BAGPIPERS marched through a Hampshire coastal village to fundraise for a statue of a legendary war-time musician in Normandy.

They came from all over the south to parade through Hamble to help fundraise for a statue of the late D-Day piper Bill Millin in Sword Beach.

Piper Millin led Lord Lovat and the heroic 1st Special Service Brigade on June 6 1944 from Hamble and it is thought the musician played the pipes as it sailed down Southampton Water.

Legend has it that the piping was played through the craft’s tannoy so servicemen on other ships could hear before Millin marched into battle.

An artist’s model of the statue has been made but a further 12,000 Euros must be raised for the 64,000 euro project before it can be cast, with the memorial expected to be installed in June 2013.

His son, John Millin, 57, from Nottinghamshire, said: “Every June he would go to France to play for the lads who did not come back. I can just see a tear dropping down his cheek knowing all the pipers were out for him today.”