MORE than 80 years after being lost at sea during an audacious Occupation escape attempt, a dented silver bugle has been polished up and played again to mark Remembrance Sunday.
The colourful story of the Le Brun/Curwood bugle began when the instrument was presented to Victoria College in 1930 by William Le Brun, chair of the Old Victorians’ Association, to be awarded to the best bugler in the school’s Officer Training Corps.
After winning the bugle in the summer of 1939, teenage pupil Peter Curwood retained possession of it following the outbreak of the Second World War, with the instrument hidden from the Nazi forces who occupied Jersey the following year.
Mr Curwood was part of a group of young Islanders who attempted to escape to Normandy in September 1944 in canoes. The bugle was brought as a potential means of communication between the group, but was lost when the canoe sank, after which Mr Curwood and his accomplices Frank Killer and Arthur de la Cloche were captured and imprisoned by the occupying forces.
After being found when it was washed ashore at St Clement, the engraved and by now somewhat battered bugle was returned to Victoria College and the tradition of its annual presentation resumed.
The final engraving is dated 1958, after which it appears the instrument may have been temporarily forgotten, or placed in storage for a period, until it was found (again) and put on display in the college library.
The most recent chapter of the story came when the bugle was spotted by William Church, the father of a prospective pupil, during a tour of Victoria College.
One of the names caught the attention of Mr Church, who works as operations director for Curwoods Limousines, a family business established in 1892.
“Peter worked for the family firm for many years after the war, and I knew he was an Old Victorian, so was able to piece the story together from there,” Mr Church said.
During conversations with college librarian James Wooldridge, Mr Church mentioned that he had played the bugle for many years at the annual Remembrance Sunday service at St Brelade’s Parish Church, but was set to use a trumpet this year after the bugle he had been loaned was mislaid by its owner. A new loan was then agreed by the college’s custodian.
“I thought that it should be possible to get a tune out it, even if it’s not been played for decades,” he said. “Instruments like this were very well-made – it sounded good when I tried it out, and looked much better as well after a decent polish.”
The end result was that the Le Brun/Curwood bugle was used for the playing of the Last Post and Reveille this year at the parish church overlooking St Brelade’s Bay, and it is also hoped that it may feature in future services, both at Victoria College and as part of services held at other locations.
Head teacher Dr Gareth Hughes said: “The bugle has so much history, dating back 95 years, and the dents that it bears are a physical link to a tale of bravery from a time when war had affected Jersey so directly.
“We are guardians of lots of pieces of Island history – an instrument like this needs to be played, and it’s really special that it’s being brought back, particularly at this time of year.”
