Son of 'Mad Piper' Bill Millin reveals PTSD struggle of D-Day hero
The son of D-Day hero Bill ‘Mad Piper’ Millin has spoken of his father’s struggle with PTSD following the Second World War when the Scot famously strode along Sword Beach playing the pipes with German snipers later refusing to shoot him because they thought he was insane.
John Millin said his father “took to his bed” every June around the D-Day anniversary as he struggled with memories of the Normandy landings when he played unarmed in his kilt for 20 minutes as Lord Lovat’s 1st Special Service Brigade stormed Sword Beach. Later, he led the men to Pegasus Bridge, pipes blaring, with several of his comrades killed behind him.
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Hide AdThe piper also suffered in April given the anniversary of the liberation of Belsen concentration camp where the Commando played and took photographs of the inhumane conditions where some 53,000 prisoners were kept in varying states of disease and emaciation.


Mr Millin, who is now travelling to Normandy with his children and grandchildren to stand in the shadow’s of his father’ statue on the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings on Thursday, said there was more to his father than the image portrayed of the daring Scot and his bagpipes.
Mr Millin, 69, said: “When I asked him how he felt about the war he would get all blurry and say ‘I quite enjoyed it, I got through it without any marks, one or two scratches and the bass drone of the pipes got blown off’.
"But I know different because throughout the years there were different periods when dad would take to his bed.
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"I’d say ‘what is wrong with dad?’ and my mum would say ‘well he has got malaria, it comes back now and again’. As I got older, I realised that dad never served anywhere there was malaria.
"I soon worked out that every June he took a low and then every April he took a low because of the Belsen experience which was harrowing, which it all was but Belsen really made its mark.
Mr Millin, a retired mental health nurse of Nottinghamshire, said: “It is PTSD they call it these days. Memories would come back to him at certain times during the year and on these trips to Normandy, which were quite regular, when he would come back he would lie down again for a wee while.”


The piper, a former Cameron Highlander who earned his green beret with 4 Commando at Achnacarry training camp near Fort William before being appointed Lord Lovat’s personal piper, became the source of much media attention over the years with his highly celebrated role on D-Day often bound up in the image of the fearless Scot powered by his pipes.
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Hide Ad"That is what he portrayed to nearly everybody but there is a lot more to it,” Mr Millin added.
Mr Millin said he expected an “emotional” return to his father’s statue, which stands near the shoreline of Sword Beach. His father, who died in 2010 aged 88, never saw the memorial. It was his hope that a Millin piper would play there, with his son, who had always resisted playing the pipes due to the publicity that his father had attracted, then promising him he would learn to play at least one tune.
Mr Millin said: "I didn’t actually pick up the pipes to play until after my father died. Just a couple of weeks before he knew he probably wouldn’t live long enough to see the statue. He asked me if I thought there would be any pipers at the unveilling and I said ‘aye’.


“He said ‘well, there won’t be a Millin piper looking at me because you didn’t learn’. I foolishly promised to learn one tune, at least, which I did. I played Amazing Grace at the unveiling. I haven’t been able to play it that well since.”
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Hide AdBill Millin was born in Canada to Scottish parents and returned to Glasgow when he was three, latterly living in Ibrox. He relocated to Devon in 1963 and planned to return to Scotland following the death of his wife but the move was halted when he suffered a major stroke.
His son said he was “quite chuffed” with the ‘Mad Piper’ nickname which emerged after two German snipers captured near Pegasus Bridge explained why they didn’t shoot him.
Mr Millin said: “Dad asked them through the interpreter why they didn’t shoot at him coming onto the bridge. Dad could hear his colleagues falling down around him. The Germans pointed to their forehead and said Dummkopf Dudelsackspieler – mad piper.
“The German snipers considered it bad luck to kill a man who was obviously insane and who was not armed.”
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Hide AdBill Millin didn’t get a medal for his role on D-Day because he broke War Office rules, which forbid pipers in battle given the risk to life.


“Dad reminded Lovat of that rule when he asked dad to play the pipes but Lovat said ‘well that’s the English war office rules, we’re Scottish so we will do what we want.
"Dad would have done anything for Lovat as would all the commandos. Lovat was a good solider and good figher. Dad was proud to be Lovat’s piper, really proud.”
He said his father’s legacy has had a powerful effect on his own life and that of his entire family as they head to France for D-Day commemorations.
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Hide Ad"I’ll probably have to wear dark glasses so people don’t see I am blubbing. It is very emotional when I am beside the statue, particularly if I am playing the pipes. I am sort of glancing upwards at him and I know he would be chuffed to bits I learned to play. He would also have something to say about my skill level.”
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