Trophy Silver Bugle: 1st Australian Infantry Battalion, Champion Company

Place Europe: France
Accession Number REL/01629
Collection type Heraldry
Object type Heraldry
Physical description Silver-plated metal
Maker Boosey & Co
Place made United Kingdom: England, Greater London, London
Date made c 1916
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Description

Standard military bugle of soldered construction, the entire body made with silver-plated copper. Complete with joiners, mouth tube, retaining chain plate and chain. The mouthpiece is also silver plated and is impressed with the maker's details. The lower section of the bell is engraved with the maker's details, while the upper section has been engraved with coat of arms accompanied by a scroll bearing the Latin motto 'Nominis Memento' (Remember the Name) and the following: 1st Aust. Inf. Bn. Champion Company. 17th Aug 1917 - C Coy; 8th Dec 1917 - A Coy; 14th May 1918 - D Coy; 17th Aug 1918 - C Coy.' The bugle has a highly polished finish, while the presence of the underlying brass in the upper engraved section reveals that the bugle was engraved after it was plated.

History / Summary

Special silver plated bugle used by 1 Battalion, AIF as a trophy for a bi-annual inter-company sports carnival held in 1917 and 1918. The battalion's War Diary entry for 14 May 1917, when the battalion was in reserve and training at Sercus, just to the southwest of Hazebrouck. states:

'Morning Bn training. Afternoon Bn sports & competition for silver bugle. Won by D Coy; C Coy being 2nd, B Coy 3rd, & A Coy 1st.'

Following the Company games, the battalion participated in the Brigade Sports competition over the following two days. ('15 May - Close order drill and Specialist Training. Football match against 2nd Australian Bn for Bde Championship. Won by 1st Btn.') It appears this set a pattern for the remainder of the war, with competitions held, where possible, every three months.

The actual complete programme of inter-company competition sports can be found in the War Diary as an appendix to the August 1918 entries, when the programme was held at Racquingham . Each company participated in football, cricket, company lines, company cooker, rifle shooting, company turn-out, platoon turn-out, bomb throwing (from the prone and standing positions) and Lewis gun firing. The athletics component included 100 yards, 220 yards and 440 yards running, high jump, long jump, tug of war and relay race.