"One day in May 1944, Lord Lovat told me he was forming
his own commando brigade, and would like me to join and play
the pipes. At that time the War Office had banned pipers in
action. Lovat told me he was not bothered about the War Office
and that I would be the only piper playing at Normandy. I took
it as an honour.''
"Everyone liked Lord Lovat, he was a typical aristocrat
who would walk calmly with his head held high while all the
rest of us would be ducking and diving to avoid shells.''
"We were the first out of our troop to reach the shore.
The ramps on the boat went down and as we stepped off . Lovat
ordered me to play 'Highland Laddie.' I started playing as soon
as I touched the water. Whenever I hear that song I remember
walking through the surf.''
Lovat's
Piper
Piper Audio Clip
Warning: This clip contains
colourful language!
Sword Beach Memorial
A soldier describes the impact
of hearing the pipes:
"...above all that, I shall never forget hearing the skirl
of Bill Millin's pipes. 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"
Continued...
"Wounded men were shocked to see me. They had been expecting
to see a doctor or some kind of medical help. Instead they
saw me in my kilt and playing the bagpipes. It was horrifying,
as I felt so helpless.
There was a small road leading off the beach and ten or twelve
were lying wounded at its entrance. Some of them said: 'Are
the medics here, Jock? 'I told them not to worry: the doctors
would be coming. I took shelter behind a low wall and watched
as a flail tank made its way towards the road and the wounded
men. I quickly got up and waved my hands frantically over
my head, hoping to get the attention of the commander whose
steel hat was just visible out of the top of the tank. He
seemed not to notice and went straight ahead over the top
of the wounded soldiers. It was very traumatic watching those
men die.
I dashed up to Lord Lovat and he asked me to play 'Road to
the Isles' up and down the beach. There was no time to feel
any real emotion. Normandy was a most upsetting campaign because
there were so many casualties. It was a killing ground.''
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