Absinthe & Cookies (a little bit bitter, a little bit sweet): The Mad Piper

The Mad Piper:

From Absinthe & Cookies is an astonishing story that I'm stunned I've never heard before:

Bill Millin, 81, found fame as the soldier who piped Lord Lovat's 1 Commando Brigade ashore during the landings at Sword Beach in Normandy on 6 June, 1944.... Mr Millin was labelled the "Mad Piper" by German troops who were captured defending the Normandy beaches. Lord Lovat told him to ignore army orders banning the playing of bagpipes in battle for fear that the pipers would be picked off by the enemy. Wearing his kilt, he marched up and down Sword Beach playing Highland Laddie as German bullets rained down around him.

I've seen almost all of The Longest Day, but only in snatches and bits. Apparently I managed to miss one of the best parts.

It reminds me that it's been almost a year ago that The Black Watch took Basra. Grim's Hall celebrated the use of the bagpipes at that time:

This battle also saw, for the first time in the war, the British army using its most feared and awesome weapon.

As he began to play, the sound of Scotland the Brave drifted across the bridge towards the city, competing with the clatter of rotor blades as four Cobra helicopters raced in to join the attack.

Hat tip: Blackfive.