Bugle, G

Date: 1940 ca.

Place Made:Japan, Asia

Serial No: none

Signednone

MarkingsStamped on bell garland: NICK CRABB [owner’s identification]

DescriptionBrass, triple loop, tuning slide at mouthpipe.

This trumpet-type instrument is known as military bugle in the United States. It is significant because of its documented history. It was captured by a US Marine in Saipan in 1944 during the World War II conflict with Japan.

DimensionsHeight: 289 mm
Tube length: 1638 mm
Bore diameter: 11.4 mm
Bell diameter: ca. 115 mm

ProvenanceIn 1944, U.S. Marines captured Saipan, one of the strategic islands of the Mariannas group in the Pacific, formerly held by the Japanese. Among the items retrieved from the battlefield was this Japanese bugle. According to Lieutenant Eugene N. Crabb, Communications Officer aboard a military evacuation transport ship, “The event was not one of joy since the casualties by both the Japanese and the U.S. Marines were horrendous in the fight to occupy Saipan. The souvenirs were somber reminders of the all too recent battle for the island. I put the bugle in my sea bag and soon forgot about it. When the war was over and I returned to civilian life, the bugle was out of sight and mind. Years later, my son discovered it. Now in the year 2000, I find that the bugle has historical interest and is a genuine musical instrument used by the Japanese armed forces in World War II.”

Terms

Bugle

Credit Line: Gift of Eugene N. Crabb, 2000

Not on view

Published ReferencesKlaus, Sabine Katharina. Trumpets and Other High Brass: A History Inspired by the Joe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection. Volume 1: Instruments of the Single Harmonic Series (Vermillion, SD: National Music Museum, 2012), pp. 225 and 263.

Object number: 09941