Rediscovered WW1 cornet to sound Last Post on Remembrance Sunday

A 105-year-old cornet discovered hidden in a store cupboard will sound Last Post in Dundee on Remembrance Sunday.

The cornet was played on the Western Front during WW1 by the band of the Hood Battalion, Royal Naval Division.

It is believed to be the only WW1 instrument being used to sound Last Post and Reveille in Scotland on 11 November.

The cornet was found on HMS Unicorn, which served as a recruiting centre for the Division during the war.

The service aboard HMS Unicorn, held annually since 1924, will honour the 10,000 Scots who served in the Royal Naval Division during WW1 and commemorate the 1,598 Scottish "Sea Soldiers" who lost their lives.

The cornet was discovered in a store cupboard on HMS Unicorn

The cornet will be played on Remembrance Sunday by 18-year-old Harris Academy student Rael Watt.

Former Harris Academy pupil and bandsman Able Seaman Victor Ferrar was killed, aged 17, while serving as a stretcher-bearer at Gallipoli in July 1915.

Historian Andrew Jeffrey said: "It was only when we cleaned it, that we realised exactly what we had.

"It's certainly one of a handful around the world.

"When this instrument is played on Remembrance Sunday in the silent streets of Dundee, you will be hearing exactly the same sound as the Sea Soldiers of the Royal Naval Division heard on the Western Front.

"It is a direct link with the trenches."