THE HIGHLAND LIGHT INFANTRY
1st Battalion
During the first six months of the war 7 pipers were killed, 8 were wounded and 2 were taken prisoner. These casualties mostly occurred at Festubert in December 1914, and later at Neuve Chapelle. They were then withdrawn from the front lines. Subsequently they were employed as bearers, ammunition carriers, etc.
| REG. NO. RANK. | NAME. | RECORD. | |
| 11281 | Pipe Major | R. Sutherland | |
| 6894 | Sergt. | D. Buchan | Killed, Festubert, 19-21/12/14. |
| 10774 | Corpl. | A. Godsman, D.C.M. | Wounded, Neuve Chapelle, 12/1/15; D.C.M. and Order of St. George. |
| 7918 | Piper | W. White | |
| 9615 | " | C. Stewart | Killed, Ypres, 1/5/15. |
| 10116 | " | J. M'Grory | Wounded, Festubert, 19-21/12/14. |
| 10258 | " | H. Cater | |
| 10107 | " | F. Burns | Killed, Festubert, 19-21/12/14. |
| 11356 | " | C. Wilson | |
| 9860 | " | T. James | Killed, Festubert, 19-21/12/14. |
| 11782 | " | D. Sutherland | Wounded, Neuve Chapelle, 11-14/3/15. |
| 11685 | " | A. Bain | Wounded, Neuve Chapelle, 14/3/15. |
| 9011 | " | J. Morrison | Killed, Festubert, 19-21/12/14. |
| 10579 | " | T. Jackson | |
| 11124 | " | J. M'Donald | Prisoner of war, Festubert, 19-21/12/14. |
| 11718 | " | R. M'Leish | |
| 11470 | " | J. Smith | Wounded, Festubert, 19-21/12/14; wounded, Richebourg, 6/10/15; died, 7/9/16. |
| 11533 | " | J. Johnstone | Prisoner of war, Festubert, 19-21/12/14. |
| 11499 | " | J. M'Naught | Killed, Festubert, 19-21/12/14. |
| 10383 | Corpl. | D. Chisholm | Wounded, Ypres, 23/10/14. |
| Lance-Cpl. | Mitchell | Killed, Verneuil, 18/9/14. | |
| 10010 | Piper | Gault | Wounded, Rue du Bois, 17/5/15. |
| 11468 | Corpl. | J. Smith | Wounded, Ypres, 22/10/14; died enteric. |
| 12064 | Lance-Cpl. | A. Craig | |
| 12061 | Piper | A. Mackay | |
| 12106 | " | C. Bald | |
2nd Battalion
Of the original band of thirteen men all but two were killed or wounded in the first few months of the war. While they lasted they acted as pipers as well as in the ranks. From May 1915 to May 1916 there was practically no band, and, when reconstituted, the men were kept out of the front line as far as possible.
| REG. NO. RANK. | NAME. | RECORD. | |
| 9728 | Pipe Major | W. Young | |
| 10713 | Lance-Cpl. | L. M'Kinnon | Wounded, 21/10/14. |
| 11448 | " | J. Smith | Wounded, 21/10/14; died of enteric. |
| 11480 | Piper | J. Brown | |
| 10478 | " | J. Bruce | |
| 9029 | " | J. Campbell | Wounded, 2/11/14. |
| 7721 | " | W. Haines | Wounded, 17/5/15, Ypres. |
| 11945 | " | R. Henderson | Wounded, 18/5/15, Ypres. |
| 10976 | " | J. Irving | Killed, 3/11/14. |
| 11137 | " | A. Morrow | Wounded, 24/8/14; taken prisoner. |
| 11614 | " | A. Macdonald | |
| 11627 | " | J. Smith | Wounded, 3/12/17. |
| 9272 | Corpl. | J. Mackenzie | Killed, 21/10/14. |
| 7885 | Piper | J. Dale | |
| 7943 | Corpl. | J. Robertson | |
| 7886 | Piper | J. Gibson | |
| 35100 | " | J. Morgan | |
| 33119 | " | R. Morrison | |
| 35123 | " | R. Macnaughton | |
| 8515 | " | W. Peil | |
| 6978 | " | A. Williamson | |
| 7472 | Sergt. | C. W. Johnstone | |
| 9387 | Piper | A. Macneilage | Twice wounded. |
| 7270 | " | D. Macintyre | |
| 9280 | " | R. Stein | |
| 331117 | " | W. Gunn | |
| 332186 | " | H. Campbell | |
| 331230 | " | J. Menzies | |
| 330068 | " | A. Ogilvie | |
| 330070 | " | R. Wilder | Wounded. |
| 327119 | " | W. White | |
| 3970 | " | J. Macrae | |
| 10264 | Sergt. | T. Findlay | Killed, Neuve Chapelle, 14/3/15. |
| 220217 | Piper | J. Reid | |
| 12302 | " | D. Bonnar | |
5th Battalion
In Gallipoli, in 1915, practically all the pipers became casualties within a very short time, and, until the end of 1916, there was no band at all. It was then decided to keep the band out of the firing line as far as possible.
| REG. NO. RANK. | NAME. | RECORD. | |
| 306 | Pipe Major | John Thomson | Killed, 12/7/15, Dardanelles. |
| 3601 | " | A. Purdie | |
| 201571 | " | A. Arthur | |
| 309 | Lance-Cpl. | J. B. Day | Invalided. |
| 280313 | " | D. J. Cameron | |
| 330041 | " | R. Agnew | |
| 1596 | Piper | J. Reid | |
| 1233 | " | G. Cameron | Invalided. |
| 1317 | " | J. Smith | Invalided. |
| 201259 | " | J. Connelly | Invalided. |
| 201330 | " | T. Clelland | Invalided. |
| 203064 | " | A. Thomson | |
| 12226 | " | C. Kennedy | |
| 200170 | " | R. Reid | |
| 200601 | " | J. Pithie | |
| 18263 | " | A. Davie | |
| 240633 | " | M. Watson | |
6th Battalion
The pipers were employed in the ranks while the battalion was in Gallipoli, but, in attacks, the pipers played their companies. On 12th July, Piper M'Niven was killed while playing the charge, in an attack on the Turkish forts. Most of the original band were killed or wounded on the Peninsula, and, when reconstituted, it was decided to keep them out of action as far as possible.
7th Battalion
On several occasions in Gallipoli the battalion was played to the attack by pipers. Piper Maclennan was awarded the D.C.M. Piper Macfarlane had the drones blown off his pipes. The acting pipers served in the ranks or as bearers. Piper D. Cameron was mentioned in despatches for conspicuous bravery in playing his company over the top, and right on to the enemy trenches. These men also did great work in bringing up water for the wounded under heavy fire, and ammunition.
| REG. NO. RANK. | NAME. | RECORD. | |
| Pipe Major | William Ferguson | ||
| 1914 | Piper | Kenneth Maclennan, D.C.M. | D.C.M., 12/7/15. |
| 1901 | " | D. J. Cameron | Despatches, 12/7/15. |
| " | Donald Macfarlane | Wounded. | |
| " | William Paterson | ||
| " | Donald Lamont | ||
| " | J. G. Mackenzie | ||
| " | Ritchie Graham | ||
| " | James Carruthers | ||
| " | John Scott | ||
8th Battalion
The battalion was disbanded early in the war, and the pipers were distributed to other units.
9th Battalion
At first pipers were used as orderlies, ammunition carriers, and similar duties; and, after active operations, as bearers. As far as possible they were, however, kept out of the front line, as being too valuable to lose. On one occasion, when the battalion had to make a demonstration to test the strength of the enemy, pipers were sent up to the front line to play. Pipe Major MacDiarmid was awarded the Military Medal.
| REG. NO. RANK. | NAME. | RECORD. | |
| Pipe Major | T. Baillie | Discharged after 31 years' service. | |
| 330075 | " | A. B. MacDiarmid, M.M. | Awarded M.M. |
| 330167 | Lance-Sgt. | T. J. Kelly | Wounded, 25/1/15. |
| 330115 | Lance-Cpl. | G. C. Blackadder | |
| Piper | R. Agnew | Invalided home. | |
| 331499 | " | D. Barrie | |
| 331044 | " | W. Baird | |
| 56645 | " | J. D. Buchanan | |
| 330304 | " | R. Blackadder | |
| " | C. Brown | Wounded, May 1915. | |
| 333792 | " | T. Crawford | Died of wounds. |
| 330310 | " | T. M. Fraser | Wounded, 24/3/18. |
| 241138 | " | K. Fraser | Wounded, 22/3/18. |
| " | W. Gibson | Wounded, 24/3/18; discharged. | |
| " | J. Hall | Invalided home. | |
| 1666 | " | J. Drummond | Killed in action, June 1915. |
| 333113 | " | W. Imlay | Wounded, 13/4/18. |
| 331077 | " | R. Johnston | |
| 330834 | " | W. Kennedy | |
| 333269 | " | P. M'Arthur | Invalided home, 17/4/15; discharged, 14/6/15; recalled, 1/9/16. |
| 333138 | " | G. M'Creath | Died of wounds, Oct. 1918. |
| " | J. M'Donald | Wounded, 25/9/15. | |
| 333162 | " | J. B. M'Nee | |
| 332318 | " | J. M'Gilvray | Wounded, 24/3/18. |
| 330865 | " | G. M'Gregor | |
| " | A. Ogilvie | Wounded, July 1915. | |
| 331564 | " | W. Robertson | Wounded, 22/3/18. |
| 333729 | " | R. Ross | |
| 333137 | " | H. Stark | Wounded, 27/9/17. |
| 331198 | " | H. Simpson | Wounded, 24/3/18; discharged. |
| 331579 | " | J. Stewart | |
| " | H. Wilder | Invalided. | |
10th Battalion
Pipers were occasionally employed as bearers, but were usually kept out of the front line. Nearly all the original pipe band were killed or wounded at Cambrai on 25th September, 1915.
| REG. NO. RANK. | NAME. | RECORD. | |
| 7682 | Pipe Major | E. Richardson | Transferred to 12th H.L.I. |
| 2747 | " | C. Cameron | |
| 9016 | Piper | Charles M'Gregor | Gassed and wounded, Cambrai, 25/9/15. |
| 12562 | " | Alex. Whitefield | Killed, Cambrai, 25/9/15. |
| 17174 | " | J. Webster | Invalided. |
| 902 | Lance-Cpl. | David Donaldson | Killed, Festubert, 9/7/15. |
| 1988 | Piper | Andrew Thomson | Wounded, Cambrai, 25/9/15. |
| 1991 | " | W. Currie | |
| 9628 | Lance-Cpl. | D. Sutherland | |
| 19858 | " | J. Rose | |
| 17805 | Piper | P. M'Intyre | Gassed, Cambrai, 25/9/15, died, 8/11/18. |
| 21233 | " | J. M'Lennan | |
| 40166 | " | J. Duguid | |
| 40091 | " | J. M'Kenzie | |
| 240908 | " | J. Mackay | |
| " | J. Cunningham | ||
| 355667 | " | D. M'Nicol | |
12th Battalion
During trench warfare the pipers acted as orderlies, stretcher bearers and the like; in engagements, however, they took part as company pipers. So many casualties occurred in the Loos action in Sept. 1915 that there was only one survivor. The band ceased to exist until the following spring, and it was then decided to allow only half of the pipers to go up into the line or into action.
During the battles of the Somme, 1916, and Arras, 1917, the companies were played into action by one piper each; casualties occurring among them, it was decided again to withdraw them from the front; and they took no part in the fighting at Ypres, 1917.
During the last phase of the war, the attack in Flanders on 28th Sept. 1918, the pipers played their companies throughout their triumphant attacks on the Germans.
The C.O. of the battalion says: "I cannot speak too highly of the work done by the pipers of this unit. There is nothing I can think of which has added more to the esprit de corps of the men, which has enabled them to put up with misery and discomfort and which has given them the inspiration necessary to accomplish what had appeared at first sight an impossibility."
| REG. NO. RANK. | NAME. | RECORD. | |
| Pipe Major | E. Richardson | ||
| Sergt. | William Pierce | Killed, Somme, August, 1916. | |
| Corpl. | Allan M'Nicol, M.M. | Despatches, Loos, and Hill 70, 25/9/15; Military Medal. | |
| Piper | Thomas Spendlove | Wounded, Ypres, 8/10/14. | |
| " | Jack Smith | Wounded, Cambrai, 5/12/17. | |
| " | George M'Kay | Wounded, Somme, 1/7/16. | |
| " | Peter Kennedy | ||
| " | William Taylor | ||
| " | Robert Comloquoy | ||
| " | Robert Bell | ||
| " | William Anderson | ||
| " | Donald M'Pherson | ||
| " | John M'Ghee | ||
| " | David Robertson | ||
| " | William Thompson | Killed, Arras, April 1917. | |
| " | George Tullis | Invalided. | |
| " | Malcolm M'Lean | Wounded, Arras, April 1917. | |
| " | John Morrison | Wounded, Albert, 17/9/16. | |
| " | William Barclay | Wounded, Albert, 17/9/16. | |
| " | Robert Weir | Wounded, Albert, 17/9/16. | |
| " | John M'Kean | Killed, Loos 25/9/15. | |
| Lance-Sgt. | Alex. M'Kay | Wounded, Loos, 25/9/15. | |
14th Battalion
Pipers played their companies into action on the Somme and at Bourlon Wood.
| REG. NO. RANK. | NAME. | RECORD. | |
| Pipe Major | A. Hynd | ||
| Sergt. | G. Taylor | ||
| Lance-Cpl. | J. M'Cormack | ||
| Piper | J. Connly | ||
| " | J. Mann | ||
| " | T. Kennedy | ||
| " | J. Wilson | ||
| " | Sutherland | ||
| " | T. Pirie | ||
| " | A. Phinn | ||
| " | J. Gordon | ||
| " | P. Thomson | Killed, 29/4/17. | |
15th Battalion
At Thiepval and Beaumont Hamel the pipers lost very heavily when leading their companies, and, as a consequence, it was found necessary afterwards to keep them in the reserve line. In April 1918, on account of heavy casualties in the battalion, they had to be employed in the ranks, and suffered very heavily; of 20 pipers all but 3 became casualties, mostly through being gassed at Ayette. Within a month, however, the band was reconstituted.
| REG. NO. RANK. | NAME. | RECORD. | |
| 973 | Pipe Major | N. M'Lellan | Gassed, 13/4/18; invalided. |
| 16084 | " | T. Gilbert, M.M. | From 17th H.L.I. |
| 13374 | " | J. Park | Wounded, 14/10/17; gassed, 13/4/18; invalided. |
| 14078 | Piper | J. Kilpatrick | Wounded, 1/7/16. |
| 1020 | " | C. Logan | Gassed, 13/4/18; invalided. |
| 13591 | " | D. Keenan | Wounded, 10/5/16; invalided. |
| 13356 | " | R. Hough | |
| 15497 | " | J. Burleigh | Gassed, 13/4/18. |
| 36456 | " | T. Marr | Wounded, Loos, 25/9/15. |
| 36455 | " | W. Marr | Wounded, May 1916. |
| 13601 | " | J. Reid | |
| 13706 | " | R. Gillies | Wounded, 2/7/16; gassed, 13/4/18. |
| 10010 | " | J. Gault | Gassed, 13/4/18. |
| 28093 | " | A. J. Macdonald | Gassed, 13/4/18. |
| 350254 | " | T. Graham | |
| 280889 | " | A. Gray | Wounded, Aug. 1918. |
| 281053 | " | W. Brown | Gassed, 13/4/18. |
| 280979 | " | J. Bryson | Gassed, 13/4/18. |
| 15719 | " | H. M'Arthur | Gassed, 13/4/18. |
| 14304 | " | A. F. Watson | Wounded, 13/4/18. |
| 353152 | " | D. M'Kenzie | Killed, Ayette, 13/4/18. |
| 15296 | " | C. Galloway | Gassed, 13/4/18. |
| 10108 | " | W. M'Lelland | Invalided. |
| 200601 | " | J. Pithie | Gassed, 13/4/18. |
| 54366 | " | W. M'Nair | |
| 58009 | " | M. M'Lean | |
| 50267 | " | T. Orr | |
| 56597 | " | A. Millan | |
16th Battalion
The pipers were employed chiefly as bearers.
On 1st July, 1916, at Thiepval the pipers played the battalion over with the loss of two killed and two wounded. The band was then withdrawn as far as possible from the front, except occasionally as stretcher bearers. It was felt by all ranks that pipers were too valuable an institution to lose.
| REG. NO. RANK. | NAME. | RECORD. | |
| Pipe Major | W. M'Combe, M.M. | ||
| " | T. Richardson, M.M. | ||
| Lance-Cpl. | W. Orr | Killed, 1/7/16. | |
| " | P. Murray | ||
| Piper | R. Alexander | ||
| " | J. Watson | Wounded, 1/7/16. | |
| " | R. Baird | ||
| " | B. Fraser | Wounded, 1/7/16. | |
| Lance-Cpl. | L. Armourer | ||
| Piper | A. Rankine | Killed, 1/7/16. | |
| " | R. M'Kay | ||
| " | R. Watson | ||
| " | R. Barclay | ||
| " | J. Fogo | ||
| " | R. Hunter | ||
| " | J. Hoy | ||
| " | J. M'Donald | ||
| " | H. Barrie | ||
| " | T. Porteous | ||
| " | D. Bell | ||
| " | D. Macintosh | ||
| " | G. Bell | ||
| " | W. Coutts | ||
| " | J. Bruce | ||
| " | A. MacPherson | ||
| " | R. Hope | ||
| Lance-Cpl. | W. Hendry | ||
| Corpl. | R. Brown | ||
17th Battalion
In the attack on the Leipzig Redoubt on 1st July, 1916, when the battalion had to hang on unsupported to a part of the captured Leipzig Redoubt, the pipers played and did an immense deal in keeping the men's spirits up. Pipe Major Gilbert on this occasion won the Military Medal. The casualties in this attack put the pipe band out of action, and the pipers were thereafter kept, as far as possible, out of the front line. The battalion was subsequently merged in the 15th H.L.I.
| REG. NO. RANK. | NAME. | RECORD. | |
| Pipe Major | T. Gilbert, M.M. | Military Medal, July 1916; despatches, July 1917; transferred to 15th H.L.I. | |
| Corpl. | John Burleigh | Gassed, April 1918; transferred to 15th H.L.I. | |
| " | Charles Galloway | Wounded, Nieuport, 10/7/17; promoted for gallantry, 1/7/16; gassed, Arras, April 1918. | |
| Lance-Cpl. | James M'Munn | Wounded, 1/7/16, Somme; again, in Egypt; transferred to 7th H.L.I. | |
| Piper | Archibald Forrest | Received Commission; died of disease, 1918. | |
| " | Hugh M'Arthur | Gassed, Arras, April 1918; transferred to 15th H.L.I. | |
| " | Archibald Carmichael | Wounded, Nieuport, 10/7/17. | |