The 'Mad Bagpiper' of D-Day, Normandy, Brit Soldier Bill Millin

Last edited Tue Jun 11, 2019, 01:39 AM - Edit history (1)

Remembering D-Day: Bill Millin, ‘mad piper’ whose unflinching playing stiffened resolve as he landed with British troops amid a hail of enemy fire. The Telegraph, June 5, 2019.



(This obituary has been republished as part of The Telegraph’s commemoration of the 75th anniversary of D-Day).

Piper Bill Millin, who died in 2010 aged 88, was personal piper to Lord Lovat on D-Day and piped the invasion forces on to the shores of France; unarmed apart from the ceremonial dagger in his stocking, he played unflinchingly as men fell all around him. Millin began his apparently suicidal serenade immediately upon jumping from the ramp of the landing craft into the icy water. As the Cameron tartan of his kilt floated to the surface he struck up with Hieland Laddie. He continued even as the man behind him was hit, dropped into the sea and sank.

Once ashore Millin did not run, but walked up and down the beach, blasting out a series of tunes. After Hieland Laddie, Lovat, the commander of 1st Special Service Brigade (1 SSB), raised his voice above the crackle of gunfire and the crump of mortar, and asked for another. Millin strode up and down the water’s edge playing The Road to the Isles. Bodies of the fallen were drifting to and fro in the surf. Soldiers were trying to dig in and, when they heard the pipes, many of them waved and cheered, although one came up to Millin and called him a “mad bastard”.

His worst moments were when he was among the wounded. They wanted medical help and were shocked to see this figure strolling up and down playing the bagpipes. To feel so helpless, Millin said afterwards, was horrifying.



Statue of Bill Millin, 'Piper Bill', at Sword Beach Normandy.

For many other soldiers, however, the piper provided a unique boost to morale. “I shall never forget hearing the skirl of Bill Millin’s pipes,” said one, Tom Duncan, many years later. “It is hard to describe the impact it had. It gave us a great lift and increased our determination. As well as the pride we felt, it reminded us of home and why we were there fighting for our lives and those of our loved ones.” When the brigade moved off, Millin was with the group that attacked the rear of Ouistreham. After the capture of the town, he went with Lovat towards Bénouville, piping along the road...

More, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2019/06/05/remembering-d-day-bill-millin-mad-piper-whose-unflinching-playing/




Brit Bill Millin plays his pipes for his fellow soldiers in 1944.

Wiki. Millin (1922-2010) is best remembered for playing the pipes whilst under fire during the D-Day landing in Normandy. Pipers had traditionally been used in battle by Scottish and Irish soldiers. However, the use of bagpipes was restricted to rear areas by the time of the Second World War by the British Army. Lovat, nevertheless, ignored these orders and ordered Millin, then aged 21, to play. When Private Millin demurred, citing the regulations, he recalled later, Lord Lovat replied: "Ah, but that’s the English War Office. You and I are both Scottish, and that doesn’t apply." He played "Highland Laddie" "The Road to the Isles" and "All The Blue Bonnets Are Over The Border" as his comrades fell around him on Sword.

>Millin states that he later talked to captured German snipers who claimed they did not shoot at him because they thought he had gone mad..https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Millin