Known as the “Mad Piper”, Canadian Bill Millin landed at Sword Beach with English and Canadian regiments dressed in a kilt and armed only with his bagpipes.

The original intention behind his use of the instrument was not for protection, but to spur the troops on as they marched toward enemy lines.

When he originally asked to take the instrument he was denied by English authorities because they were concerned the bagpipes would cause the men around him to become targets.

This changed when his commander and Scotsman, Brigadier Lord Lovat, found out about Bill’s Scottish heritage.

Lord Lovat reportedly told Bill: “Ah, but that’s the English War Office, Milin. You and I are both Scottish so that doesn’t apply.”

Bill said: “Lord Lovat said this was going to be the greatest invasion in the history of warfare and he wanted the bagpipes leading it.

“He said I was to play and he would worry about the consequences later.”

As he landed at Sword Beach with thousands of his comrades, Bill watched as they were killed one by one, but he was left unscathed, thanks to confused German soldiers.

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After the invasion, Bill was told that the Germans didn’t shoot at him because they thought he was “off his head”.

Speaking about the invasion, Bill said: “The water was freezing. The next thing I remember is my kilt floating in the water, like a ballerina.”

When ashore, Lord Lovat reportedly asked Bill: “Would you mind giving us another tune, Millin? How about ‘The Road to the Isles’?”

As well as being the only man to land at Normandy playing bagpipes, Bill was also the only soldier wearing a kilt; the same kilt his father had worn during World War 1.

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Bill survived the war, and after the guns stopped, he qualified as mental health nurse in the 1950s.

His exploits were later immortalised in the 1962 Hollywood hit The Longest Day and he retired to the Devon town of Dawlish in 1988.

In 1995, he played at the funeral of his commanding officer Lord Lovat.

Bill Millin died on August 18, 2010, at the age of 88, 66 years after he had faced German gunfire armed with song.

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