The Formation of the Mildura Pipe Band
In November 1919 the Mildura Districts’ Fire Brigades hosted the North Central Fire Brigades’ Demonstration. The Maryborough Pipe Band and assorted Scottish entertainers were brought to Mildura and conducted a series of extremely popular ‘Scotch Concerts’ throughout the district, in aid of the district hospital services ….
The Mildura Pipe Band and World War 2
Shortly after the outbreak of war, two of our band members – Ern and Herb Forrest – enlisted in the army and went to the Middle East. The remaining members of the band, all keen to enlist, felt that the years of band training would be lost, particularly if we were split up into different regiments ….
Danny McPherson – Mildura Pipeband’s First Pipe Major
Donald “Danny” McPherson was a fascinating character: he was born at Portree, Skye, around 1881, the son an accomplished piper, Donald McPherson, and learnt to play the pipes at an early age. He showed great aptitude and commitment, practising for three hours a day, and became something of a child celebrity ….
Pipers music cheered them up
One thing that helped the morale of hundreds of PoW’s, as the Japanese forced them to march during their ordeal in Burma, was the soothing tunes from Colin MacDonals’s bagpipes ….
Mildura Ladies Pipe Band
In January 1961 it was decided to form a Ladies’ pipe band. Several metropolitan and regional centres had already established Ladies’ bands, and it was felt that Mildura had become big enough to support two pipe bands ….