About United Pipers For Peace
400 Pipers and Drummers converge on the Central Dutch City of Apeldoorn in the name of Peace
Origins of United Pipers for Peace
United Pipers for Peace is an event devised and first staged in 2016 by French pipe band The Samarobriva Pipes & Drums, based in Amiens, France.
The aim was to remember and pay tribute to the fallen of the Great War, not least of all the hundreds of thousands of young men and women who lost their lives during the Battle of the Somme, which had taken place 100 years beforehand, in 1916, in the battlefields of Picardy, to the North and East of Amiens.
After 3 editions of United Pipers for Peace (2 in France and 1 in the United Kingdom), the 4th edition will take place in the Netherlands.
The aim of this 4th edition is to commemorate the fallen of the Second World War with musical elan and to celebrate 80 years of living in freedom. Especially in honor of the 80th anniversary of the liberation from Nazi occupation, United Pipers for Peace will take place in Apeldoorn, Netherlands.
The city of Apeldoorn was liberated in April by the 48th Highlanders of Canada, who were part of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division. The liberation of Apeldoorn was part of Operation Cannonshot, which was aimed at liberating the eastern and central part of the Netherlands from German occupation. Many of the fallen were laid to rest at the Canadian War Cemetery in Holten (pictured). To celebrate this Liberation 80 years later, this special edition of United Pipers for Peace will welcome special guests from Canada.
Canadian War Cemetery Holten
It may come as a surprise to some that the Netherlands is very much a land of the Bagpipe! Scottish regiments in particular were led into battle to the sound of the bagpipes, inspiring the troops and instilling fear in the hearts of the enemy. Such was their impact on the German troops, with the swirl of their kilts and bold, defiant sound of the pipes, that the kilted regiments soon became known to their foe as the “Ladies from Hell”!
The local Dutch population, thankful to this day for the sacrifice, all too often ultimate, made by so many young men and women from Britain, the Commonwealth, the United States and, indeed, from all over the world, have adopted the pipe band as their own, in recognition of the example set by these Ladies from Hell.
Today, there are no fewer than 30 pipe bands in the Netherlands alone.
When will they ever learn…?
As we write these lines, we cannot help but think of the horror, suffering, destruction and death being inflicted at this very moment on the people of Ukraine.
Ukraine is close to home and we feel the immediacy of this nation’s plight. But nor must we forget the numerous conflicts raging throughout this world at war.
“The War to End all Wars”, “Peace in our time”, “A Europe of lasting peace”… so many expressions and hopes that can at times seem futile in view of current events.We can feel tempted to give up, to abandon the struggle, to let fear and hatred take the upper hand.
On the contrary, we must be stronger than that!
Our voice, no matter how lowly, how insignificant it may seem, must be heard.
We are not naive. United Pipers for Peace will not put an end to global conflict. Twenty pipe bands will not bring peace to the world.
But the event will bring people together. People of different origins, beliefs, philosophies or cultures.
Many of us in the City of Apeldoorn Pipes and Drums are a little longer in the tooth than we would care to admit, but one lesson we have all learnt from a lifetime in our beloved institution, travelling throughout Europe and further afield, is that strangers are our future friends, foreigners are our new neighbours, distant cultures are not a threat to us, but rather a gift to embellish our own lives.
So let’s, all together, make United Pipers for Peace Apeldoorn 2025 a weekend of friendship, unity, acceptance, inclusiveness, sisterhood and brotherhood!
Cenotaph St Peters Square Manchester
And if our example can open just one person’s eyes to the benefits of global understanding,
then… “Job Done!”