Every year, just before we observe two minutes of silence during Remembrance Day, the Tattoo Signal is sounded. It is played on trumpet or horn. Sometimes the Taptoe signal is confused with the Last Post. When is the Taptoe Signal appropriate and when is the Last Post? The Taptoe will be played on Dam Square on May 4, and the Taptoe will be played at Dutch commemorations. The Last Post is played at commemorations with a foreign character. A special Last Post was sounded in Eind Boven, during the reparation of the victims of the MH17 air disaster in Ukraine. The horn sounded as each coffin was carried from the plane.
Tattoo
The name Taptoe is derived from a command: Do-the-tap-toe!,. This made it clear to the soldiers in barracks that the day was over. The taptoe signal was the signal that ended the day. At the beginning of the During the day a signal also sounds, the reveille .
Source: Oliphaunt, Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
Ceremony on Dam Square
Over time, the Taptoe signal has become connected to Remembrance Day and the two minutes of silence. It will be heard on May 4, including on Dam Square in Amsterdam. Before the silence we hear the Taptoe signal blown by a single trumpet player. It has therefore become a signal with dignity. It is blown at commemorations and at funerals with military honors.
Dutch signal
The Taptoe signal is the Dutch signal.
International signal
The Last Post is an international signal.
Confusion about Taptoe Signal and Last Post
There is often confusion as to whether the Taptoe Signal or the Last Post should be played. The two pieces are very similar. The Last Post is slightly longer: the Last Post lasts 1:40 minutes and the Taptoe Signal lasts 1:13 minutes. The Taptoe signal is often played and is called the Last Post or vice versa. The two signals are regularly confused.
Mercenaries
Music historians believe that the mercenaries of the past are to blame for the similarity between the two pieces of music. For the many foreign mercenaries in the army – we are now talking about several centuries ago – it was useful that one recognizable signal was used that was understood by soldiers of different nationalities. The signal developed differently in different regions.
Source: EnEdC, Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
World War II and England sailors
When the Netherlands was liberated from the Second World War, the British army brought the Last Post to the Netherlands. Due to the British tradition of playing the Last Post signal when the last sentry was changed, that signal sounded over the Netherlands after the war. Just like the Taptoe, it is played at commemorations and funerals. Old England sailors and soldiers who were trained in England during the Second World War attach great importance to the Last Post. They like to hear the British signal at the funeral of old comrades-in-arms. Officially it is not allowed, but the Dutch military authorities do not object. According to military ceremonial, the Taptoe is played at native commemorations. The Last Post is reserved for commemorations with a foreign character.
Remembrance Day May 4
On Dutch commemorations such as May 4, where the population commemorates the fallen of the Second World War and the victims of war situations since that time, only the Taptoe signal may be performed. The two minutes of silence conclude with the Wilhelmus. This will be followed by the laying of wreaths and a procession of attendees along the monument.
Daily in Ypres
In Ypres, Flanders, the Last Post sounds every day at 8 p.m. Members of the Last Post Association take care of this as a tribute to those who died in the First World War.
Clarion
The signal is played on a:
- trumpet;
- cornet;
- bugle.
Originally, the clarion was blown, a brass wind instrument without valves or with one valve.
Special Last Post in Eindhoven
On July 23, 2014, a Last Post was sounded at Eindhoven air base. The first 40 victims of the air disaster in Ukraine, which resulted in 295 victims, including 196 Dutch, arrived there that day. The remains had been flown from Ukraine.
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima were present, as were Prime Minister Rutte, Deputy Prime Minister Asscher, a parliamentary delegation and foreign representatives.
Defense personnel gathered behind the loading ramps of the aircraft and a soldier played the Last Post. Afterwards there was a minute’s silence. The coffins were then carried by the pallbearers to the waiting hearses.
A similar tribute was given on the following days when more coffins came to the Netherlands. The Last Post sounded every time. Due to the international character of the ceremony, the Last Post was chosen in this case instead of the Tattoo.
read more
- Ameland in the Second World War – Atlantic Wall
- Ameland and Amelanders in the Second World War
- National Commemoration on May 4 on Ameland
- Liberation of Ameland – Liberation Day on the Wadden Island
- In Flanders Fields – poppies for the fallen near Ypres