me-muz nishan-le key-me-muz evli
Off gane-shleem aye-vah
Chan-ak-alay e-chin-der beer dolu testi
Analar babalar uu-moody kesti
Off gane-shleem aye-vah
Chan-ak-alay e-chin-der sura sura slur-tlej
Al-tun-dah y-at-y-yor aslan yee-tlej
Off gane-shleem aye-vah
Çanakkale içinde vurdular beni
Ölmeden mezara koydular beni
Of gençliğim eyvah
Çanakkale içinde aynalı çarşı
Ana ben gidiyom düşmana karşı
Of gençliğim eyvah
Çanakkale içinde bir uzun selvi
Kimimiz nişanlı kimimiz evli
Of gençliğim eyvah’
Çanakkale içinde bir dolu testi
Analar babalar ümidi kesti
Of gençliğim eyvah
Çanakkale içinde sıra sıra söğütler
Altında yatıyor aslan yiğitler
Of gençliğim eyvah
English Translation
They shot me in Gallipoli
They buried me but I was alive
Lost, my lost youth
Bazaar of mirrors in Gallipoli
Mother, I’m going towards the enemy
Lost, my lost youth
A tall cypress tree in Gallipoli
Some of us engaged, some married
Lost, my lost youth
One filled clay pot in Gallipoli
Mothers, fathers all lost hope
Lost, my lost youth
Willow trees in Gallipoli
Beneath you lie brave heroes
Lost, my lost youth
27
To help you learn this song, watch our special video of
British and Turkish folk musicians Cigdem Aslan, Tahir
Palali and Paul Sartin performing this song for the
Last Post Project www.thelastpostproject.org.uk.

15. 28 29

16. 30 31

17. 32
Private Perks is a funny little codger
With a smile a funny smile.
Five-feet-none, he’s an artful little dodger
With a smile a sunny smile.
Flush or broke, he’ll have his little joke,
He can’t be suppress’d.
All the other fellows have to grin
When he gets this off his chest, Hi!
CHORUS:
“Pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag,
And smile, smile, smile,
While you’ve a lucifer to light your fag,
Smile, boys, that’s the style,
What’s the use of worrying?
It never was worth while, so
Pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag,
And smile, smile, smile.”
Private Perks went a-marching into Flanders
With his smile his funny smile.
He was lov’d by the privates and commanders
For his smile his sunny smile.
When a throng of Germans came along
With a mighty swing,
Perks yell’d out, “This little bunch is mine!
Keep your heads down, boys and sing, Hi!
Private Perks he came back from Bosche-shooting
With his smile his funny smile.
Round his home he then set about recruiting
With his smile his sunny smile.
He told all his pals, the short, the tall,
What a time he’d had;
And as each enlisted like a man,
Private Perks said “Now my lad, Hi!
Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile very nearly didn’t see the light of day, let alone
become one of the most enduring songs of the First World War. In 1915, Welshman Felix Powell (1878-1942) set his brother George’s words
to music, but George (1880-1951) thought the result was ‘piffle’ and put it in the rejects drawer, only to dig it out later to enter it in a
competition for a recruiting or marching song. The brothers dusted it down, changing the time signature from 6/8 to 2/4 – and in August
1915 it was announced that they had won the first prize, and a substantial amount of money.
By the following week the song was in performance in Southampton where it was adopted by many troops embarking for the Front. It
popularised by the music-hall entertainer Florrie Hall, and recorded several times. As well as on sheet music, it featured on calendars and
postcards, many of which were sent to soldiers from their families at home.
One newspaper of the time declared it was:
“…one of the year’s song hits. It is no exaggeration to say that, in the space of a few weeks, it has won
for itself a front place in the affections of the public. The chorus is conceived in the spirit of melodious
optimism, and possesses the infectious quality so essential in a song if it is to stand any chance of
becoming a great popular favourite.”
It helped to maintain morale both at home and abroad, and was played by the many marching bands who accompanied troops, as well
as at divisional entertainments. After the SS Laurentic hit a mine in the Irish Sea in 1917, with the loss of hundreds, it is recorded that
survivors billeted in a hall found a piano and sang along to Pack Up Your Troubles to rally their spirits. By 1918, it was even being sung by
German troops.
Pack Up Your Troubles has been translated into Dutch, German and Spanish, and has featured in numerous writings and films, from Wilfred
Owen’s 1918 poem ‘Smile, Smile, Smile’ to Tintin, Laurel and Hardy, Broadway musicals, Charlie Brown, Raymond Briggs’ Where the Wind
Blows, and in 2010, the UK Top Ten.
Composer Felix Powell enlisted at Leeds on February 5, 1916. Enrolling with the Army Service Corps in Cardiff, he entertained soldiers on
the Western Front with his troupe The White Knights. In 1916, when conscription became compulsory, his brother and lyricist George
Powell became a conscientious objector.
Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit Bag
© IWM. Q 31158Girls stoke a fire on an allotment in the grounds of their school during the First World War
33

18. 34 35
Oh, old Gallipoli’s a wonderful place,
Where the boys in the trenches the foe have to face,
But they never grumble, they smile through it all,
Very soon they expect Achi Baba to fall.
At least when I asked them, that’s what they told me,
In Constantinople quite soon we would be,
But if war lasts till Doomsday I think we’ll still be,
Where old Gallipoli sweeps down to the sea.
We don’t grow potatoes or barley or wheat,
So we’re on the lookout for something to eat,
We’re fed up with biscuits and bully and ham,
And we’re sick of the sight of yon parapet jam.
Send out steak and onions and nice ham and eggs,
And a fine big fat chicken with five or six legs,
And a drink of the stuff that begins with a “B”,
Where the old Gallipoli sweeps down to the sea.
Oh, Mary, this London’s a wonderful sight,
With people all working by day and by night.
Sure they don’t sow potatoes, nor barley, nor wheat,
But there’s gangs of them digging for gold in the street.
At least when I asked them that’s what I was told,
So I just took a hand at this digging for gold,
But for all that I found there I might as well be
Where the Mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea.
.
Old Gallipoli’s a Wonderful Place emerged during the Campaign in 1915. It’s an anonymous parody of The Mountains of Mourne, lyrics
by Irishman Percy French (1854-1920), set to the Irish melody Carrigdhoun or Carraig Donn which was also used for other sets of words.
French’s poem tells of longing for home, so was very appropriate for adaptation by members of the Irish 10th Division, although it has been
suggested that the second verse was added by Scots Highland Light Infantry.
Within the Irish contingent were the Dublin Pals’ battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, whose departure was described by the Irish Times
on 1st of May, 1915:
“Led by the band of the 12th Lancers and the pipers of the Trinity College Officer Training Corps, they marched off from the Royal Barracks.
Along the Liffey quays, crowds on the pavements and spectators in the windows cheered and waved. Outside the Four Courts, a large group
of barristers, solicitors, officials and judges shouted good-bye to their friends. Little boys strutted along side the marching column, chant-
ing their street songs,
Left, right; left right; here’s the way we go,
Marching with fixed bayonets, the terror of every foe,
A credit to the nation, a thousand buccaneers,
A terror to creation, are the Dublin Fusiliers.
The Royal Dublin Fusiliers and Royal Muster Fusiliers, alongside the Hampsire Regiment, landed at Cape Helles with the aim of capturing
the heights of Achi Baba. They suffered extremely heavy losses, with over 600 Irish casualties in 36 hours. Of those who landed safely,
many fell victim to bush fires and dysentry as well as combat.
The entries of Australia and New Zealand into the First World War were heralded with a surge of patriotism towards the ‘mother country’,
exemplified by songs like Whenever Britain Calls and Britannia Needs You Like a Mother. At the same time, a new sense of national pride
was emerging - Australia Will Be There was one of the most celebrated songs of the time.
The first Anzac engagement was at the Dardanelles, a battle which, despite its horrors and casualties, inspired heroism. Ellis Ashmead-
Bartlett was an English correspondent who both praised the Anzac contribution, and was highly critical of the unsuccessful military
strategies of the commanders. He submitted the first report in Australia of the Gallipoli landing (and shot the only camera footage of the
campaign). Here is an extract:
“The courage displayed by these wounded Australians and New Zealanders will never be forgotten. Hastily placed in trawlers, lighters, or
boats, they were towed to the ships, and, in spite of their sufferings, they cheered the ship from which they had set out in the morning.
In fact, I have never seen anything like these wounded Colonials in war before. Though many were shot to bits, and without hope of
recovery, their cheers resounded throughout the night and you could see in the midst of a mass of suffering humanity arms waving in
greeting to the crews of the warships. They were happy because they knew they had been tried for the first time, and had not been
found wanting.”
The battle was commemorated in song, of which Heroes of the Dardanelles is one of several examples. He Was Only a Private Soldier
celebrated the actions of one Australian soldier, Private Albert Jacka, awarded Australia’s first Victoria Cross of the war for bravery.
At times, peace did prevail. As at Christmas 1914 on the Western Front, on 24th May, 1915 a truce took place at Gallipoli, instigated by a
Turkish soldier. During the 8-hour truce Australians and Turks buried their dead and exchanged gifts.
Anzac Day is commemorated on April 25th in New Zealand and Australia, as well as some of the Pacific islands, and Newfoundland.
Original First Verse By Percy French Parody

19. 36 37
Dear Anzac Pal (A Song of Remembrance) is a reflective song, written by writer Annie L. Studdert (1885/6-1975) with verses
by William Cory. It was arranged by Alice B. Mc Donald, composer of Loves Souvenir Waltz and The Old Bush Barn, and published during the
First World War by The Southern Song Service in Gore, Southland, New Zealand.
They told me, dear young Anzac, they told me you were dead,
They brought me bitter news to hear and bitter tears I shed,
I wept as I remembered, how often you and I
Had tired the sun with talking, and sent him down the sky.
CHORUS:
Dear Anzac Pal we come today, at mem’ries shrine a tribute pay
For noble deeds of chivalry, unselfish love, we think of thee.
With loving hands fair flow’rs we lay, With contrite heart we kneel and pray
Deep in our hearts, remembered yet. Dear soldier pal we can’t forget.
And now that thou art lying, my dear old warrior guest,
A handful of grey ashes, Long long ago at rest,
Still other pleasant voices sweet memories awake,
For death, he taketh much away but those he can not take.

20. 38 39
WWI ENGLISH VERSION
Mademoiselle from Armentières, parlez-vous,
Mademoiselle from Armentières, parlez-vous,
Mademoiselle from Armentières,
She hasn’t been kissed for forty years,
Hinky-dinky, parlez-vous.
Oh Landlord have you any good wine, parlez-vous,
Oh Landlord have you any good wine, parlez-vous,
Oh Landlord have you any good wine,
Fit for a soldier of the line,
Hinky-dinky, parlez-vous.
Oh yes, I have some very good wine, parlez-vous,
Oh yes, I have some very good wine, parlez-vous,
Oh yes, I have some very good wine,
To cheer the soldiers of the line,
Hinky-dinky, parlez-vous.
Oh Landlord have you a daughter fine, parlez-vous,
Oh Landlord have you a daughter fine, parlez-vous,,
Oh Landlord have you a daughter fine,
She breaks our hearts while up the line,
Hinky-dinky, parlez-vous.
Oh yes I have a daughter fine, parlez-vous,
Oh yes I have a daughter fine, parlez-vous,
Oh yes I have a daughter fine,
But not to waste upon the line.
Hinky-dinky, parlez-vous.
But dear father I love them all, parlez-vous,
But dear father I love them all, parlez-vous,
But dear father I love them all,
Thin and fat and short and tall,
Hinky-dinky, parlez-vous.
They come to save our country fair, parlez-vous,
They come to save our country fair, parlez-vous,
They come to save our country fair,
Et a la guerre comme a la guerre,
Hinky-dinky, parlez-vous.
WW1 AUSTRALIAN VERSION
Mademoiselle from Armentieres, parlez-vous,
Sang the Diggers between their beers, parlez-vous,
And the ballad roared by the soldiers gay,
Rang through the old Estaminet.
Inky-pinky, parlez-vous!
There were men from Wagga and Gundagai, parlez-vous,
From Perth, and The Towers, and Boggabri, parlez-vous,
From Sydney City and Dandenong,
Sinking their troubles in wine and song.
Inky-pinky, parlez-vous!
There was one young Digger, tanned and lean, parlez-vous,
From the Darling Downs, or the Riverine, parlez-vous,
Who set her heart in a rapturous whirl,
When he vowed that she was his Dinkum Girl.
Inky-pinky, parlez-vous!
They laughed and loved in the old French town. parlez-vous,
And her heart spake out of her eyes of brown parlez-vous,
But the time fled by, and there came a day,
When he and his cobbers all marched away.
Inky-pinky, parlez-vous!
Maybe on a field of France he fell, parlez-vous,
No word came back to Mademoiselle, parlez-vous,
But a pretty French girl, with eyes of brown,
Prays for him still in a war-swept town.
Inky-pinky, parlez-vous!
Quiet it is in the old estaminet, parlez-vous,
No more Diggers will come that way, parlez-vous,
May your heart grow light with passing years,
Oh, Mademoiselle from Armentieres!
Inky-pinky, parlez-vous!
[Note: an ‘Estaminet’ was an informal bar near the front line]
MODERN CHILDRENS’ VERSION
There was an old woman of ninety-two, parlez-vous,
There was an old woman of ninety-two, parlez-vous,
There was an old woman of ninety-two,
She knit some socks and away they flew,
Inky-pinky, parlez-vous.
The socks went flying down the street, parlez-vous,
The socks went flying down the street, parlez-vous,
The socks went flying down the street, knocked a
policeman off his beat,
Inky-pinky, parlez-vous.
The socks went flying on to Rome, parlez-vous,
The socks went flying on to Rome, parlez-vous,
The socks went flying on to Rome, found the King of
Rome at home,
Inky-pinky, parlez-vous.
The King of Rome was drinking gin, parlez-vous,
The King of Rome was drinking gin, parlez-vous,
The King of Rome was drinking gin, he opened his mouth
and the socks flew in,
Inky-pinky, parlez-vous.
The King of Rome is dead and gone, parlez-vous,
The King of Rome is dead and gone, parlez-vous,
The King of Rome is dead and gone, but still the socks
go flying on,
Inky-pinky, parlez-vous.
39

21. 41
THE
LAST POST
Arrangements
The Last Post arrangements are designed so that they are able to
be played in unison with each other. If you are a flute player
and wish to play the Last Post with a friend on the saxophone
then using these arrangements you can . All the parts will sound
in Bb at concert pitch .
As well as themes of war, parting, and love, comic songs were very common among soldiers and helped to keep up their spirits. One firm
favourite was Madamoiselle from Armentières, also known as Hinky Dinky, Parlez Vous words set to a traditional army tune.
Several writers lay claim to the lyrics of Madamoiselle from Armentières - Edward Rowland and the Canadian composer and pianist Lieuten-
ant Glitz Rice, Harry Carlton and Joe Tunbridge, Harry Wincott; and an Australian, Cecil H. Winter, who moved to New Zealand, fought with
its army, and who (according to his grandson) gave or sold the rights to Pat Hanna of the Diggers Vaudeville Show that toured Australia after
the War, ‘diggers’ being a nickname for ANZAC soldiers. What is certain is that the song emerged in 1915 and refers to the town near Lille
in northern France which was at that time a rest and recreation area for troops returning from the Front. It evolved into many variations,
British, Canadian (it is the regimental march of Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry), US and Australian, some expanded with verses
and some appearing on sheet music and commercial recordings. The song lives on into recent times, notably in the playground.
Madamoiselle from Armentières
40

22. 42 43
Who will you play the Last Post for?
Find out about The Last Post
The Last Post was first published in 1798, one of dozens of bugle calls sounded in British Army infantry camps to regulate the
daily lives of soldiers. Its original function was to indicate simply that the perimeter of the camp was secured for the night
and that everyone should have returned to barracks.
But in the 1850s, regiments on overseas postings where music was in short supply, found a new role for the piece. The Last
Post, the final call of the day, would be sounded at a military funeral, followed by a period of silence, and then Reveille,
the first call of the morning, to symbolise the soldier’s rebirth into eternal life. As this usage spread, the playing of the call
changed – notes were held longer, pauses were emphasised and a piece that had once been brisk, almost jaunty, became
instead a mournful lament.
Thanks to writer and historian of the Last Post, Alwyn Turner http://alwynwturner.com

23. 44 45
More about the Last Post
In the wake of the Boer War, The Last Post call also began to be sounded at memorial services at home, and the First World War cemented
this connection between the Last Post and remembrance. The annual service held at the Cenotaph in London – and replicated across the
country – followed the format of the soldier’s funeral: Last Post, prayers, Reveille.
Since then, it has spread around the world, beyond divisions of nation, class and religion, through the countries of the Commonwealth and
beyond. It has been sounded at the gravesides of millions of soldiers, as well as those of emperors, generals and rebels, from Douglas Haig
and Winston Churchill to Mohandas Gandhi and Nelson Mandela
Daily bugle calls are no longer played in army camps, and most have long since been forgotten. Adopted as an anthem of remembrance,
The Last Post is the exception

24. © IWM. Q_013642
46 47

25. © IWM. Q_013517
48 49

26. Acknowledgments
The Last Post 2015 resource pack has been compiled thanks to the support
and generosity of many friends of The Last Post project including:
Children during the First World War
Clare Gibson, “The Army Childrens Archive [TACA]
Nazan Maksudyan, Istanbul Kemerburgaz University
Michael Roper, University of Essex
Gary and Catherine Blakeley, Toronto and Burnley
Schools during the First World War
Barry Blades of World War One Schools
Zvezdana Popovic
Mustafa Ozturk, Erciyes University, Kayseri and Euroclio
Selahattin Kaymakci, Karadeniz University, Akcaabat and Euroclio
International perspectives
Mustafa Aksakal, Georgetown University
Paul Ferguson, British Columbia Canada
And many others including
Nancy Buchanan, Mick Csáky, Effie Mary Crompton, Thomas Hamill, Katharine Lane,
Cathie McKimm, Christine Spriggs, Olga Stanojlovic, Nicola Toms.
Superact
Old Market Studios
68 Old Market Street
Bristol
UK
BS2 0EJ
Telephone: +44 (0)1172 140366
Email: contact@superact.org.uk
www.thelastpostproject.org.uk
@lastpostproject
www.facebook.com/superact
© IWM. Q_013294
50 51

27. 52
The Last Post project offers a unique and
engaging way to discover your
First World War heritage
• Funding available to support activities & events
• Activities for the classroom suitable for primary and secondary
• A free commemorative plaque for first 100 events
• Resource pack with archive materials
• Activities and songs from the era
• Unique international perspectives
• Understanding of the Great War seen through children’s eyes
• The opportunity to play the Last Post yourselves
• Support to hold intergenerational events
• Tools to engage with your local First World War story
Register Now!
www.thelastpostproject.org.uk
@lastpostproject #thelastpost
contact@superact.org.uk Tel: 0117 214 0366
Project Opportunities
Funding and Resources