French officials present model of statue to D-Day hero

A BAGPIPER hailed a D-Day hero met French officials to see a model of a statue they plan to build in his honour.

Bill Millin, from Dawlish, is to be immortalised in a life-size statue near where he braved German bullets to pipe the Allied troops ashore during the Second World War invasion of Normandy.

The 10ft statue in bronze of 86-year-old Mr Millin has been commissioned by the mayor and people of Colleville Montgomery, which he helped to liberate from the Germans in 1944.

A group of French officials, including the sculptor, visited the South Devon resort to show him the model of the statue.

The wooden model was presented to Mr Millin, who is originally from Glasgow, and he turned out in a kilt to mark the occasion.

Mr Millin, who is recovering from a recent stroke and uses an electric wheelchair, said: "It is a good likeness. I was 21 then, very young. It is very good of the French to do this for me."

Led by Serge Athenour de Gourdon, chairman of the Mary Queen of Scots Pipe Band of France, the French party were welcomed at the town's historic Manor House yesterday.

Mr Millin's pipes led the 1st Commando Brigade under heavy German fire as it stormed Sword Beach on the first day of the Normandy landings on June 6 1944.

The military high command had ordered pipers not to play because of fears over the level of casualties.

But that decision was ignored by the brigade's commander Lord Lovat, who ordered Mr Millin to lead his troops ashore to the sound of Highland Laddie, Blue Bonnets Over The Border and Road To The Isles.

As shells exploded over his head, the unarmed, kilt-wearing soldier kept playing to raise the morale of the fighting troops. It is said his actions stunned German soldiers, with some later claiming they did not shoot him because they thought he was mad.

Mr Millin met the French party at his care home, Palm Court, before attending a reception hosted by the town's mayor Cllr Geoff Wills.

Mr Millin added: "I am very pleased with it and I am looking forward to seeing the finished statue.

"I hope to go out to France for the unveiling on June 6 next year."

Nigel Morris is the manager of Palm Court care home.

He said: "Bill likes the limelight and he is a very engaging chap.

"He will say of himself that he was mad, he was just 21 and going over there with a prestigious position as Lord Lovat's personal piper.

"He said to him 'what do you want me to do?' and Lord Lovat told him to just walk up and down the beach playing the pipes.

"With all the Germans firing, they are discussing which songs he should play."

Mr Morris said the French artist has been emailing the care home to ask Mr Millin questions about how he looked on D-Day.

"They want to know how he wore the kilt and which arm did he have his pipes under, they want to get every detail right," he said.

"For the French he has become an iconic figure.

"He was just a private, he was the common soldier, so this statue is not just for Bill, it is for all the non-commissioned soldiers.

"He really does live life to the fullest that he can and I think that has always been his motto."