A bagpiper hailed a D-Day hero has been presented with a model of a statue which will be built in his honour by the French.
Bill Millin, who stays in Dawlish in Devon but was originally from Glasgow, is soon to be immortalised in a life-size bronze statue near where he braved German bullets to pipe Allied troops ashore during the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944.
Mr Millin, 86 is being honoured with the 10ft statute by the mayor and people of Colleville-Montgomery for his part in their liberation from the Germans. Led by Serge Athenour de Gourdon, chairman of the Mary Queen of Scots Pipe Band of France, the French officials, including the sculptor, visited Mr Millin in Dawlish on Thursday to show him a model of the statue.
He met with the French party at his care home before attending a reception hosted by the Mayor of Dawlish, Geoff Wills. The wooden model of the statue was presented in a box to Mr Millin and he turned out in a kilt to mark the occasion.
He has been kept updated with progress on the project and has been sent photographs. Mr Millin is recovering from a recent stroke and uses an electric wheelchair.
"It is a good likeness, I was 21 then, very young," he said. "It is very good of the French to do this for me. I am very pleased with it and I am looking forward to seeing the finished statue. I hope to go out to France for the unveiling on June 6 next year."
Unarmed Mr Millin's pipes led the 1st Commando Brigade under heavy German fire as it stormed Sword Beach near Colleville on the first day of the Normandy landings.
The military high command had ordered pipers not to play because of fears over the level of casualties. But that decision was ignored by the brigade's commander Lord Lovat, who ordered Mr Millin to lead his troops ashore to the sound of Highland Laddie, Blue Bonnets over the Border and Road to the Isles.
Mr Millin was the only soldier wearing a kilt, which was also worn by his father in the trenches during the First World War. It is said that his actions amused the German soldiers and some have claimed they did not shoot him because they thought he was mad, earning him the nickname the 'mad piper'.
His exploits were featured in the film The Longest Day and he is a celebrated hero in France. Nigel Morris is the manager of the Palm Court care home where Mr Millin is a much-loved resident.
He said: "Bill likes the limelight and he is a very engaging chap. He will say of himself that he was mad, he was just 21 and going over there with a prestigious position as Lord Lovat's personal piper.
"He said to him 'what do you want me to do?' and Lord Lovat told him to just walk up and down the beach playing the pipes. With all the Germans firing they are discussing which songs he should play."
Mr Morris said the French artist has been emailing the care home to ask Mr Millin questions about how he looked on D-Day.
"They have been emailing us asking questions, they want to know how he wore the kilt and which arm did he have his pipes under, they want to get every detail right," he said.
"For the French he has become an iconic figure. He was just a private, he was the common soldier, so this statue is not just for Bill it is for all the non-commissioned soldiers.
"He really does live life to the fullest that he can and I think that has always been his motto."
