HEROIC PIPERS IN BATTLE.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 161, 31 March 1916, Page 4 (Supplement)

HEROIC PIPERS IN BATTLE.

HOW TOMMIES ARE INSPIRED BY THE PIPES. The glorious war-pipe of the Gael has been winning deathless laurels on the lighting fields of France and I landers, and how splendidly it has inspired our gallant lads to many of the greatest achievements of the war we have yet fully to barn. Suffiicent, however, has become known of the part enacted' by th e heroic pipers at the front to prove how nobly they have .maintained the brilliant traditions ot the past; and now the most coveted of «11 honours for valour on the field has been awarded to one of that valiant band. Piper Laidlaw, of the King's Own Scottish Borderers, who has won the Victoria Cross, was a time-expired man with about seventeen years' service to liis credit when the war bugles sounded, but. like the dauntless hero of Dargai, Piper Findlater, Y.C., he rejoined at the call of King and country. The similarity t>etween the two ga'lant pipers is indeed a case of history repeating itself. W hen the Gordons advanced against Dargai Heights Piper Findlater thrilled his comrades by his ■war-pipe as they swept forward at he charge. At Loos on September 2oth, Piper Laidlaw reenacted the dramat'c incident. In two additional respects the actions resembled each other. In the first piace, the objective was gam■ed. and, in the second, the brave piper, although wounded in the ankle, continued to advance, his inspiring onset sounding shrill above the fury of the guns. A SPLENDID EXAMPLE. How Laidlaw's pipes "bucked up" he Borderers on that eventful morning! Seeing that his conpany was somewhat shaken from the of gas, Piper Laidlaw with ao:o!ute coolness and disregard of ranger mounted the parapet, marcind uu and down, and played his company out cf the trench. The effect --f his splendid trample was immediate, and Ihe company dashed out to the assault. Playing the old air "Blue Bonnets over the Borders,'' the plucky piper ran forward with his comrades, " piping for all I knew," as he told a Press man recently, " and just as we were getting near the German lines shrapnel caught me in the left ankle and leg. I was too excited to feel the pain just then, •hut stumbled on as best I could, and 1 changed the tune to 'The Stancard on the Braes o' Mar.' It's a grand tune for charging on. . . "I kept on piping and piping, hobbling along after the laddies until I could go no more, and then, seeing the bovs had won the position, I began to get back as best 1 could to our own trenches. I got there somehow, and that is as much as I can remember. There does not seem much to tell, and 1 never thought that I should hav e won the grand decoration." Curiously enough, at another point of the attack in the great advance ot September 25th the veteran pipe-major of the same famous corps was also manfully doing his bit. One of the chaplains relates the incident. He says : On the second night of the great battle in France there was borne into the hall of the clearing hospital the pipemajor of the K. 0.5.8., who had been both gassed and wounded. Although a man of over sixty years of ag£, lie had insisted on going over the parapet in the charge, and after firing a few revolver shots was about to play Ins pipes when he was wounded in the knee, and for some thirty hours ho lay in the open unable to move." UNDER HIS PILLOW. On the chaplain asking him where liis pipes were, he replied—"l would not be separated from my pipes; they are here," and he touched his pillow. The padre added that it was a great joy to discover that the wound was not a serious one, and that the veteran pipe-major was a man whose presence seemed like a benediction to the troops. Another heroic piper in that "farflung battle line" at Loos made the supreme sacrifice. He died on the held of glory. We refer to Piper David Simpson, 2nd' Battalion Black Watch. AH through the battle roar, the pip of the machine guns, the frenzied cri,?; of men, rang the soul-stirring uotes of the charge of the pipes, at once a star ulus and a ral'y.ng caL to every man wearing the red hackle. Three lines of German trenches fell to that i.erce assault. The ranks had a breather. Men were busy putting the trench in order for defence when tlie command came down the line to have a try for a fourth. Piper Simpson at onca got his pipes in position, turned to his company with the cry, "Come on, boys," and striking up the battle tune of the Black Watch, again ran playing towards the foe. He took ten or twelve paces, when a bullet through the breast brought him down, and with the exultant yell of his triumphant comrades in his ears he died. PLAYED WITH ONE HAND. How Piper Wishart, of the Ist Battalion Black Watch, playing his pipes with one hand, led his comrades up to the enemy's trenches is one of the most stirring stories of the war. It was on the morning of May 9th. The Mlack Watch were in the trenches when the order came to advance, alter the German position had been shelled by the British guns. The Inniskillings and a number cjf the London Scottish were with the Highlanders, and assisted the latter to clamber over the trench parapets into the open, and patter.' them on the back with many a * Good luck, Jock." "Not a man amongst us but knew lie was going out to face almost certain death," said one of the men afterwards. Everything had been got ready 'n preparation for the great moment Bayonets had' been fixed and packs uiscarcJed. With loud yells the men leapt tlie parapets and dashed into the open. A withering fire met them, but did not daunt them.

A groat cheer Burst from the charging men as tlic pipers struck up the old charging tune of the regiment, "Highland Laddie" —a piper in front of each company. Young Piper Wishart —lie is anly a lad of eighteen — played' at the head of th.e D Company. When lip had got fully half the distance to the Gorman trenches a hit of shrapnel got him "n the muscles of the right arm, and he dropped. An officer stooped down to him and paid : —" Andrew, you are down!" "Ay, sir." gas[>ed the boy piper in reply, adding as lie reached l for his bagpipes with his uninjured arm, "but I'm going to play yet." The officer h.-lped him to his feet, tucked his bagpipes under his arm. and lie dashed forward again, playing his pipos with nnp hand. When within ten or twelve yards of 1 he German trenrh.'s nn explosive bullet got th.e brave young piper in the right thigh, and this time he was bowled out. When the men saw him fall a wild yell wont up "The p'per's down !" nnd with a men-e wa--who'ip they charged right :n' t': >*■ G-.t- j nir.n tren ues. j

Wishart luckily fell alongside a "Jack Johnson" hole, and crept into it, and there he lay for four days anc. 1 nights. Weak from the loss of blood, his right arm and right leg very painful, and desperately thirsty and hungry, the piper's was indeed a pitiable plight. On the morning of the fifth day he managed to crawl slowly and painfully on his stomach towards the British linos, where he was eventually assisted in, more dead than alive. His greatest grief, when lie came round r bit, was the loss of his beloved pipe* NOW OR NEVER. It was in the early stages of the war that a thrilling charge of the 2nd Seaforths was gallantly led by u\e dauntless pipers. For the greater art of the day the British position had i cen commanded by the Germans, wiiO held a hill in the neighbourhood, rnd maintained a steady rifle and maclinegun fire on the British line. It bee nr.? obvious to the British commander that if the enemy were given time to bring up their artillery the German position would be well-nigh impregnable, for the hill which they held commanded the plains for miles on every side. The height liad to be taken that day, or not at all. So the "charge" was sounded, and the whole brigade broke across the intervening fields. Loud above the shouting and cheering of the men, who had been keenly anticipating this moment, rose the " Caber-ieidh, the famous charging tune of the fcoaforths, heard on many a hard-fought held. The pipers raced along with tho men, keeping with the merry step of the strathspey, and loud cheers broke forth from the ranks at the sound or the old familiar air. It was a thrilling moment. In ten minutes or a quarter of an hour the German position was won. A GALLIPOLI INCIDENT. Not only in France and Flanders, but in the Dardanelles as well have the pipers attached to the Scottish regiments been the heroes of many notable exploits. In a letter from a non-com-missioned officer reference is made to the stirring part taken in a certain attack by the sth Highland Light Infantry in Gallipoli of Piper George Cameron, a Glasgow youth of barely twenty years, yet a magnificent type of a Scot, standing well over six feet in height. It was in their first charge that Piper Cameron distinguished himself by his courage and coolness. When the order to charge was given Cameron, with his pipes at full blast and a heavy revolver dangling by a cord from his wrist, played the battalion into one trench, routing the Turks. then_ over the parapet into another, until fina'ly success was achieved'. During the second and continued charge lie blew "wi' might and mam," the shrill notes of the pipes being distinctly heard above the din. Shot and shell whizzed around the gallant piper, hut still he played on. and' when the day's good work was done he had not n scratch.