Blue Bonnets is a nice 6/8 tune, and some other 6/8s that are very nice for marching are Cock of the North and Atholl Highlanders. The longest Day, it was Black Bear, not Blue Bonnets. JamesL is correct about the tune played in When they are well tuned, even a beginning piper can sound good. For me, they are at their worst when badly tuned. I guess music in general is like that, and pipes can be a musical instrument, as well as an instrument of war. ![]() The movie Juyeux Noel is about Christmas Eve, 1914. There's no question about the power of the pipes to arouse spirit, in many different ways. I have a feeling that there was a piper in the Battle of Kohima too. Pipes were also played on the battlefield at El Alamein and during the crossing of the Rhine. Returning to WW2: Dieppe and Normandy have already been mentioned. (Quotes from VC citation, London Gazette Oct 22nd 1918) He has never been seen since and death has been presumed accordingly owing to lapse of time." "Although strongly urged not to do so, he insisted on returning to recover his pipes. ![]() Inspired by his splendid example the company rushed the wire with such fury and determination that the obstacle was overcome and the position captured." Having survived this and a subsequent skirmish, Richardson was accompanying a wounded comrade and some prisoners to the rear when, having gone about 200 yards, he realised that he had forgotten his pipes and turned back. ![]() Richardson "strode up and down outside the wire, playing his pipes with the greatest coolness. He had been given permission by his CO to accompany his regiment (the Manitoba Regt) in an attack, but they encountered heavy fire and were stopped at "strong wire", sustaining heavy casualties. This was not always observed though: a Canadian piper called James Richardson won a posthumous VC for playing in action in 1916. From (I believe) mid-1915 they were required to remain in the trenches when their regiment went over the top. This was because, during the early months of the Great War, there had been a horrifying toll of pipers who were leading attacks across open ground: inevitably burdened by the heavy pipes they were a prime target. As I understand it, the playing of the pipes during WW2 on the field of battle was actually against military regulations and it happened on only a few occasions.
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