There's been a couple of articles about Bill Millin in the Scottish media this weekend...a remarkable man. Apparently when he landed in Normany on D Day he was only armed with a sgian dubh (a small knife that is part of traditional highland dress and is carried tucked into the top of one's sock so that only the hilt is visible).
As to whether Scottish units in 2000 would still have pipers, I think almost certainly yes, some would, at least in a V1 timeline*. Most of the musicians that made up the various Regimental bands also had an operational role in the event of War, so bandsmen would have deployed with everyone else. (A relative of mine was in the pipes and drums of the Black Watch a number of years ago, and I'm pretty sure that when not taking part in band activities he was part of the Machine Gun Platoon).
Aren't the North Koreans and the Chinese supposed to still use bugles?
(*Things might have changed after Options for Change in the early 90's, when the Corps of Army Music was formed and the number of bands was reduced.)
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Author of the unofficial and strictly non canon Alternative Survivor’s Guide to the United Kingdom
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