Regimental 'row' going into WWI trenches

[Troglodyte]

Several of my uncles served in Highland regiments during the first world war - Seaforths, Camerons, and London Scottish. Naturally, they all had tales to tell of their time in the trenches.

One of these tales was that, unlike other regiments or battalions who did so quietly and under cover of dark to keep the enemy unaware, when going up the line my uncle's unit would form up in parade order and march in behind pipes and drums making a row. The idea being that they wanted the enemy to know exactly who they were now facing.

I like that. It shows they were up for a scrap, and were looking for a bit of fun at the same time.

I have been trying recently to find out more about this sort of thing, but with no luck - sadly the uncles are no longer around to ask - and I wonder if there is anyone on this forum who has heard such stories and can give more information or confirmation as to which regiment it might have been. I have vague memories of it being the London Scottish.

Information at the likes of regimental museums tends to be more in the line of service records, actions and awards, and not so much such short-lived trends.

Does anyone know more about this kind of thing..?

[Jock Scot]

I have heard those stories too, but sadly those of that generation and the next are no longer with us. Oh, how I wish that I had paid attention to those stories!

I have just been talking to my brother about this and he remembers Grand Father talking about this. Apparently the German gunners, Machine Gunners and Artillary put paid to that idea as they were pretty good on working out the ranges of the relieving troops and their way in, even in the dark and were not averse to upsetting the parade!

[Micrographia]

The First World War is really the last time that that the pipes were an integral part of Scottish soldiers in battle. As such I'd suspect that all the regiments - and the Canadians as well - would have done this kind of thing, so pinpointing which particular regiment this family story refers to would be hard I think. There is a lot of strong feeling still around about this in Scotland, even though the old soldiers have long gone. It was by no means a short-lived trend and it doesn't take much searching online to find the stories. The casualty rate for pipers was very high, they were brave men.

https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryU...er-War-Heroes/

There is a TV program in the UK called The Repair Shop where skilled craftspeople restore items of sentimental value. A family brought in an old set of pipes - the episode caused quite a stir. The restorer was of the opinion that they had been used in the trenches. The set was mismatched - pipers took spares from the sets of their fallen comrades to keep their own sets going. Hopefully you can see this;

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=858062464561734

EEM

[OC Richard]

A family brought in an old set of pipes...the restorer was of the opinion that they had been used in the trenches.

EDIT: I watched that program, it does seem quite possible that those pipes were indeed played in WWI. Lovely to have provenance like that.

However I should say that it's very common for pipes to be claimed to have been played in WWI. The pipes carrying these claims are generally too recently made to have been around at that time.

So often has this claim been made by Ebay sellers that it's become something of a standing joke. So many pipes are claimed to have been "recovered from a WWI battlefield" that one imagines the ground strewed with them.

The set was mismatched - pipers took spares from the sets of their fallen comrades to keep their own sets going.

Sorry to say that this is another bit of romanticism.

Sets of pipes that were issued to new regimental pipers were often mismatched already, the battalion oftentimes having bits & bobs from which full sets were cobbled together.

It's common for old pipes to be what we call FrankenPipes whether or not they saw military service.

I once had an old set that had bits of perhaps four different sets present.

That's talking about drone parts. Most sets in the hands of pipers have blowpipes and chanters by makers other than the maker of the drones & stocks. I would say it's fairly rare to see a set of pipes being played by an experienced player which has all 14 wooden parts which were originally sent out of the shop together when the pipes were new.

BTW about "spares" pipers don't have the space to carry around spare parts- those old pipe cases were tiny by today's standards. Pipers do carry around spare reeds, and will have a practice chanter in the box as well.

[Troglodyte]

I have heard those stories too, but sadly those of that generation and the next are no longer with us. Oh, how I wish that I had paid attention to those stories!

I have just been talking to my brother about this and he remembers Grand Father talking about this. Apparently the German gunners, Machine Gunners and Artillary put paid to that idea as they were pretty good on working out the ranges of the relieving troops and their way in, even in the dark and were not averse to upsetting the parade!

Yes, I feel the same way.

I was being told these stories about 50 years ago, and the conversation with the teller would hop from one incident to another, so that timing and location of the events became jumbled in my mind. I wish I had got them to write it down...

Your mention of German shooting reminded me of being told that my man's lot were trained to return three shots to every one the Germans fired, to the extent that when they captured one of the enemy, and brought him through the trenches, he searched around for the machine guns they were convinced they were facing.

Another is about the sporting way the troops behaved towards each other (some of the time), often talking to each other over no-man's land if the distance was not too great. The Germans quickly learnt when afternoon tea-break was, and would make a spirited, if not very serious attempt, to spoil it. 'Oi, Fritz..! Turn it up! Not now, mate, we're trying to 'ave a cuppa-tea..!' and that sort of thing. To me, that's the real history.

[Rama4390]

Sets of pipes that were issued to new regimental pipers were often mismatched already, the battalion oftentimes having bits & bobs from which full sets were cobbled together.

It's common for old pipes to be what we call FrankenPipes whether or not they saw military service.

I once had an old set that had bits of perhaps four different sets present.

I currently have two such sets of pipes, but I don't believe either are old enough to have seen military service. A set of catalin mounted mostly Robertsons that were my first set of pipes and a set of ivory mounted Lawries which I've only just picked up & have yet to set up & play.

[DunRovinStation]

We watched a vintage film, I WISH I could remember the name, that showed just this. When they came under fire, the piper dove into a shell hole. Husband videoed the screen for a GIF, but I cannot remember the name. I THINK it was a WWI movie.

[DunRovinStation]

This link may take you down a rabbit hole.
https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryU...er-War-Heroes/