Basil King and Peter Wilson tossed up to see who should sound the last post and who should sound the reveille during the St Paul’s Cathedral funeral service for Sir Winston Churchill on 30 January 1965. Basil King lost and had to sound the longer and more difficult reveille that followed the two minutes silence.
“It seemed the longest two minutes ever. But I played it without a cracked note. We were standing above the west door. Richard Dimbleby was sitting nearby for the commentary and at the end he gave me a thumbs up.”
Basil King served 24 years in the army – about 18 of them overseas. He now lives with his wife in Burbage – and they have two daughters, four grandchildren and three great grandchildren.
Since leaving the army he has worked in Marlborough College’s estate department – and then taught trumpet at the College and for some years was a peripatetic teacher of the trumpet at St John’s School. He still plays the trumpet – more of that later.
In January 1965, Basil King was serving in Germany with the Queen’s Royal Irish Hussars – Churchill was the regiment’s Colonel in Chief and was referred to as the ‘greatest Hussar of all time’. A few days before Churchill died, King was playing football when he was summoned to see the Colonel – he was not even allowed time to change.
“It immediately went through my mind that that something may be wrong at home. You don’t very often get asked by the Colonel to sit down!” He was told he would be travelling to London for Churchill’s funeral – and got a letter with all the travel details that he had to burn.
He went with eight others from the regiment – men who would stand guard at the lying in state and later carry his coffin. When they arrived at Harwich – pretending to be some sort of sports team – the army bus driver announced: “Churchill died this morning.”
“It never leaves your memory. On the day we arrived at eight in the morning and marched up Ludgate Hill to the St Paul’s. It was perishingly cold – and the crowds were huge. Last week’s anniversary brought back a lot of memories.”
He did not sound the reveille on a bugle, but on a long cavalry trumpet. Like a bugle it has no valves – “It’s all done with the lips.” The last post was sounded from the whispering gallery and reveille from above the west door – by the main entrance.
It was there he stood more recently to be interviewed by Jeremy Paxman for the recent BBC television programme about the funeral. The BBC had asked whether he knew where they could find Peter Wilson who had served with the Horse Guards.
“We’ve been exchanging Christmas cards ever since 1965 – so I put them onto Peter. And it was really good to meet him again at St Paul’s with Jeremy Paxman.”
Brought up in Yorkshire, Basil left school at 14 and started an apprenticeship as a cooper making wooden barrels with the John Smith’s brewery at Tadcaster: “But I soon gave it up and joined the army – and that’s where I learnt my music.”
“I didn’t agree with Churchill’s politics – he was gentry – the sort that thinks the world belongs to them. But he was a great leader – there was no one else during the war – if we hadn’t had him…well.”
He still plays trumpet – now with the very well known Newbury based Apollo Big Band. They rehearse every week and play concerts for charity about once a month – and sometimes they play at dances – you can hear them play via their website.
Besides the trumpet – he still plays with the College band – Basil plays golf at Upavon “…when it’s nice weather.” His family keeps him busy too – his smart ‘phone is full of great photos of his family including the latest great grandson.
He will turn 83 at the end of the month: “But I’m a 29 February birthday so I suppose I’m really only twenty or so!”