Bill Millin Reenactor

[Kilted Karl]

Dear Rabble,

I started a thread a little while back (http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...ns-kilt-80390/) asking for help with Bill Millin's kilt. I have been hard at work since then but have had very little to show for it. I have received a lot of help and encouragement from the rabble and would like to finally show you what I have been working on for the last two years.



This is just the uniform. Photos of full D-Day kit will, hopefully, follow someday soon.

The F~S knife, Lovat Scouts Badge, Belt, and Puttees, are original. Everything else is reproduction. Please pardon the incorrect boots, my ammo boots are in the mail.



The Kilt, sporran, Sigan Dubh, and F~S knife sheath were made by me. The Kilt (the second one that I have made) is a Cameron Highlanders "Military Box" pleated kilt in the Cameron of Erracht tartan.

And even though it is a commando beret and not a RR bonnet...

I had to do one with the look

Sincerely,

:ootd: Karl

[kiltedtom]

Karl,

Everything looks excellent! I can see why it took you quite a while to finish. Congratulations on a job well done.

Tom

[Liam]

Well done!

[OC Richard]

What a beautiful kilt! I've long wanted one of those, I've always liked the pipers' kit of The Cameron Highlanders.

Having long been a re-enactor myself (though dormant through long stretches) and having looked through many hundreds of WWII military photos, I wonder about a few things.

The caveat is that my familiarity is with ordinary British military dress, including pipers' dress, in WWII.

What I don't know anything about is if this individual was known to appear in non-standard dress (like Generals Montgomery and Patton were).

Reenactors have fanatical eyes for detail... may I offer some images...

[Micric]

That's a bonny kilt. That and the battledress both fit perfectly I would say. Congrats!

Not sure how well a F~S will say down the hose. Awful heavy handle on those!
Maybe the wrap -around puttees should be would up the leg a little. Not much,.... but just enough to show the overlaps on the lower side. Makes them less bulky- looking.
Not meant as fault -finding, more constructive.....
Again a wonderful job, and one I could never tackle!

Richard.

[Kilted Karl]

OC Richard and Micric,

Thank you for your helpful comments!

OC Richard, I believe you must be right about the badge, do you have any idea where I could get one like you have pictured?

The sporran I have is an exact replica (as exact as I could get from pictures) of Mr. Millins personal sporran and it definitely did not have a stud fastener like the one you posted.

The interesting thing about Mr. Millin is that he was a Commando, one of the demonstrators at Achnacharry Castle and was not an official bagpiper. His playing on D-Day was something of a made up on the fly sort of a thing so his uniform is an interesting combination of standard items and personal things.

OC Richard, do you know where I could get some of the scarlet Military garters and hose you mention?

Bill Millin wore a Commando beret same as the other Commandos.

Once again, Thank you very much for your helpful comments!

Sincerely,

:ootd: Karl

[Kilted Karl]

is this right? http://www.ebay.com/itm/121531204854...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

:ootd: Karl

[Dughlas mor]

A fantastic job on everything, especially the kilt. Very impressive!

[James Hood]

Karl, the photos are great, thank you.

Great attention to detail. You pay deep, respectful homage to Commando Piper Millin.

[OC Richard]

The interesting thing about Mr. Millin is that he was a Commando... not an official bagpiper... his uniform is an interesting combination of standard items and personal things.

I was suspecting something like that. His specific dress on D-Day then would be a nonstandard thing, and could only be based on photographs made that day, if one were to be strictly accurate (which I say because memory can be faulty, and relics said to be worn by a particular person on a particular day cannot be proven to be such, but may have been acquired later, or owned but not worn, etc). So it's a very difficult task for the re-enactor!

So, if he were not a regimental piper, would he have worn the piper's trade badge? Perhaps he sewed them on his jacket on his own authority? In any case actual regimental pipers wore the British khaki (US olive drab) trade badges on Service Dress and Battledress, not the gold bullion-on-Archer green ones which would have been worn with Full Dress (officially retired, by the way, in 1914). But who knows? He might have got a pair of Full Dress pipers' trade badges somewhere and sewed them on. Anyhow the khaki Service Dress pipers' trade badges are still worn in the Army and are widely available.

The sporran, I feel, is civilian. (EDIT: the sporran displayed appears to be a modified army one.) Is there any photographic evidence that he wore that sporran on D-Day? He could have got it post-war. The closest issue MOD sporran was the one I posted a pic of.

The MOD issue hose had plain ribbed cuffs like the ones worn by Pipe Major John MacLellan pictured above. Civilian kilt hose with diamond pattern cuffs weren't ever worn, AFAIK, in the Army. The colour was usually British khaki (US olive drab) but Black Watch officers and senior NCOs seem to have worn light khaki (beige) ones, and officers of at least one Highland regiment seemed to have worn Lovat ones, in WWII. What Price Glory sells reproductions of the typical WWI/WWII Highland regiment khaki hose. But as you say his dress was personal, not issue, so he might well have worn civilian hose such as the ones you're wearing there.

The plain worsted scarlet flashes are still worn in the Army and are widely available.

Here's some of the variety seen in piper's dress in WWII. Note various colours of puttees, various hose, the usual lack of sporrans, etc



pipers in the war zone 1944



taken post-war, but showing the WWII style dress of the Black Watch pipers (except for the 1947 pattern Battle Dress jackets). Note the Pipe Major's lighter-coloured hose and puttees, and the typical Black Watch thing of having light-coloured binding staps on their dark puttees



here's a variety of regimental pipers' dress in the immediate post-war period (note the 1947 pattern Battle Dress jackets with open lapels)