Bill Millin: Difference between revisions
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D-Day Landings in 2004, along with his kilt, beret and dirk. |
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These items are still on display at the museum library with photographic archives and looped video telling of Mr Millin’s exploits. |
These items are still on display at the museum library with photographic archives and looped video telling of Mr Millin’s exploits. |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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Revision as of 14:09, 27 August 2010
Bill Millin | |
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 Landing on Sword Beach. Piper Bill Millin is in the foreground; Lord Lovat, on the right of the column, wades through the water. | |
| Nickname(s) | Piper Bill |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/ |  British Army |
| Rank | Private |
| Unit | Highland Light Infantry Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders No. 4 Commando |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
William 'Bill' Millin (14 July 1922 – 17 August 2010[1]), commonly known as Piper Bill, was personal piper to Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat, commander of 1 Special Service Brigade at D-Day.
Biography
He was born on 14 July 1922. Millin is best remembered for playing the pipes whilst under fire during the D-Day landing in Normandy.[2] Pipers had traditionally been used in battle by Scottish and Irish soldiers[3] however the use of bagpipes was restricted to rear areas by the time of the Second World War by the British Army. Lovat, however, ignored these orders and ordered Millin, 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 "Hielan' Laddie" and "The Road to the Isles" as his comrades fell around him on Sword Beach.[1] Millin states that he talked to German gunners who claimed they didn't shoot him because they thought he was crazy.
This action was portrayed in the 1962 film The Longest Day.[2] Millin was portrayed by Pipe Major Leslie de Laspee, the official piper to the Queen Mother in 1961.[4]
Millin's original bagpipe is exhibited at the Memorial Museum of Pegasus Bridge in Ranville, France.
French fundraisers have been trying to raise £80,000 to erect a statue of Piper Millin at Colleville-Montgomery, a town on Sword Beach, but have been disappointed by only six of the eighty seven donations having come from the UK.[5]
Bill Millin died on 17 August 2010, aged 88 in Devon, England.[1][2] The bagpipes he played on Sword beach are now displayed at Dawlish museum.[6]
References
- ^ a b c "Piper Bill Millin", Telegraph
- ^ a b c "Bill Millin, Scottish D-Day Piper, Dies at 88". New York Times. August 19, 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-20.
Bill Millin, a Scottish bagpiper who played highland tunes as his fellow commandos landed on a Normandy beach on D-Day and lived to see his bravado immortalized in the 1962 film 'The Longest Day,' died on Wednesday in a hospital in the western England county of Devon. He was 88.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Scotland.com - History of Scotland
- ^ "Dawlish D-Day veteran back in Normandy", The Herald, June 6, 2009,
- ^ French condemn 'mean' British over memorial, Daily Telegraph 4 June 2010
- ^ name=Quote Mavis Stuckey.Dawlsh Museum Curator.Western Morning News.date=August 18,2010.
External links
- Bill Millin talks about the landing on Sword Beach
- BBC News, Accessed 19 November 2009
- Pegasus Archive's page on Bill Millin
 | This biographical article related to the British Army is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
  | This Scottish biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- ^ Mr Millin presented his pipes to Dawlish Museum prior to the 60th anniversary of the D-Day Landings in 2004, along with his kilt, beret and dirk. These items are still on display at the museum library with photographic archives and looped video telling of Mr Millin’s exploits. Dawlish gazette.Wednesday August 25th 2010.http://www.dawlishnewspapers.co.uk/news.cfm?id=29628&headline='A%20true%20British%20hero'