Behind the Bugle

By Brooke Belliveau (former Editor Citoyen Borden Citizen November 4, 2016)

Often within the community, we will come across a face that we recognize for one reason or another. Sergeant (Ret’d) Anthony Beresford, CD, may be one of those faces. It is because he is present at countless events and ceremonies at CFB Borden and the surrounding communities: annually for Peacekeeper’s Day and Remembrance Day, at various flag raisings, and recently at many Centennial events. Beresford is our bugler, an integral part of our community.

Beresford had a full, and colourful career with the Canadian Armed Forces, which began as sea cadet, and then shortly after, the Naval Reserves.

“Every summer I’d go away and come back saying, ‘I’m going to join the Navy’, and my parents would say, ‘well, finish school first,’” laughs Beresford. Three years later, he did just that.

Beresford joined the Navy as a Performance Oriented Electronic Technician before switching gears to train as an Aircraft Electrician with the Royal Canadian Air Force. In this role, Beresford had the opportunity to work on the Aurora aircraft when it first came into operation, in Greenwood, NS. After three years in this role, he made the decision to take Industrial Motor Control at St. Clair College in Windsor, continuing to serve as a Reservist. Completing the education, he returned to the Regular Force, serving in various capacities as a Fire Systems Technician in Petawawa, 2RCR in Gagetown, and then at Borden as a Regimental Training Instructor.

In 1992, while on a UN tour in Cambodia, Beresford met Petra Kraft, a German nurse. A night of music brought them together.

“We were actually at the Hard Rock Cafe and she’d had a really bad night so she’d gone out with some of her comrades. We talked and laughed. It was a great evening with everyone singing their folk songs, like Barrett’s Privateers for us,” says Beresford. Little did he know that years later, they would reconnect over Facebook and kindle a partnership.

In 2008, Beresford’s path was diverted again when was given a Medical Release from the Canadian Armed Forces. “Parts of me are older than the rest of me now,” he laughs. However, that did not stop Beresford from being involved on Base.

Beresford’s family through the generations, are musicians. “All musicians and all in the service,” explains Beresford. His dad played cornet, and was a bugler in the cadet program. His grandfather was in the Essex Scottish Brass Band, before and during the early days of WWII. Beresford himself started bugling at the age of 13 while in the Sea Cadets.

“A bugler traditionally has a set of duties that are set to the quarter guards. We had to learn certain calls for colours going up and coming down, general salute for officers, markers call. Our job was to amplify the orders,” explains Beresford, reinforcing that there is more to the job then simply playing music.

“I believe in being a part of the community,” he says. “So I was on mess committees, and I did the bugling for the military families; the buglers are always around.”

As part of the Borden community, Beresford will leave his mark through his music and his involvement with the Bugler statue, a part of CFB Borden’s Legacy Monument. He helped the artist, Marlene Hilton Moore, to design an accurate portrayal of a bugler. “When the soil was brought back from Vimy, bringing home those that built the base, they have the bugler there with them,” he explained. “The wall represents the Honour Roll, and the bugler is there to bring them home.”