D-Day - Bill Millin, The Commando Piper

Commandos of the 1st Special Service Brigade landing on 'Queen Red' Beach on D-Day. The Brigade commander, Brigadier, the Lord Lovat DSO, MC, can be seen striding through the water to the right of the column of men. The figure nearest the camera is Bill Millin, the brigadiers’ piper. Years later Bill Millin recalled the events surrounding the iconic image:

‘Lord Lovat was on the next ramp. There were two ramps at the front of the landing craft. I was up on my one and he was up on his one. He jumped into the water. So, I waited till he got in, because he was over six feet tall, to see what depth it was, and someone came up on to his empty ramp. Well, he was immediately shot. A piece of shrapnel or a bullet in the face and he fell and sank.

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Well, I jumped in pretty smart then. My kilt floated to the surface and the shock of the freezing cold water knocked all feelings of sickness from me and I felt great. I was so relieved of getting off that boat after all night being violently sick. I struck up the pipes and paddled through the surf playing Hieland Laddie, and Lord Lovat turned round and looked at me.

When I finished, Lovat asked for another tune. Well, when I looked round, the noise and people lying about shouting and the smoke, the crump of mortars, I said to myself, well, you must be joking surely!

He said, "What was that? Would you mind giving us a tune?"

"Well, what tune would you like, Sir? How about The Road to the Isles? Now, would you want me to walk up and down, Sir?"

"Yes. That would be nice. Yes, walk up and down."

Well, there was the water's edge. Just about a few feet up on the beach I walked along that part. I could see people lying face down in the water going back and forwards with the surf. Others to my left were trying to dig in just off the beach. A low wall, and they were trying to dig in there. It was very difficult for them trying to dig in the sand.

Yet when they heard the pipes, some of them stopped what they were doing and waved their arms, cheering. But one came along, he wasn't very pleased, and he called me, "The Mad Bastard". Well, we usually referred to Lovat as a mad bastard, this was the first time I had heard it referred to me!’