- Bill Millin
Bill Millin, commonly known as Piper Bill, was personal piper to Lord Lovat, commander of
1 Special Service Brigade atD-Day .Millin is most famous for being one of the few Fact|date=July 2007 pipers to play during a World War II battle. Pipers had traditionally led Scottish troops into battle [ [http://www.scotland.com/culture/history/ Scotland.com - History of Scotland] ] however the death toll among pipers in World War I was so high that the practice was banned by the British high command. Lord Lovat, however, ignored these orders and Millin, aged 21, played "
Hielan' Laddie " and "The Road to the Isles " as his comrades fell around him onSword Beach [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3760177.stm BBC News - Scotland's veterans remember D-Day] ] . As German soldiers later attested, they did not target Millin because they believed him to be mad. [ [http://www.buckinghamcovers.com/shop/signer.lasso?signer_id=52&-session=shopper:42F941C1058b325F37ovH162B5B7 Buckingham Covers - About our signer] ] [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3762163.stm BBC News - Scotland's role in D-Day landings] ]This action was portrayed in the 1962 film "The Longest Day". It is a common misconception that Millin played himself; the actor was in fact
Pipe Major Leslie de Laspee , the official piper to theQueen Mother in 1961. In an interview during the making of the film, Lord Lovat claimed that this was because "my old piper works in a bar in Glasgow now, I believe, and is too fat to play the part." [cite web|url = http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/bill_millin.htm|title = Piper Bill Millin|accessdate = 2007-11-01|publisher = The Pegasus Archive] [cite web|url = http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=81509|title = D-Day Piper - Bill Millin|accessdate = 2007-11-01|date =2006-08-03 |publisher = The Miniatures Page]References
External links
*Bill Millin talks about the landing on Sword Beach: [http://www.ww2inthehighlands.co.uk/dday/lovatspiper.htm]
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