Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Flotilla set off at Fort William to mark D-Day landing anniversary

Post Thumbnail

A flotilla set off from Loch Linnhe at Fort William yesterday for the start of a sailing relay to mark the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

The commemorative event is centred on the famous D-Day piper Bill Millin, who piped his comrades ashore on Sword Beach on June 6, 1944, despite the fierce fighting around him.

A replica of Mr Millin’s pipes will be carried down the British coastline to Portsmouth in a relay of small ships.

The final leg will involve his son John and a number of veterans travelling across to Normandy by ferry to present the pipes to the Mayor of Colleville-Montgomery on June 6.

The relay is being organised by national veteran-led charity D-Day Revisited in partnership with the Royal British Legion and Royal British Legion Scotland.

Yesterday at 9.30am Mr Millin jun handed the pipes across to a young piper aboard the Coastguard Cutter at the town pier in Fort William before it left for Oban at 10am. Alongside, The Souter’s Lass cruise boat carried the Fort William branch of the Royal British Legion Scotland.

D-Day Revisited chairman John Phipps , who was aboard the cruise boat, said: “Everything went to plan. There was a piper playing on the back of the coastguard cutter as the sky cleared and Ben Nevis appeared in the background.

“We left the jetty with about eight boats of different sizes and some people would cut away and others would join us.”

The Souter’s Lass returned to Fort William shortly before midday after escorting the coastguard some of the way down the loch.

Mr Millin jun, who was aboard the cruise boat with his wife, said: “Today has gone very well. My father would have been chuffed to bits with everything that has been done because he spent all of his war years playing his pipes.

“It is all very emotional for me and I know that my father would have felt both happy and sad, thinking about those friends he lost but happy that they were being remembered.

Mr Millin jun said that bagpipes were banned in combat however his father, who died in 2010, aged 88, had arrived on D-Day with the 1st Commando Brigade under Lord Lovat, who told him these rules did not apply to the Scots.

When the pipes reach Portsmouth they will be transferred to a ferry carrying veterans, who will cross the channel and land in Normandy as the pipes are played.