Pipers pay tribute to fallen in Vietnam
TWO pipers from the Victoria Scottish Regiment Association in Australia had the honour of play- ing in two prestigious events in Vietnam recently. Iain Townsley and Roy Gilmour were asked to pipe at the opening of the Worldwide Arms Museum in the city of Vung Tau on January 7. Museum owner, British businessman Robert Taylor,
invited the two pipers to fly out from Melbourne and Iain, originally from Girvan in Ayrshire, and Roy, originally from Paisley, played from the turrets of the building for the opening ceremony.
The new museum has around 1200 guns, 1000 swords and hundreds of military uniforms, forming one of the largest collections of its type in the world. Officials from the Ministry of Culture in Hanoi were so impressed with the event that they agreed to a request on behalf of the Vietnam veteran com- munity in Vung Tau to allow the pipers to play at the Long Tan Cross for a special service the following day. The memorial stands on the site of a brutal firefight between an Australian Company from 6 Royal Austral- ian Regiment and Viet Cong forces in 1966, close to the village of Long Tan in South Vietnam. Permission to build the memorial was originally granted more than 40 years ago by Vietnamese gov- ernment with the agreement that visitors would not wear uniforms, medals, play music or display national flags.
However on this occasion, the government officials allowed the pipers to play and to wear their uniforms and medals.
It’s thought to have been the first time the pipes have been heard at the Cross since the memorial was dedicated in 1969.
Irish Piobaireachd Society
2012 competition results THE 2012 season started in style for Alastair Dunn, right, with a triumph in the annual Irish Piobaireachd Society contest. The event, sponsored by
Wexford County Council and R.G. Hardie, was held in Gorey, County Wexford on Saturday, January 28. The results were as fol-
lows:
Overall Winner — Alastair Dunn
Beginners Piobaireachd — 1. Ciara O’Connor Intermediate Piobaireachd — 1. Collette O’Connor; 2. Gerh Neville
Open Piobaireachd —1. Ben Greeves; 2. Connor Sinclair; 3. Con Houlihan
Former Winners Piobaireachd — 1. Alastair Dunn; 2. Andy Wilson; 3. John Leamy
Former Winners MSR —1. Alastair Dunn; 2. Andy Wilson; 3. Peter Donan. The event was judged by Tom Spiers, Edinburgh.
PIPING TODAY • 6
Iain Townsley and Roy Gilmour at the Long Tan Cross memorial in Vietnam
Iain and Roy marched to the monument and played the lament Flowers of the Forest. Iain, who is a member of the SAS Association, also played a piobaireachd The Company’s Lament in honour of the fallen and surviving members of D Company 6 RAR.
Glenn Nolan, a former member of 6 RAR who runs News in brief...
INVERARAy and District Piping Association stage their Junior Piping and Drumming Competition on Saturday, April 7. The venue for the contest is Inveraray
Primary School and the event starts at approxi- mately 10.30am. Entries will be accepted until Friday, March 23. For further details of the competition cat- egories
and to download an entry form, go to
www.thepipingcentre.co.uk/news. l BUCKSBURN and District Pipe Band are proving they’re bright sparks — staging a concert called Reignited. They’ll share the bill with the high-flying Grade 1 band Inveraray and District for a performance at Aberdeen Music Hall on March 10. It follows their sell-out Fired Up gig last year which featured Boghall and Bathgate Pipe Band. Tickets are £17 and are available from
www.boxofficeraberdeen.com. l COMPETITION is hotting up in the Scots Guards knockout competition. The semi-final between Glenn Brown and Keith
a tour company in Vung Tau, said the performance at Long Tan was “extremely moving”. He added: “There wasn’t a dry eye. The hairs stood up on the back of everyone’s necks as the notes from the pipes resounded through the plantation. It was a moving ceremony to say the least and the pipers were magnificent.”
Bowes takes place on March 18 at the Scots Guards Club, Clifton Terrace, Edinburgh. The final will be held on April 22 at the same venue.
Both events start at 4pm. Tickets are priced £10 and include supper. For more details, call 0131 337 1084. l LOVE is in the air at The National Piping Centre, which is playing host to a wedding show on Sunday, March 25.
The event will showcase the NPC as a wedding venue as well as giving brides and grooms-to-be the chance to see some of Glasgow’s top wedding suppliers all under one roof. Exhibitors include first-class pipers, wedding bands, DJs, Celtic musicians, photographers, kilt hire firms, jewellers and cake makers. For tickets, email hotel@the
pipingcentre.co.uk.
l yOUNG pipers have another chance to show off their skills at the Kintyre Piping Society Junior Competition. It takes place on Saturday, April 21 in Castlehill
Primary School, Campbeltown, from 9.30am. The closing date for entries in April 14. For more information on the event and how to take part email
kintyrepiping@btinternet.com.
NEWS
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