History - New Zealand Pipers in
WWII
No established New Zealand regiments served overseas during WWII, and neither therefore
did any of the regimental bands. Rather, players who had enlisted as soldiers in the
various Battalions of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force formed their own bands. One
of these was the Pipes & Drums of the 22nd Battalion which was formed from the ranks
while training at Trentham Camp. It appears that this band went through several
incarnations in its short life, becoming the New Zealand Division Pipes & Drums in the
Western Desert and later the J-Force Pipes & Drums. But the beginnings of these bands
can be traced to the 22nd Battalion at Trentham.
The 22nd Battalion was commanded by Colonel
Andrew VC, the former Adjutant of the Wellington Regiment. He is pictured with the Pipes
& Drums in the 1937 band photo in the introduction).
"Old February", as he was known for his habit of awarding 28 days confinement as
a standard punishment, had obviously retained his affection for the skirl of the pipes!
The pipes and drums were paid for by the
donation of the members of the New Zealand Pipe Band Association under its then President
Ian Cameron. The Battalion march was the Piobaireachd of Donald Dhu.
Several players, including Pipe Major Cameron, hailed from the Pipes & Drums of the
Wanganui West Coast Regiment. As the 5th Battalion RNZIR this regiment
currently has a Pipes & Drums, the band having been reformed several times since the
War.
Robin Loomes (Wanganui) notes that General
Freyberg authorised the band on the condition that the officers were responsible for it
and that the members were soldiers first and bandsmen second. Nonethless it does appear
that the band later became a "professional" one. The band played at the
Battalion's first parade at 7:00 pm, 18th January 1940, in Trentham with six pipers and
six drummers.
2NZEF was transported to Egypt for training
and then shipped to Greece in the abortive attempt to stem the German advance into the
Balkans. After the futile attempt to hold the Aliakmon line (without adequate anti-tank
weaponry or armour) the New Zealand Division was outflanked by the German advance through
the Menastir Gap and thrown into full flight - setting a "bayonets vs tanks &
planes" precedent for both Crete and Mersa Matruh. Transport was chaotic, with the
Luftwaffe pursuing the retreating army (which was largely on foot) right until Athens. The
bagpipes and Battalion drums had to be left behind. Popular legend has it that Colonel
Andrew himself went back at great personal danger to destroy the pipes and drums so that
they would not fall into enemy hands. The Official History of the 22nd
Battalion records that a subaltern in fact accomplished this task with several hand
grenades. In the 2NZEF, unlike British Regiments, the pipes and drums were strictly
"extra-curricular" and the additional effort required to save the instruments,
in the circumstances of an already under-equipped army in rout, could not be
justified.
Most of the New Zealand Division then went
to defend Crete. During the battle (which saw the first large scale use of paratroopers)
Colonel Andrew, after repeated requests for assistance which inexplicably went unanswered,
was eventually forced to withdraw the 22nd Battalion from Maleme airport. This
set in motion the irrevocable train of events that led to total defeat of the allied
forces on the island. Those parts of the New Zealand Division that had escaped were sent
to Egypt to take part in the Western Desert campaign.
The 22nd Battalion pipe band was reformed
with new pipes and drums which had again been procured by the efforts of Ian Cameron and
the Pipe Band Association. Many of the new pipes were made by Neill McPhee of Wellington.
These pipes stayed with the Pipes & Drums until about 1947 when they were passed onto
a unit serving in Korea. Their whereabouts now is unknown. The Association also presented
a set of pipes to Colonel Andrew personally, but for the use of the band, and these were a
proud possession of his after the War. Other players, such as Cecil Hayes (Invercargill),
took their own pipes with them on active service - Cecil still plays his!
The fortunes of the "new" 22nd
Battalion band were happier and it quickly grew in size. It seems to have had de facto
status as the band for the entire New Zealand Division. Many members were from other
battalions, including Lt Hugh Montgomery from the 23rd Battalion. He was bandmaster,
teacher, and a piper too having been a successful solo competitor before the War. He
hand-wrote tutor notes and was able to acquire practice chanters from a shop in Cairo! One
member of the Wellington Regiment (at least) played in this band and that was Bill
Chisholm, a member of the Pipes & Drums both before and after the War. According to
Andrew Anderson (Mangakino) most of the players in this band were 4th or 5th reinforcement
men, many with their own pipes. Andrew had earlier been appointed personal piper to
Colonel McLeod O.C. Troopship Mauretania, playing in the mess every night from Lyttleton
to Port Tufick - "loved by some, hated by others" as he notes!
The band had its work cut out in the
desert. It recorded a concert programme for the BBC, played for the long route marches
through the desert and provided entertainment in the Division camps, notably at Maadi. The
band was even sent on a "propaganda" tour through Syria. Andrew Anderson notes
that the band was basically unchanged for two years from 1941, during which time it played
for Churchill, Eden, New Zealand Prime Minister Peter Fraser, and even Montgomery himself
just prior to El Alamein. |
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