Extraordinary Photos From History Explained

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Instrument of War

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This is a photo of a bagpiper in the first world war rallying the troops out of the trenches. It was only in 1996 that bagpipes were declassified as weapons of war, due to an old battle where the piper was considered pivotal to the rebellion mounted against the English crown, and executed for treason. The Great War, or World War I, was the last war in which the pipers served in an official capacity. The sound of the pipes boosted morale amongst the troops and intimidated the enemy, however pipers were very easy targets as they were usually exposed and unarmed. It is estimated that around a thousand pipers died in World War I.