TWO half-brothers from Charlbury have served the same church as Remembrance Day buglers for a combined 60 years.

Bob Porrill and Frank Sullivan have played the Last Post and the Reveille for three decades each at the town’s St Mary’s Church.

The half-brothers, who have the same mother, both learned to play the instrument while serving in the Army.

Their family moved to the town at the end of the Second World War, and from 1948 Mr Porrill, 83, began playing the bugle at the church on an annual basis.

In 1978 he handed the baton to Mr Sullivan, 73, who has since missed only one year, due to a hernia operation.

Mr Porrill was in the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry from 1945 to 1948 and served in Palestine.

He said: “The reason I learned to play the bugle was I was hoping I wouldn’t be sent abroad.

“But they did send me abroad and I took it up again while I was in Palestine for 20 months.

“Some of it was fun – but some of it wasn’t much fun.”

Mr Sullivan, who has 10 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren, served with the Somerset Light Infantry.

He said: “Bob always said to me ‘join the buglers, it’s a good skive’ and that’s true.

“We had a good time really, we were always attached to the band and went on a lot of band shows.”

Both the brothers have been awarded a Royal British Legion branch certificate for their long service.

However, a spelling mistake on Mr Porrill’s certificate thanked him for his service as “branch burglar”.

Former butcher Mr Porrill said: “I support the British Legion, because if something happens, it helps them out, or if someone has left kids, they give them some money.”

Mr Sullivan, who worked as a bus driver for Worth’s of Enstone, added: “Supporting the Poppy Appeal is something you should do.

“As long as I can do it, I will do.

“You should support it as it helps all of those soldiers – a lot of people need money and help.”

The Charlbury Remembrance Day Parade will set off from the Spendlove car park at 2.30pm on Sunday.

It will be followed by a service at St Mary’s Church at 3pm where Mr Sullivan will sound the Last Post and Reveille.

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THE Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal benefits ex-servicemen and women and their families in a number of ways.

Every poppy you buy feeds funds to the RBL to allow it to continue with its charity work.

Services it provides include offering advice on pensions and compensation entitlements, providing funds to ward off temporary cash problems and organising breaks for people who have lost a loved one.

Last year, £31m was collected for the Poppy Appeal. It is estimated that Oxfordshire contributed about £500,000 to that total.

This year’s appeal, which is supported by the Oxford Mail, has an emphasis on the need to help the current generation of service personnel and their families.

For more details of the appeal, see poppy.org.uk