Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial
Antoon Verschoot
After more than sixty-one years of loyal service, ninety-year-old Antoon Verschoot decided to pass on the torch as chief-bugler of the Ieper Last Post Association. On Saturday 12th December 2015 he played his final Last Post and symbolically handed over his bugle at the end of the ceremony to the new chief bugler, Rik Vandekerckhove.
He had blown the Last Post with the group of buglers at Menin Gate in Belgium since 1954 and it is thought that he had played at least 11,000 times.
On the Wednesday he had been made a Knight of the Order of Leopold.
The man who has played for British and Belgian Royalty, Pope John-Paul, was awarded the MBE by the British and holds the Australian Order of Merit for his services said he had found the freezing winter evenings hard-going, and his wife Suzanne was pleased he had decided to quit.
Some photos from the night
Click on the thumbnail for a larger version
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