HE BECAME famous for his bagpiping skills in the Italian town which he helped liberate from Nazi forces during the Second World War.
Following his death in January, fans of David “The Mad Piper” Kirkpatrick – who wore a kilt as he parachuted behind enemy lines into Albinea in the Emilia-Romagna region – are making pilgrimages to his grave in Girvan, South Ayrshire.
Mr Kirkpatrick began the war in the Highland Light Infantry, but was summoned to the newly formed SAS for a top secret mission in March 1945.
Read more: Nicola Sturgeon refuses to endorse shale gas imports despite huge jobs boost
He parachuted behind enemy lines into the town, north of Bologna, as part of Operation Tombola and provided the stirring bagpiping soundtrack to a raid on Nazi forces there.
Vitally, his music also gave the impression that the attackers were a solely British force when in reality dozens of Italian freedom fighters were participating.
The tactic saved hundreds of lives in Albinea as Nazi policy at the time was to kill ten local civilians for each of their own soldiers killed in a partisan attack.
Mr Kirkpatrick died at Girvan Community Hospital aged 91, to little fanfare in his own country. But now his life and times are being celebrated by a cult following in Albinea.
Read more: Nicola Sturgeon refuses to endorse shale gas imports despite huge jobs boost
Italian fans are making international pilgrimages to his grave, publishing books in his honour and penning folk songs dedicated to the man they call “un poeta guerriero” – a poet warrior.
Albinea’s mayor sent a telegram to his funeral, there are even talks of a museum being built in his honour.
Details of his fans’ exploits are being shared on social media.
One image shows David’s grave, in a photograph taken by pilgrim Matteo Incerti, who has also written a book on Mr Kirkpatrick. Prior to his death Italian Celtic folk band the Modena City Ramblers have also released a song dedicated to him, titled “The Brave Scottish Piper”, with the line “he’s the brave Scottish piper coming from the skies”.
The Italian-run Facebook page is littered with other tributes with some calling him a “real hero”.
Read more: Nicola Sturgeon refuses to endorse shale gas imports despite huge jobs boost
David’s son, Lee Kirkpatrick, 50, said: “He’s a local hero. With all the Germans they killed that night – I think it was 80 – they would have gone out and wiped out the whole village.
“They see it as they’re all alive because of my father.”
Council worker Mr Kirkpatrick said: “He didn’t talk about the war at all so nobody back here knew about it.”
Mr Kirkpatrick’s son has hosted Italian fans of his father, and has also visited Albinea twice for reenactments of the raid, playing the part of his father. Mr Kirkpatrick, of Elgin, who previously served in the Air Force, said the experience was a “very emotional” one. The story of David “The Mad Piper” Kirkpatrick is hidden away in the records of SAS history.
As part of Operation Tombola on March 1945 he was parachuted into Italy to meet with an SAS force led by Major Roy Farran, which was harrying German troops across the Italian countryside.
Mr Farran said he ordered the musical accompaniment “to stir up the romantic Italian mind and to gratify my own vanity”.
Mr Kirkpatrick famously parachuted wearing a kilt, leading observers to believe that a woman was falling from the skies. On March 26, Mr Kirkpatrick and the SAS force met with some 40 Italian partisans, 60 Russians and various escaped prisoners of war before launching an attack.
Mr Kirkpatrick played “Highland Laddie” throughout the attack and one of his pipes was even hit by enemy bullets.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel