Sent: Thursday, April 10, 2003 9:32
PM
Subject: Re: [Toofatlardies] Re: The
skirl of the pipes
Forgive this long piece, but as the wife is out tonight, I've
been looking online at bagpipes in combat (and will move on to the more
interesting websites that Noddy told me about later). Most of what I found was
complete rubbish - and so is this - but it shows that choice of tune should
have an important effect....
(I love the bit about the guy who "died but was still playing"...reminds me
of Mad Mick, the salesman with the boob-job wife whose friend died twice
playing American football - remember him?)
?
"Each company was to be played into action by its piper. At El Alamein the
pipers were given specific tunes to play, usually the company marches. These
varied according to the battalion, from "The Nut Brown Maiden" and "The Black
Bear" through tunes like "The Atholl Highlanders" and "Scotland the Brave" to
"Lord Alexander Kennedy," a formidably difficult tune to play at regulation
marching speed, and difficult for a novice to play at all.
The battle
began at twenty to ten - 2140 in army terms - on October 23, 1942. It opened
with an intense artillery bombardment from more than 800 guns. Twenty minutes
later the assaulting infantry crossed the Start Line.
The enemy reacted
swiftly, initially with intense artillery defensive fire and as the Infantry
approaced their objectives, with heavy and accurate machine gun fire. All
accounts describe how the pipers strode forward, apparently unconcerned,
through the dust raised by the bursting enemy shells. An officer of the 1st
Black Watch recalled, "The few pipers we had were playing their companies
forward all the time. I had the greatest difficulty in preventing the Pipe
Corporal from walking into the anti-personnel trip wires which you could
generally see in the moonlight." A 5th Black Watch officer wrote, "The bit I
left out was about the company pipers who played us across No Man's Land. They
were very good, quite oblivious of the hell going on around them." The 5th
Seaforth was one of the two battalions securing the Start Line. One officer
wrote, "Then we saw a sight that will live forever in our memories. Line upon
line of steel helmeted figures with rifles at the 'High Port', bayonets
catching the moonlight and over all the wailing of the pipes." Another 5th
Seaforth account relates how the pipers played "Highland Laddie" as the
battalion attacked later in the night and how "we were gripped with an
indefinable pride in our division."
The 5th Camerons' task was to secure
Inverness so that 7th Black Watch could pass through. The Camerons advanced
with the pipers playing in the lead. One company commander recalls how his
company piper, Donald Macpherson from Broadford, Isle of Skye, had been
ordered to play "The Inverness Gathering" during the advance. A good tune,
maybe, but not particularly inspiring, so Donald soon broke into "The Cameron
Men," which saw the company on to their objective. The 7th Black Watch then
appeared through the dusty moonlight. It was clear that, in the regimental
tradition, the Black Watch blood was up from their battle cries and shouted
slogans. To ensure that the Camerons were not mistaken for Germans, Donald was
ordered to play "Pibroch o' Donald Dubh" which luckily the Black Watch
recognized. The 7th Argylls' history, written by Capt. Iain C. Cameron of
Islay, tells how "Paisley" was mopped up with the piper playing the regimental
charge "Monymusk", while "A" company piper played "Blue Bonnets" during the
advance.
Inevitably there were casualties among the pipers. The 5th Black
Watch history tells how "A" company approached their objective, "Montrose",
their piper, Duncan MacIntyre, playing in their centre. Suddenly he was hit,
but carried on playing, breaking into the regimental march, "Highland Laddie"
as the assault went in. He was hit again and died, still playing. The next
morning Duncan was found with his pipes still under his arm, his fingers on
the chanter".
Nicked from:
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therugdoctor2003 wrote:
?Being a rabid Anglo-Saxon, I think you're
overdoing the effect here.
With only a musket in hand, I can
perceive the morale impact. With
automatic weapons, I'm not so
sure.
And imagine how hard it is to hear "flower of Scotland" in the
middle
of an artillery barrage..? The English fans manage
to drown out every
visiting team's national anthem by simple
whistles.
So, what about a pipes bonus card, whereby all sections within a
radius of the piper can move. Same as a German blitzkreig card,
i.e.
they can't fire or spot, just go forward.
In terms of melee bonus, I would say that the Scots should be
classed
as "agressive", as would other shock troops, as once in
hand to hand
I'm not sure how much effect the pipes themselves
would have. Perhaps
Germans of average and below fighting
ability should have a
supression point inflicted if within a
certain radius of the pipes?
Daz
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