At this particular point in time, in the late fall of 2016, we should perhaps give proper credit for the inspiration we have received from our cousins across the sea, and we should do so for several reasons.
First, thank you for Brexit, which inspired so many in the U.S. to put into play the same rebellion against tyranny in our own country, thereby electing the ultimate rebel, Donald J. Trump. I think we all agree that we couldn’t have done it without the inspiration of your courageous act.
You, England, with this action saved your nation and its people, and you have helped us do the same for our nation, as well.
Also, at this time of celebration of our military heroes on Veterans Day, we also owe you, our best and forever international friend, for the inspiration of astounding acts of individual courage, as we have witnessed countless times during your centuries’ old history. You, our beloved mother country, even though we rebelled against you, (and we won that particular contretemps, by the way), have basically showed us how to do battle.
There is a glorious example of this in World War II, at the time of the Normandy landings, known as D-Day.
The sound of bagpipes may be analogous to a bag of shrieking cats to some, but to others it was nothing short of inspirational, so much so that the ‘lyrical’ sound could lead men to plunge headlong into the most horrific of battles.
Such was the case with Brigadier Lord Lovat, Commander, 1st Commando Brigade, in June, 1944, in Normandy, on the west coast of France.
Born Simon Christopher Joseph Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat and 4th Baron Lovat, in Inverness, Scotland, the extraordinary man forever known as “Shimi,” was the 24th Chieftain of Clan Frasier – MacShimidh, to those who recognized him by his Gaelic title. Despite becoming Lord Lovat in the mid 1930’s, he joined his nation’s military as a Captain in Lovat’s Scouts. Quickly increasing in rank following each remarkable and dangerous sortie he led, the then Lieutenant Colonel became the commander of the newly formed 1st Special Service Brigade, in 1944, and later a Brigadier, just before the Normandy landings planned for June 6, 1944.
Lord Lovat’s brigade was ordered to “break through German defenses on the eastern side of Sword Beach,” after having landed on the beach beginning the invasion of Normandy on that overcast morning of June in 1944. They were to “fight their way four miles inland to Pegasus Bridge over the Caen Canal, and bring reinforcements to the 6th Airborne Division, relieving the glider-borne troops who had taken the bridge at the dead of night.”
Lord Lovat took command, leading his troops from the amphibious landing vehicles into the raging Atlantic, reputedly wading ashore wearing a white jumper under his battledress, with “Lovat” inscribed into the collar. He was armed with a .45-70 Winchester lever rifle, and was highly visible to the enemy.
Here’s what happened next:
“Lovat’s forces swiftly pressed on, against heavy enemy fire, with Lovat himself advancing with his brigade from Sword Beach to Pegasus Bridge, which had been defiantly defended by men of the 2nd Battalion of the 6th Airborne Division.”
Pipers had been traditionally used in battle by Scottish and Irish soldiers, but their use had been restricted by the British Army by the beginning of the Second World War. Lord Lovat instructed his personal piper, Private Bill Millin, to pipe the commandos as they moved forward to their goal, in defiance of these specific orders not to allow such an action in battle. “When Private Millin demurred, citing the regulations, he recalled later, Lord Lovat replied: ‘Ah, but that’s the English War Office. You and I are both Scottish, and that doesn’t apply.’”
Private Millin played “Highland Laddie” and “The Road To The Isles “ as his comrades fell around him on Sword Beach, led by the extremely tall man in the very recognizable white sweater.
Millin was the only man in the unit to wear a kilt, and traditionally wearing nothing underneath, announced that the frigid landing in the Atlantic surf he had recently endured “took his breath away.”
The previously agreed to rendezvous time with the 6th Airborne Division was noon that day at Pegasus Bridge.
Lord Lovat, to the sound of Millin’s bagpipes, marched across the bridge with his commandos just after twelve fifteen. “Sorry to be a few minutes late,” he said, thereby proving that he could only be English (Scottish, actually), and providing the reinforcements needed to sustain the division in the face of intense German fighting power.
Shimi Lovat fought on, with his men and his piper, and though he was grievously wounded in a later battle in Normandy, to the extent that he was given Last Rites by a French priest, he persevered, led his men in further crushing and brutal acts of warfare, causing the death of four out of five of Lovat’s commanders.
It was said about this extraordinary man that he “became a legend in his own time.”
Lord Lovat fought side by side with his American cousins, and his Canadian cousins, and his Australian cousins, in this years-long world-wide conflict, and together they saved the world. We have much reason to thank our cousins for their example and their spirit, both in warfare, and in saving our countries from tyranny, both in 1944, and today.
Susan Smith brings an international perspective to her writing by having lived primarily in western Europe, mainly in Paris, France, and the U.S., primarily in Washington, D.C. She authored a weekly column for Human Events on politics with historical aspects. She also served as the Staff Director of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Children, Family, Drugs and Alcoholism, and Special Assistant to the first Ambassador of Afghanistan following the initial fall of the Taliban. Ms. Smith is a graduate of Wheeling Jesuit University and Georgetown University, as well as the Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris, France, where she obtained her French language certification. Ms. Smith now makes her home in McLean, Va.