Bill Millin, Scottish D-Day Piper, Dies at 88

NYT ^ | 8/19/10 | JOHN F. BURNS

[Kartographer]

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.

[WOBBLY BOB]

RIP

[NappyOne]

“Immortalized in the 1962 film, ‘The Longest Day’”

“Yea, it takes and Irishman to play the pipes…” — Pvt Flanagan.

Love that film and that line, especially when considering the actor who uttered it.

I am glad to know this about Bill Millin, and that his part was not just added to the movie in order to provide comic relief.

The NappyOne

[Kartographer]

"He's dead. I'm crippled. You're lost. Do you suppose it's always like that? I mean war."

[Sigurdrifta]

Two names come to mind..

Bill Millin

Kenny MacAskill

I am an American, but my grandmother was very Scottish.

How far we Scots have fallen.

[sionnsar]

Pipes and Drums of FreeRepublic ping!

This is an ultra-low-volume ping list (typically weeks to months between pings, for matters related to Highland bagpipes and Scotland).
FReepmail sionnsar if you want on or off this list.

Going to the Games? Organize a Clan FReeper get-together!

[FourPeas]

May Mr. Millin rest in peace.

[The_Media_never_lie]

RIP brave warrior!

I'll bet he could, in his prime, drive many a bold lad from his perch with those pipes! As a fiddler, glad I don't have to contend with a piper. A banjo player with a resonator is bad enough!

[The_Media_never_lie]

How far we Scots have fallen.

The loss of a couple of generations of the best alpha males (WW1 & WW2) surely didn't help. If we allow unfettered Islamic emigration here, we will eventually face the same fate as Londonistan.

[Rannug]

I remember “Sgt. MacKenzie” from the movie “We were Soldiers Once”.
I cannot find the words that describe the way I felt again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq3a_7242Lc&feature=related

[6323cd]

The Flowers of the Forest

Requiescat in pacem.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Perdogg.

lived to see his bravado immortalized in the 1962 film "The Longest Day"

Good idea for something to watch tonight. Speaking of claims for "longest", that movie... ;') May be the most fun war picture ever made. Zanuck found his budget cut at a crucial time, due to "Cleopatra" (allegedly, still, in real dollars the most expensive movie ever made), went to the Fox board meeting, and left it the head of the studio for the second time in his life. He finished both movies ("Cleopatra" looks great on screen, but the script and acting are horrible), and revived the studio's fortunes with "Planet of the Apes" a few years later.

• A Scottish bagpiper who played men into battle during World War II has died in Devon

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• [from 2003] FReeper Foxhole Remembers Cantigny -- Do you remember the story of Bill Millin of the 51st Highlanders? Forty years ago today, British troops were pinned down near a bridge, waiting desperately for help. Suddenly, they heard the sound of bagpipes, and some thought they were dreaming. Well, they weren't. They looked up and saw Bill Millin with his bagpipes, leading the reinforcements and ignoring the smack of the bullets into the ground around him. Lord Lovat was with him -- Lord Lovat of Scotland, who calmly announced when he got to the bridge, "Sorry I'm a few minutes late," as if he'd been delayed by a traffic jam, when in truth he'd just come from the bloody fighting on Sword Beach, which he and his men had just taken.

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Uh, 39 years?

[historymandave]

It was nice to see Sean Connery in the clip from “The Longest Day.”

Thank you for posting!

[Professional Engineer]

What better way to invade than by playing an ancient terror weapon!

[yarddog]

I recall reading about the battle of El Alamaein. I can’t remember the outfit for certain but it was something like the 54th Highlanders who first broke through the German lines.

Then reading of a guy later walking around the battle site and all the dead soldiers. I kept thinking, “what a waste fine young men” War brings out the best in many but it also wastes some of the finest. Those young brave men will never live to Father children to carry on that bravery.