![]() On that fateful day, he was personal piper to Brigadier Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat, commander of 1 Special Service Brigade. Twenty-one year-old Private Bill Millin, “The Mad Piper of D-Day.” He was assigned to the Highland Light Infantry, Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders, No. Of all those thousands of scared kids, there was one that stood out from most of the rest. Some made it off the beach that day, and some never even made it out of the water onto dry land. Thousands of scared kids racing though red-stained sea water onto red-stained sand. June 6 marks the anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of Normandy, and the beginning of the end for World War II. Such a permanent remembrance is fitting for a man who was indeed larger than life in 1944.Submitted by Charlton Stanley (Otteray Scribe) guest blogger Pvt. In 2013, a statue of the famed D-Day piper was unveiled near the beach where he landed long ago. Piper Bill, as he was affectionately known, passed away in a nursing home in Dawlish, Devon, in 2010 at the age of 88. In 1995, he played the bagpipes at Lord Lovat’s funeral. Following his retirement in 1988, he returned to Normandy several times. ![]() For the next 26 years, he worked at Langdon Hospital, Dawlish. He returned to Britain and worked on Lovat’s estate for a time, performed with a theater company, and trained as a psychiatric nurse. Millin participated in operations in Holland and ended the war in the town of Lubeck, Germany. Later, he remembered, “It seemed like a very long bridge.” Knowing that the span was under sniper fire, he again stepped forward. Once they had reached Pegasus Bridge, Lovat ordered the piper to lead the men across. One officer advised the piper to run, but Millin played “Blue Bonnets Over the Border” and walked ahead at a normal pace. Once inside the town, Millin was asked to play for the men of 6 Commando as they advanced down the main street. When two soldiers confirmed that the enemy soldier was dead, Lovat leaned toward Millin and said, “Right Piper, start the pipes again.” On the road to the village of Benouville near Pegasus Bridge, snipers fired at the British troops, and Lovat himself killed one of the Germans. 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.” “It Seemed Like a Very Long Bridge”Īccording to Telegraph Media Group, Millin was called upon several additional times to raise the morale of the men and steady their nerves. It gave us a great lift and increased our determination. It is hard to describe the impact it had. People were dying around him and he was in the most alarming situation, so he must have been a very cool young fellow.”Īnother D-Day veteran, Tom Duncan, acknowledged, “I shall never forget hearing the skirl of Bill Millin’s pipes. It was in the heat of battle, there was a lot of gunfire, and he was unarmed except for his pipes and his dirk. Bill marched boldly with his pipes in a situation that was quite unbelievable. I thought I had imagined them, and it wasn’t until later that I realized I really had heard them. “Among all the noise and bedlam going on I could hear bagpipes. “He was what we would nowadays call a celebrity,” Ken Sturdy, a 90-year-old Royal Navy veteran of D-Day and chairman of the Torbay and South Devon Normandy Veterans Association, told Guardian News and Media. Bill Millin playing his signature bagpipe. Several captured German soldiers later stated that they had not shot at Millin because they believed he had lost his mind. When they reached the beach, the piper did his duty, miraculously remaining unhurt. His pipes began to blare as the invasion armada left port in England, and those soldiers who heard the music raised a cheer. On D-Day, the only weapon Millin carried was a ceremonial dirk tucked into his stocking. You and I are both Scottish and that doesn’t apply.” When Millin pointed out that fact, Lovat replied, “Ah, but that is the English War Office. Following World War I, the British Army had banned pipers from the battlefield due to fearful casualties. Instead, Lovat did persuade him to become the commander’s personal piper. ![]() When he was offered a position on Lovat’s staff, he refused. Millin had trained as a commando at Achnacarry and by chance met Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat and commander of the 1st Special Service Brigade. The man behind him was hit, but Bill was undeterred. To the surprise of many, the incident actually occurred.Īt the age of 21, Private Bill Millin played the bagpipes on Sword Beach, walking along and skirling “Heilan’ Laddie” as bullets splashed into the water around him. Truth is often, as it turns out, stranger than fiction. The image of the Scottish piper standing erect under fire was commemorated in the film The Longest Day nearly two decades after the D-Day landings of June 6, 1944.
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