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Piper Laidlaw Victoria Cross Winner, Loos 1915
A regimental sculpture of Piper Laidlaw VC who won his Victoria Cross during the Battle of Loos in 1915. Laidlaw was a KOSB and our statuette makes a first class historical memorial. We include the wooden base and an engraved plate as standard.
Piper Daniel Laidlaw
The Kings Own Scottish Borderers
Loos, 25th September 1915
Daniel Laidlaw was born at Little Swinton near Berwick-upon-Tweed on the 26th July 1875. At the outbreak of the First World War he joined the 7th Battalion, The Kings Own Scottish Borderers, his local infantry regiment and underwent basic training in the barracks at Berwick-upon-Tweed. The 7th Battalion was included in the 15th Scottish Division and arrived in France in 1915. In September the Battalion occupied the front line trenches near the town of Loos with a small knoll called Hill 70 to their front, it was the first time the 7th Battalion had been in action.
On the 25th September the Division mounted a massive attack to capture Hill 70 and as the time to attack approached the 7th Battalion formed up ready to go 'over the top'. At this crucial moment the trenches were heavily bombarded by German artillery. At the same time the British artillery were firing gas shells for the first time and some of this blew back into the British trench lines. The gas severely affected many men and others were clearly visibly shaken. Above the din and confusion of battle, the commanding officer, seeing Piper Laidlaw with his bagpipes shouted above the noise, "pipe them together Laidlaw, for God's sake pipe them together".
With complete disregard for his safety, Daniel Laidlaw climbed up onto the parapet of the trench and played to his comrades in full view of the enemy. In the face of heavy machine-gun fire and to the sound of 'Blue bonnets o'er the Border' the 7th Battalion rallied and climbed out of their trenches. As the Borderers advanced forward across no-man’s land under fire Laidlaw continued to play and struck up the Regimental Charge 'Standards on the Braes o' Mar'. Laidlaw fell wounded in front of the enemy's trenches and did not reach the German's front line. That evening the Commanding Officer recommended Laidlaw for the Victoria Cross and it was duly Gazetted on the 18th November 1915. For his conspicuous gallantry Laidlaw was also awarded the French 'Croix de Guerre' as it was felt that his particular example inspired all who saw him, including the French troops attacking nearby.
Although Piper Laidlaw acquired the nickname 'The Piper of Loos', he was quick to give credit to the other pipers who had played during the battle, and who had also rendered extraordinary service in great danger by bringing in the wounded. In particular Pipe Major Douglas Taylor, although wounded in the hand and unable to pipe, continued to bring in wounded men from the battlefield for 36 hours after the attack.
Daniel Laidlaw survived the War and led a full life. He died at Shoresdean, near Berwick-upon-Tweed on the 2nd June 1950 and is buried at Norham.
We have five finish options for our sculptures:
Cold Cast Antique Bronze – Our classic finish. The sculpture is made with powdered bronze added to the composite. Then it is buffed and polished to highlight the bronze. The colour is similar to that of a Victoria Cross Medal.
Hand Painted – The sculpture is cast in a white ‘China clay’ finish. It is then hand-painted using a combination of airbrushing and hand application. We use high-quality oil paints chosen to our specific specification. We add in shading and distressing to achieve a realistic effect before applying a 20% satin over-finish to protect the sculpture from the effects of time.
Electroformed Silver – Our Electroformed Silver Sculptures make magnificent pieces. We take a China white casting and cover it in a thick (300) micron layer of pure sterling silver. Then we hand-polish the items to achieve a high shine. These pieces require a clean every so often with a silver polish such as ‘Silvo’. These pieces are presented on a Mahogany or Granite base. Complete with a Silver plaque on the front.
Hot Bronze – Our sculptures can be cast in Bronze Metal, reminiscent of an outdoor war memorial. This is a specialised service; contact us for more information.
Pewter - Our Pewter sculptures are made using lead-free pewter; we melt it and centrifugally cast it into rubber or silicone moulds. Once cool, we remove the pieces before fettling, soldering, buffing, and polishing them into a finished sculpture.
Plaque Engraving Info
All our statues include the option of a personalised engraved plaque on the wooden base, at no extra charge.
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Bronze statues come with a jeweller’s brass plate
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Pewter/silver statues come with a nickel silver plate
How to Add a Plaque
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Start by selecting your desired finish and base option.
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Then click "Add a Plate" - this will open a drop-down menu.
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Enter your engraving using the line format provided.
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Presentation bases allow up to 4 lines
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Mahogany bases allow up to 6 lines
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Max 35 characters per line
Important Notes
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If engraving is left blank, no plaque will be included.
Want a blank plate? Just write that in the engraving box. -
Once ordered, please check your confirmation email to make sure your plaque text has gone through.
If it’s missing, it means it didn’t go through - you can either wait for us to get in touch or just email us your engraving directly at sales@balwalk.com. -
Double-check your engraving before sending - any mistakes will mean we need to make a new plate.
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Text will be centre-aligned and sized to fit the plaque.
Badges
We offer 3D cap badges that can be added to the sculpture base or onto the plaque itself.
If we don’t have a 3D version of the badge you want, we can engrave it directly onto the plaque instead.
In an effort to be more sustainable we've had our outer packaging redesigned to be fully recyclable. Every statue comes in a simple elegant printed brown box with printed fabric tape.
Inside the box the statue will be protected with bubble wrap and special foam bags to minimise the chance of damage in transit.
| Product Code | B41a |
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| Price Code | FA |
| Sculpting Scale | 8" |
| Base Material of the Statue | Cold Cast Resin |
| Height Including Presentation Base | 10" / 25cm |
| Width with Presentation Base | 4.25" / 11cm |
| Depth with Presentation Base | 4.25" / 11cm |
Please be aware that these measurements are not exact and have been rounded for ease.
As every item is individually handmade the exact dimensions may vary slighty.