Piper’s tribute to WWII soldiers
By Lisa Ramsden
THE haunting sounds of the bagpipes could be heard across Kilkeel as part of the 80th anniversary of D-Day, which takes place in June.
At 8am on Sunday, Piper David Hanna MBE, a member of Altnaveigh Memorial Pipe Band, played a rendition of ‘Highland Laddie’ in tribute to the brave soldiers from Northern Ireland and others who gave service and sacrifice on the beaches of Normandy on the 6th of June, 1944.
Mr Hanna, who was welcomed to the town by members of the Schomberg Society, also played in Newry, Rathfriland and Bessbrook in recent days.
The idea for these performances came about as a tribute to a young Scottish soldier who defied Army rules and played his bagpipes as he led the 1st Commando Brigade ashore on the beaches of Normandy as part of the 1944 D-Day landings.
Through a hailstorm of bullets and the heart-wrenching descent of fallen comrades he played on, pressing forward with unwavering resolve.
In 1944 Allied forces mounted the largest amphibious invasion the world has ever witnessed. Operation Overlord, D-Day, saw over 5,000 ships and landing craft set down more than 150,000 troops on the five Normandy beaches that would bring about the liberation of north-west Europe from Nazi occupation.
The story of piper Bill Millin is the stuff of boys’ own legend. Born in Canada to Scottish parents, Bill served in several regiments before he joined the Commandos and became the 1st Special Service Brigade’s own piper, commanded by Lord Lovat.
During Sunday’s event in Kilkeel, which took place at the town’s war memorial, there was an act of remembrance at the grave of Rifleman Leslie Girvan, at the rear of Mourne Presbyterian Church. He died on the 5th of June 1944, the day before D-Day.
Speaking afterwards, a spokeswoman for The Schomberg Society said the group was “honoured to have been asked to facilitate” Sunday’s proceedings as part of the D-Day commemorations.
She added that Mr Hanna had visited “a number of historic locations” in the Newry and Mourne area in recent days “to honour the memory of the Northern Ireland D-Day heroes as part of a nationwide tribute to those who fell at the D-Day Landings on 6th June 1944.”
“David is playing the pipers tune, the Highland Laddie, each morning at 8am at several locations in remembrance of Piper Bill Millin who bravely piped ashore his unit at the Normandy Landings.
“We also felt it would be very appropriate at this time to remember local Rifleman Leslie Girvan of the Royal Ulster Rifles, who lost his life on the 5th of June 1944 during the preparations for the D-Day Landings.
“He is buried and remembered at the rear of Mourne Presbyterian Church.”
She concluded: “Many thanks to David for piping a lament as we laid a poppy cross in memory of Rifleman Leslie Girvan from Kilkeel.”
