80th D-Day Commemorations in Normandy 4 - 7th June 2024

To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, two band members – Bernie and Carol - decided to make the journey across to Normandy. Carol writes the following:

Bernie and I set out early on Tuesday morning and found ourselves on the same ferry as the Commonwealth veterans.

We couldn’t let this opportunity pass us by, so we made our way to the bow of the ship to pipe us out of Portsmouth and then again into Caen.

We met up with our colleagues at Hampshire Caledonian and participated in numerous parades and other commemorations with them, but we also found time for just the two of us to do some piping.

An early start on Wednesday enabled us to go to Juno beach where we paid tribute to two Canadian soldiers with whom our friends and family have connections. I played ‘Sleep, Dearie Sleep’ for Corporal Ralph Winston Hadley of the Canadian Scottish Regiment who landed on Juno on 6th June 1944 and died a few weeks later on 8th July.  Bernie played ‘Hector the Hero’ for Captain Frank Ansell who served with Le Régiment de la Chaudière.

After rendezvousing with hundreds of other pipers and drummers for a massed band event at Sword beach we headed off to the Canadian cemetery to attend the ‘Lighting their Legacy’ ceremony.  This was part of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s endeavour to ensure that every Commonwealth War Grave in Normandy was illuminated ahead of the 80th anniversary.  As dusk receded into night, it was incredibly poignant to see over 2000 graves lit up, bearing testament to the lives lost. The lights changed from pure white: honouring the individual souls lost, to red white and blue: the colours of the French flag to acknowledge this as being the start of the liberation of France, to red and white: the colours of the Canadian flag, representing a nation’s sacrifice.

On 6th June, we were with our Hampshire Caledonian colleagues at Pegasus Bridge for the day, again participating in massed band events, parades and ceremonies.

On our final morning we headed across to meet the band at the American cemetery and then just the two of us went on to Omaha beach to pipe some appropriate tunes.

There was just time for a final visit to Bill Millin's statue (‘mad piper of D-Day’) – and an opportune meeting with his son John – before heading home. On the ferry, we were lucky to find ourselves yet again with the veterans, and so we piped us out of Caen and then back into Portsmouth.

It feels a bit of a tension because, whilst we loved playing the pipes, we were also mindful of the reason we were there: to pay tribute to those who had given their lives and to those who survived but were forever changed by their experiences of war. We had a fantastic few days; we thoroughly enjoyed our time with Hampshire Caledonian, but we also valued the opportunities to ‘do our own thing’. I think we probably played the pipes for more hours in those few days than we normally would within a few weeks!

We felt lucky and honoured that so many people wanted to hear us play, to video our performances (…no pressure then!) and to have their photo taken with us. We have returned home feeling exhausted, but with a wealth of memories to treasure.