# Are soldiers still piped into battle? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 14, 2010, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soldiers-still-piped-into-battle/553717 "2010-09-14T13:31:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soldiers-still-piped-into-battle/553717/1 "2010-09-14T13:31:54Z")
British soldiers were piped into battle in several battles during WW2 (see [this](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Scotishadvanceepsom.jpg) picture for instance, courtesy of Wikipedia, during Operation Epsom, as well as during the D-Day [landings](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/20/world/europe/20millin.html)). Does this practice still occur? Are soldiers still being piped into battle in Iraq and Afghanistan? If not, when did the practice die out? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soldiers-still-piped-into-battle/553717/2 "2010-09-14T13:42:47Z")
It died out in WWI. The order went to the trenches that pipers could not lead the charge, but had to remain behind. They were targeted by the Germans and were being killed faster than new ones could be trained. [Cite.](http://madisonpipesanddrums.org/bagpipe_history.html) Use of pipers in battle after WWI has been rare, though the pipes are important for ceremonial purposes. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soldiers-still-piped-into-battle/553717/3 "2010-09-14T14:43:06Z")
Oddly, ninjas have never adopted this tradition. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soldiers-still-piped-into-battle/553717/4 "2010-09-14T14:48:16Z")
Oh, that kind of “piped.” You really had me puzzled there for a minute. Given the usual, everyday meaning of the phrase “piped into,” I had visions of fighting men sliding down a long pipeline to deliver them onto the battlefield. Maybe it would be more cost-efficient than APCs. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soldiers-still-piped-into-battle/553717/5 "2010-09-14T15:14:47Z")
I found [this](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/20/AR2010082002567.html) to be a fascinating obituary of Bill Millin, who apparently stormed Normandy Beach armed with nothing but a ceremonial dagger and bagpipes. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soldiers-still-piped-into-battle/553717/6 "2010-09-14T15:23:25Z")
The OP included a link to the New York Times obit for Bill Millin. And I was amused that the only reason that the Germans didn’t shoot him when he was playing his bagpipes on the beaches of Normandy was because they were sure that he was insane. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soldiers-still-piped-into-battle/553717/7 "2010-09-14T15:29:47Z")
Now days they use the internet instead, and call it ‘tubing’. Soldiers are **tubed** into battle. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soldiers-still-piped-into-battle/553717/8 "2010-09-14T16:24:34Z")
And I thought the OP was referring to pitch-pipes like you see officers use in WWI movies. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soldiers-still-piped-into-battle/553717/9 "2010-09-14T16:38:34Z")
The Navy still uses bosun’s pipes to pass information in battle conditions - it is generally used as a signal preceding an announcement, but can stand alone. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soldiers-still-piped-into-battle/553717/10 "2010-09-14T18:39:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Oh, that kind of “piped.” You really had me puzzled there for a minute. Given the usual, everyday meaning of the phrase “piped into,” I had visions of fighting men sliding down a long pipeline to deliver them onto the battlefield. Maybe it would be more cost-efficient than APCs. And here I was picturing them being launched from a bagpipe-cannon to the front lines. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soldiers-still-piped-into-battle/553717/11 "2010-09-14T20:11:53Z")
If they aren’t, they damn well should be. It put the fear of God into Johnny Hun, so why wouldn’t it do the same to Johnny Afghan? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soldiers-still-piped-into-battle/553717/12 "2010-09-14T20:17:21Z")
See, I was picturing a boy playing a fife, like in the paintings of Revolutionary & Civil war times… ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soldiers-still-piped-into-battle/553717/13 "2010-09-15T08:04:53Z")
After some searching, it appears that the US Marines have [at least one](http://www.electricscotland.com/history/articles/leatherneck.htm) war piper on the frontline in Iraq. The article is a little ambiguous as to whether he plays the pipes when his fellow marines are in battle, though. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soldiers-still-piped-into-battle/553717/14 "2010-09-15T09:56:50Z")
It’s simple: bagpipes were used when marching, and outside of parade grounds, soldiers simply don’t march anymore. They run, they ride, they patrol and they sneak, but they don’t march. No soldier walks in when he knows the enemy can see him. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soldiers-still-piped-into-battle/553717/15 "2010-09-15T15:06:31Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > After some searching, it appears that the US Marines have [at least one](http://www.electricscotland.com/history/articles/leatherneck.htm) war piper on the frontline in Iraq. The article is a little ambiguous as to whether he plays the pipes when his fellow marines are in battle, though. My God! Of course! Welsh Battle Bards to the attack! CHARGE! ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soldiers-still-piped-into-battle/553717/16 "2010-09-15T20:38:07Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > … > Welsh Battle Bards to the attack! CHARGE! I wonder, if any such soldier were to desert and join the other side, would he be going from Bard to Würst? ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soldiers-still-piped-into-battle/553717/17 "2010-09-15T21:53:36Z")
> [@Celyn](#): > > > [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > > > … > > Welsh Battle Bards to the attack! CHARGE! > > I wonder, if any such soldier were to desert and join the other side, would he be going from Bard to Würst? I hate you. That was hilarious. I hate you. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soldiers-still-piped-into-battle/553717/18 "2010-09-15T22:02:21Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Oh, that kind of “piped.” You really had me puzzled there for a minute. Given the usual, everyday meaning of the phrase “piped into,” I had visions of fighting men sliding down a long pipeline to deliver them onto the battlefield. Maybe it would be more cost-efficient than APCs. Me too. I thought, “oh, that’s why they were digging all those trenches… for the pipes!” ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soldiers-still-piped-into-battle/553717/19 "2010-09-15T22:19:52Z")
> [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > … > > That was hilarious. > > I hate you. Thank you. I aim to please. 🙂 > [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#): > > … “oh, that’s why they were digging all those trenches… for the pipes!” Or for dead pipers? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![TBortz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/91b2a8/32.png) [@TBortz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBortz)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soldiers-still-piped-into-battle/553717/20 "2010-09-17T04:17:51Z")
Have a picture in my mind of a piper with kilt flapping in the wind, sprinting desperately in a vain attempt to keep up with a Challenger II. Captions would be welcome for what the Tank commander is saying. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soldiers-still-piped-into-battle/553717.md?page=2)