How bagpipes saved a Glasgow piper's great-grandfather

BBC News

13-03-2025

After piper Malcolm Campbell was shot and left for dead during World War One, he credited his bagpipes with helping to save his life. During the recovery of bodies following the Battle of Marne in France in 1914, his pipes were accidentally set off, alerting fellow soldiers that he was still alive. More than 110 years later, the same set of bagpipes are still being played - by Malcolm's great-grandson Alasdair Campbell. The third generation of his family to have the pipes, Alasdair said: "I play them pretty much every day - in bands, solo and in competitions."
Malcolm, known as Calum Alasdair in his home island of South Uist in the Western Isles, was a private in the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders.He was among thousands of soldiers in the British Expeditionary Force who fought alongside French troops against German forces at the Battle of the Marne.It was fought over several days in September 1914 and halted the German's advance on Paris, but was followed by years of trench warfare.
The battle resulted in a total of between 300,000 and 500,000 casualties.Alasdair said his great-grandfather, though wounded during the fighting, was one of the lucky ones."He was shot and left for dead," said Alasdair, who lives in Glasgow."But a few days later when they went out to pick up the bodies one of the body collectors stood on him."He was lying on top of the pipes and the pipes made a noise and they thought 'oh, good Lord he must still be alive, we must get him to hospital and back on his feet'."Malcolm, who was carried off the battlefield with his pipes, spent months in a hospital in Aldershot, Hampshire.Alasdair said: "After that he made a full recovery and he got an honourable discharge and was sent home."He said his grandfather, mum and uncles would not have existed if it was not for the bagpipes.
Alasdair is proud to carry on a tradition started by Malcolm, and over the years the pipes have been played at European and World Pipe Band Championships.He said: "They belonged to my great-grandfather and my grandfather and then I subsequently inherited them."So they have a long lineage."
Bagpipes were carried into other battles during WW1, and again during World War Two.Piper Daniel Laidlaw won the Victoria Cross for his actions at The Battle of Loos, the largest British battle on the Western Front in 1915.He climbed from a trench and played Blue Bonnets Over The Border to encourage his fellow soldiers to renew an assault on German troops.During WW2, pipers were used by the 51st Highland Division at the start of the Battle of El Alamein in October 1942. The pipers' tunes were used to identify different regiments.Glaswegian commando Bill Millin was ordered by his commanding officer to play his pipes to rally troops during D-Day in June 1944.His actions on Sword Beach were later portrayed in the 1962 film The Longest Day.