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

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

The half-brothers, who have the same mother, both learnt to play the instrument during stints in the army.

The pair moved to the town at the end of the Second World War, and from 1948, Mr Porrill, now 83, began playing the bugle at the church on an annual basis. In 1978 he handed the baton to Mr Sullivan, now 73, who has since missed only one year due to an operation.

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

He said: “The reason I learnt 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.”

Mr Sullivan, who has ten 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.”

Both the brothers have been awarded a Royal British Legion Branch Certificate. 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 Services, added: “Supporting the Poppy Appeal is something you should do. As long as I can do it, I will do.”

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 3.00pm, where Mr Sullivan will sound the Last Post and Reveille.