A MUSICAL VOYAGE - Royal Australian Navy
A MUSICAL VOYAGE - Royal Australian Navy
A MUSICAL VOYAGE - Royal Australian Navy
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- 131 –<br />
We arrived at Anzac Cove at around 0240. The buses stopped short of the cove, and we<br />
were informed that this was as far as the buses were going. There were too many people to<br />
go any further, and that a satellite picture had shown more than 15,000 people were in<br />
attendance already.<br />
The first image I saw (after getting off the bus) was a huge mass of bodies, lying and<br />
standing every where, dancing, cheering singing. The massive TV screens with the<br />
<strong>Australian</strong> Flag on them and a DJ playing really loud Aussie music. The vibe was so<br />
awesome. I was not nervous; this just made me want to get up in front of the 15,000 people<br />
(and the whole world) and show them what I could do. I just wanted to play with such<br />
honour on this extremely important day - ANZAC DAY!!<br />
The funny thing is the day before I was really nervous, Lieutenant Cottier had asked me<br />
how I was feeling about it all and I said “to tell you the truth sir I’m petrified!! He said<br />
“you’ll be right…I have total faith in you……”<br />
Some how I seemed to absorb the positive vibe and the excitement from the crowd, which<br />
gave me the courage I needed. So the service began. It was cold and really windy, the<br />
ropes were banging vigorously against the flagpoles and the dawn began to break. The<br />
waves were crashing behind us, and the blue glow of the sun began to highlight the<br />
Gallipoli ridges and the sphinx. At that point the snipers came into view. They were<br />
everywhere; on the ridges, the roads and in amongst the scrub.<br />
Before going on the trip I was concerned something bad was going to happen due to the<br />
media coverage, which had been so intense regarding terrorism. People had been advised<br />
not to attend the Gallipoli service and here I was a lone bugler standing out the front, a<br />
perfect target. However to this point nothing had happened. There were reports that there<br />
were more military personnel on the Gallipoli Peninsula on Anzac Day 2004, than in 1915<br />
when the battle occurred; so we were very safe.<br />
My time came and I was to leave the band and mount the Bugler’s Box. By this stage my<br />
hands were freezing and blue, and not much feeling in them at all. (and, I had three layers<br />
of thermals on as well as long-johns!! Lucky for them or I would have been frozen). I was<br />
just glad the bugle didn’t have any valves. I may not have had enough movement in my<br />
fingers to press them down. I put my cornet down and adjusted my uniform, rubbed my<br />
hands vigorously to get the blood flowing and said to my self “This is it!!”<br />
This is what I had come to do, and I was so pumped to do it. I walked behind the monument<br />
wall and mounted the box, carefully, trying not to be blown off by the wind. I came into<br />
position and waited for the moment to come. I was finally there. Standing on the Bugle Box<br />
and waiting to play the Last Post and Reveille. It seemed to take forever for this day to<br />
come.<br />
I was so proud to be standing in front of the whole world, so honoured to have been chosen<br />
to play the bugle at the most important service on ANZAC DAY. I kept thinking how lucky I<br />
was - a girl from a small country town in Victoria, chosen to play the bugle at Anzac Cove,<br />
Gallipoli. An opportunity I had only dreamed of since joining the <strong>Navy</strong>.<br />
The ode was read, I began to play, praying to god that there were no glitches. It was a<br />
spine tingling experience; so much emotion came over me. The Last Post was over. I could<br />
see tears flowing from people in the crowd. The sombre mood and the goose bumps began<br />
to rise. I began to count to 120 (for the two minutes silence) when just before I got to 120<br />
some idiot in the crowd blew a toy trumpet. They just couldn’t help themselves.<br />
Inconsiderate person!! It startled me a little, but thankfully didn’t upset my performance.<br />
I then brought the bugle up once again and played The Army Reveille. Being a <strong>Navy</strong> Bugler I<br />
had never performed this call before, and so again prayed there would be no slips. All calls<br />
went perfectly. I was so happy and was still really pumped. The cheer from the crowd<br />
afterward was amazing. Once completed I remember thinking “I’m still alive, I didn’t get<br />
snipered, or blown up.” I was very happy.<br />
<strong>Royal</strong> <strong>Australian</strong> <strong>Navy</strong> Band: A Musical Voyage