evening from the blood-stained slopes of Hill 70, but the battalions
were played in by their own pipers. The 9th Black Watch numbered
only 100 of all ranks and one piper; the 7th Cameron pipers were
practically annihilated, the 8th Seaforths lost ten, and others
suffered in similar degree.
It is a far cry from Hill 70 to Scaur Donald, and they were only
regimental pipers, but to these brave men the words of the old song
are surely applicable.
"There let him rest in the lap of Scaur Donald,
The wind for his watcher, the mist for his shroud,
Where the green and the grey moss shall weave their wild tartan,
A covering meet for a chieftain so proud."
In the fighting subsidiary to the main action of Loos, at Mauquissart
and in the neighbourhood of Neuve Chapelle, the 2nd Black Watch
pipers distinguished themselves greatly. They played their companies
into and beyond the first line of German trenches. One of them, A.
Macdonald, stood playing on the German parapet while the position was
being cleared, and then on, through a hurricane of fire, over three
lines of trenches, until dangerously wounded. For this he was given
the D.C.M.
Three others, J. Galloway, R. Johnstone and David Armit, did
precisely the same; and yet another, David Simpson, behaved with such
gallantry that he also came to be known as "the Piper of Loos," the
third of the brave trio to earn that honourable title. He had already
played over three lines of German trenches, and was leading towards
the fourth when he was killed. Johnstone, on this occasion, played
till he fell gassed.
Throughout the long succession of actions which punctuated the Somme
operations in 1916, the pipes continued to be much in evidence,
and references to them and to their effect upon the men during
that bloody fighting are frequent in the contemporary reports of
observers, and in private letters subsequently published. French
reports also have placed on record their admiration for the company
pipers of Scottish regiments. "Some of the finest work," writes one
well-known French military writer, "was accomplished at the very
outset by the Highlanders, who carried the trenches in lightning
fashion, urged on by the inspiriting music of their pipes."
The fighting at Loos had shown, on a comparatively small scale,
that the pipes, when freed from the restrictions placed upon their
employment by the exigencies of trench warfare, were still capable
of fulfilling their historic _rôle_ in open fighting The gallantry
of the pipers at Hulluch and Hill 70 was worthy of the units they
led, and established a record which was hard to beat; but for months
on end their great achievements were emulated by those of their
successors in the new armies which had poured into the field.
The opening attack on the 1st July affords numerous examples of
pipers playing their companies into action, and a few may be taken as
representative of the whole.
In the attack by the 32nd Division the 17th H.L.I, succeeded, with a
loss of over 500 men, in capturing and holding part of the Leipzig
redoubt, though unsupported for a considerable time. The Commanding
Officer writes:
"I told the Pipe Major to play; he at once responded, getting into a
small hollow, and playing and greatly heartening the men as they lay
there hanging on to the captured position. Pipe Major Gilbert showed
a total disregard of danger and played as if he were on a route
march. For this action he obtained the Military Medal."
In the advance on Mametz on the same day the 2nd Gordons were led by
their company pipers. An officer of an English battalion in the 20th
Brigade describes how "we heard their pipes play these fellows over.
It sounded grand against the noise of shells, machine guns and rifle
fire. I shall never forget them."
The same thing occurred later when the battalion attacked the
orchards of Ginchy. On both occasions the casualties were very heavy.
[Illustration: PIPER DANIEL LAIDLAW, V.C., 7TH KING'S OWN SCOTTISH
BORDERERS
AT LOOS
_From the Drawing by Louis Weirter, R.B.A._]
At Fricourt Pipe Major David Anderson of the 15th Royal Scots stood
out in front of the battalion until he was wounded, and played across
shell-beaten ground under heavy fire. He was awarded the Croix de
Guerre.
The two battalions of Tyneside Scottish were similarly played to
their attack on La Boiselle and the ridge in front of it on the
opening day of the battle of the Somme. A correspondent who was
present says:
"The Tynesiders were on our right, and, as they got the signal to
advance, I saw a piper--I think he was the Pipe Major--jump out
of the trench and march straight towards the German lines. The
tremendous rattle of machine-gun and rifle fire completely drowned
the sound of his pipes, but he was obviously playing as though he
would burst the bag, and, faintly through the roar of battle, we
heard the mighty cheer his comrades gave as they swarmed after him.
How he escaped I can't understand, for the ground was literally
ploughed up by the hail of bullets; but he bore a charmed life, and
the last glimpse I had of him as we, too, dashed out showed him still
marching erect, playing on regardless of the flying bullets and of
the men dropping all round him."
Of the two battalions 10 pipers were killed and 5 wounded, and Pipe
Major Wilson and Piper G. Taylor both got the Military Medal. Many
of these pipers, having played their companies up to the German
trenches, took an active part in the fighting as bombers.
Again, at Longueval on 14th July, regimental pipers were conspicuous.
As the 26th Brigade--8th Black Watch, 10th Argylls, 9th Seaforths,
and 5th Camerons--commenced their advance, they were exposed to
frontal and enfilading machine-gun fire, and shrapnel mowed them
down; but their pipers led the way, and the men followed cheering and
shouting.
"Where we were the brunt of the action fell on two New Army
battalions of historic Highland regiments. Their advance was one
of the most magnificent sights I have ever seen. They left their
trenches at dawn, and a torrent of bullets met them. They answered
immediately--with the shrill music of the pipes, and, indifferent
apparently to the chaos around them, pushed steadily on towards their
objective."
Describing the attack by the 10th Argylls, another observer writes:
"We came under a blistering hot fire, but the men never hesitated. In
the middle of it all the pipes struck up "The Campbells are coming,"
and that made victory a certainty for us. We felt that whatever
obstacles there barred our path they had to be overcome.... The
last fight was the worst of all. It was at the extreme end of the
village, where the enemy had possession of some ruined houses. They
had a clear line of fire in all directions, and we were met with a
murderous hail of fire. For a moment the men wavered. I doubted if
they were equal to it. Then a piper sprang forward, and the strains
broke out once more. The attacking line steadied and dashed at the
last stronghold of the Huns. Their line snapped under our onslaught."
On this occasion the Pipe Major, Aitken, a man of sixty, was awarded
the Distinguished Conduct Medal. One of the pipers referred to in the
above incident was James Dall, and his Commanding Officer considers
his action in playing the regimental march at this juncture was
the means of his company gaining their objective; the other was D.
Wilson, who was also mentioned in despatches with Dall.
Of the attack by the 9th Seaforths a wounded officer writes:
"We swept on until we finally carried the German trench with a
rousing cheer to the strain of the pipes. The heroism of the pipers
was splendid. In spite of murderous fire they kept playing on. At one
moment, when the fire was so terrific it looked as if the attack must
break down, one of the pipers dashed forward and started playing. The
change could be felt at once, the sorely pressed men gave a mighty
cheer and dashed forward with new zeal."
North of Longueval the 1st Gordons made a furious attack, on the 18th
July, and on this occasion they were led by their pipers.
"They were out of sight over the parapet, but we could hear at
intervals their shouts of 'Scotland for ever!' and the faint strains
of the pipes. Then we saw them reappear, and then came prisoners."
Similar accounts were given of the 6th and 7th Gordons. In the 6th
Gordons Piper Charles Thomson had his arm blown off while playing.
"The gallantry of these men who wear the tartans of the old Scottish
clans would seem wonderful if it were not habitual with them. Their
first dash for Longueval was one of the finest exploits of the war.
They were led forward by the pipers, who went with them, not only
towards the German lines, but across them and into the thick of the
battle.... In that September fighting the pipe major of a Gordon
battalion played his men forward and then was struck below the knee;
but he would not be touched by a doctor until the others had been
tended. He was a giant of a man and so heavy that no stretcher could
hold him, so they put him in a tarpaulin and carried him back. Then
he had his leg amputated and died."[4]
On the 3rd September the 4th Black Watch were played into action and
had to capture a village. According to an eye-witness:
"It was magnificent to see these men charge up the narrow street
leading to the second barricade. Amid the ruined houses on each side
the enemy were posted. At the moment when it was hottest the strains
of the pipes were heard. The men answered with a cheer and swept
steadily on over the barricade and through the ruins; and the village
was ours."
Of a Seaforth battalion a similar story is told:
"The men simply raced into the storm of bullets ... at last it became
too terrible for any human being to stand against it. The attacking
lines melted away, the men seeking what cover could be found.... It
was here that the pipers of the Seaforths had their chance. They took
it. As the men advanced again to the attack they were cheered on by
the strains of the pipes, which could just be heard. The men dashed
through, clearing out the enemy as they went."
During the attack on Beaumont Hamel in October, as in the earlier
fighting at Thiepval, the pipers of the 15th H.L.I. lost very heavily
when leading their companies.
Such instances of the bravery of pipers and of the stimulus afforded
by the pipes to men in action became matters of almost every-day
occurrence, and, though everyone recognised the tremendous losses
that were the result of their exposure, there were occasions when
those losses were more than compensated for at the time by the
results obtained. Everywhere, at Contalmaison, Martinpuich, Pozières,
Delville Wood, wherever Scottish troops were employed, their pipers
played their historic _rôle_, and, to quote Philip Gibbs, "over the
open battlefields came the music of the Scottish pipes, shrill above
the noise of gunfire."
Nor were the pipers of purely Scottish regiments left to establish
these records of bravery unchallenged. They had keen rivals in
battalions of overseas Scots, notably the South African Scottish and
the Canadians.
During the fighting for Delville Wood in July the South Africans were
torn to pieces by shell fire. The remains of the battalion hung on
for days, losing all their officers but the colonel. When relief came
their pipers headed the blackened and weary warriors out of the wood
of death.
Similarly, the 16th Canadian Scottish pipers maintained the fine
reputation they had earned on the Ypres salient. When the battalion
moved up to the attack on the Regina trench on 8th October, there was
keen competition among the pipers as to who should be allowed to play
them over. "Four pipers, Richardson, Park, M'Kellar and Paul marched
ahead of the battalion with the Commanding Officer for a distance of
half a mile under intense machine-gun fire and escaped scatheless.
They could be heard clearly as they played 'We'll take the good old
way,' and, as they passed, wounded men lying in shell holes raised
themselves on their elbows and cheered them. When they got near
the German line the battalion encountered uncut wire which, being
unusually heavy, took some time to cut. While this was going on Piper
Richardson played up and down outside the wire for twenty minutes in
the face of almost certain death.... Shortly afterwards a company
sergeant major was wounded, and Richardson volunteered to take him
out. After he had gone he remembered he had left his pipes behind. He
left the sergeant major in safety in a shell hole and returned. He
was never heard of again."
This brave man was awarded a posthumous V.C., the second piper to
obtain this coveted distinction. Piper Paul was subsequently given
the Military Medal.
At the capture of the Vimy Ridge on 9th April, 1917, by the
Canadians, the pipers of some of their battalions took a prominent
part. On this occasion the 16th Canadian Scottish repeated what
they had done in previous engagements, their companies being led
by pipers. The pipers concerned were Pipe Major Groat and Pipers
M'Gillivray, M'Nab, M'Allister, M'Kellar and Paul, and they advanced
a distance of over a mile under heavy fire without any casualties.
The Pipe Major was awarded the Military Medal.
Similarly the 25th Canadians had their pipers out in this action,
and Piper Walter Telfer, who went on playing after being severely
wounded, was given the Military Medal; Piper Brand got the same
decoration.
Later on, in the fighting round Arras, a battalion of the Camerons
was played to the attack:
"When the order came our men went over with right good will. It was a
thrilling moment, especially when the pipes struck up the Camerons'
march. I believe it was that music, at that particular moment, which
made it possible for us to go through the ordeal that followed."
Once again "The March of the Cameron Men" was the undoing of an enemy
which had to stand up against the Camerons; and in one part of the
line, when the attack was most furiously resisted, the company piper
changed his tune to the old "Piobaireachd Dhomnuil Duibh"--
"Fast they came, fast they come,
See how they gather!
Wide waves the eagle's plume
Blended with heather."
An account of the few minutes before "zero" by a piper of this
battalion appeared in the _Scottish Field_ ("Pipes of the Misty
Moorland," John M'Gibbon), and affords a good example of the
steadying effect of the pipes in a period of great strain on morale:
"I looked down at the company and I could see they were shaken....
I slung my rifle over my back and took up the pipes; that cheered
them. I played through two or three tunes and then birled up
'Tullochgorum.' They fairly hooched it and stamped time with their
feet. It was close on 'zero' ... when I changed to 'The March of The
Cameron Men.' Our guns burst out with drum fire behind us ... and the
men jumped the parapet like deer and raced over the broken ground at
the double. I kept up 'The Cameron Men.' ... I reached the parapet of
the first enemy trench, when I 'stopped one' with my leg, and down I
went in a heap."
The pipes were again to the front in the fighting for Hill 70 on the
Lens-Loos line in August, 1917. It was surely appropriate enough
that, in the advance over the very country in which so many Scottish
regiments had fought, with only temporary success, two years before,
the pipes should again be at the head of the units which recaptured
those blood-soaked positions.
An officer, describing the advance of the 13th Royal Highlanders of
Canada, says:
"Our advance was resumed and we swarmed over the top at three
different points. Away to the left, which was the objective of our
advance, the strains of the pipes could be heard, and across the
hills, where so many Scottish lads had fallen two years ago, there
burst a loud triumphant cheer as the Canadian Highlanders pressed on
to complete their work."
And so it happened that the gallant lads of the 15th Division were
avenged.
Opportunities for pipers continued during the later fighting in
1917-18. Records of individual companies and platoons show that on
several occasions the pipes encouraged the men to further effort. In
one case near Albert, a company of the Black Watch was temporarily
cut off from its supports after getting into a German trench and
suffered heavily; the men were crushed by superior numbers, and the
prospect was black until the piper, who was present as a stretcher
bearer, started playing. This had a great effect on the company,
which held on to the position until reinforcements arrived.
In the fighting about Albert in August, 1918, several instances
occurred of pipers playing their companies to the attack.
On the whole, however, at this stage in the war, it was being found
increasingly difficult to renew the depleted ranks of the pipe bands,
and most regiments were simply driven to keeping their pipers out of
action as far as possible, except on special occasions. But there
were still enough left of them to lead their units ever further
eastward as the tide of war rolled back.
Incidents frequently occurred showing that their experience of four
years' fighting had not damped the ardour of pipers in action.
On one occasion a 16th Canadian piper went into action playing on top
of a tank, and was killed. At Amiens, the pipers of the 16th and 48th
Highlanders of Canada played the battalions to the attack in August,
1918.
As the German defeat became increasingly apparent and the British
forces drove the enemy before them, pipers again got an opportunity
of leading their companies to the attack. During the fighting about
Albert-Arras in August, 1918, Scottish troops were heavily engaged.
Lieut. Edouard Ross, of the French interpreter staff, describes an
attack by a battalion of the Black Watch in which a detachment with a
piper got into the German trenches; they were all wounded, and their
position was dangerous, but the piper started playing, and the sound
rapidly brought reinforcements, who captured the position.
GALLIPOLI
In Gallipoli, as on the Western front, pipers added lustre to their
reputation; and incidents which occurred to some of them showed that
they were stout fighting men even after their pipes were put out of
action.
The nature of the terrain generally precluded the more spectacular
duty of playing their units to the attack, and the heavy casualties
in the force and the constant demand for men resulted in their being
frequently employed in the ranks; nevertheless, several cases did
occur of company pipers acting as such.
On 12th July, 1916, when the 6th H.L.I. captured three lines of
Turkish trenches, Pipers W. Mackenzie and M'Niven played at the head
of their companies; M'Niven was killed, and Mackenzie, putting down
his pipes, took part in the fighting with a Turkish shovel and did
great execution.
On the same day the pipers of the 7th H.L.I. led their battalion
into action, and only one of them was wounded. Of these men one,
Piper Kenneth MacLennan, was subsequently awarded the Distinguished
Conduct Medal "for playing his pipes during the attack and advancing
with the line after his pipes had been shattered by shrapnel, and
heartening the wounded under fire." Another, Piper Cameron, played
his company over three lines of trenches, with a revolver hanging on
his wrist, and earned a mention in despatches; and Piper Macfarlane
played through two bayonet charges until two of his drones were blown
off by shell fragments.
Writing of the fighting on 12th July, a wounded officer writes:
"The sound of the pipes undoubtedly stirred them on, a piper
belonging to each of the two battalions, 5th Argylls and 7th H.L.I.,
having mounted the parapets of their own trenches, and there in full
danger played their comrades on to victory."
In the attack on Achi Baba there was no opportunity for pipers as
such, though Pipe Major Andrew Buchan played the 4th Royal Scots
"over the top," and, as an officer writes: "fearless of all danger
went along the line and did much to hearten the men." Buchan was
killed.
Of the pipers of the 5th Royal Scots none survived the early days of
the fighting on the Peninsula. An officer of the regiment wrote that
they "gloriously upheld the traditions established long ago." In the
Achi Baba fighting four were killed and four wounded.
Casualties in action and by disease took heavy toll of the pipers of
all these battalions, and after a few months on the Peninsula the
pipe bands temporarily ceased to exist.
Even before the withdrawal of the force from Gallipoli it was
found that so many casualties had occurred among the pipers of the
battalions engaged that the bands were well on the way to extinction.
Consequently, under the able management of Colonel Maclean of
Pennycross a divisional band numbering twelve pipers and six
drummers--all that remained--was organised out of the wreck of the
pipe bands of the 52nd Division. That band, though never sent into
action, individually or collectively played frequently under shell
fire; and "Hey Johnnie Cope" could be heard quite distinctly every
morning in the firing line up to within a few days of the evacuation.
[Illustration: [Music]
THE COMRADES WE LEFT IN GALLIPOLI.
Set by Mrs. A. C. MACDIARMID
From the Pipe Tune Composed by
Col. H. A. C. MACLEAN C.M.G. of Pennycoss.]
The divisional band served on the Desert front in Egypt, and then
accompanied the Division right into Palestine, playing the leading
battalion, the 4th K.O.S.B.'s, over the frontier to "Blue Bonnets
over the Border."
Later on, more pipers and more Scottish units appeared; and so
we find the 2nd London Scottish being played into Jerusalem, and
"Dumbarton's Drums" sounding at the head of the Royal Scots as
they took over the guard on the Holy Sepulchre--as is the right of
"Pontius Pilate's Bodyguard."
SALONIKA
Opportunities for the employment of pipers as such were comparatively
rare in the course of the Salonika operations, for obvious reasons.
At Karadzakot Zir, however, the 1st Royal Scots pipers played their
companies to the attack on the village, and the C.O. reported that,
in his opinion,
"It was largely due to the presence of the pipers with the leading
wave that the enemy evacuated their trenches and retired in disorder."
MESOPOTAMIA
Playing the pipes in the Golden East is a far greater effort than it
is at home, and every piper who has soldiered there knows how the
heat and the dryness of the atmosphere affect his bag and reeds. But
the cult of _piob mhor_ thrives east of Suez, and at least as much
enthusiasm is shown by regiments stationed in India as in a home
station.
And when Scottish troops were called upon to take their part in the
Mesopotamia operations, we find the pipes as prominent a feature in
the fighting as they were on the Western front. At Sheikh Saad on 7th
January, 1916, the 1st Seaforths--the "Reismeid Caber Feidh"--were
played to the attack across absolutely open ground by their Pipe
Major Neil M'Kechnie and other pipers. An officer who was present
describes the incident as follows:
"As we advanced over the dead flat open desert the Turks suddenly
opened a very heavy fire from well concealed trenches at a range of
from 600 to 800 yards. The battalion immediately advanced by rushes
towards the enemy's position in spite of very heavy initial losses.
Foremost among the men was our acting Pipe Major, M'Kechnie, who
immediately struck up the regimental charge or 'onset,' 'Cabar Feidh.'
"His fine example as well as his music had a remarkable effect on the
men at such a critical moment. He was shortly afterwards wounded, and
had to drop behind as the lines went on."
In the same action the 2nd Black Watch were played in by their
pipers just as they had been on many previous occasions in France.
In the act of playing Corpl. Piper MacNee was mortally wounded. This
brave man had been wounded before at Mauquissart and awarded the
Distinguished Conduct Medal. The Pipe Major, John Keith, was awarded
the D.C.M. for "gallant and distinguished service throughout the
operations."
THE LAST STAGE