AN urgent appeal has been made by the Weymouth branch of the Royal British Legion for a boat owner to help the town's D-Day memorial service.

As part of the commemorations planned for the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings, a replica of the bagpipes which were used to lead the troops on to the beaches of Normandy are on a nationwide tour of the ports and places that played an integral role in the invasion.

The pipes are scheduled to be in Weymouth on May 28 but organisers have failed to secure transport for the pipes, which will be in Exmouth until May 28.

Organisers are now urgently appealing for a boat owner to transport the bagpipes and the men playing them from Exmouth to Weymouth, and for the bagpipes to arrive in Weymouth mid-morning on Wednesday.

Naomi Turner, from the branch, said: “We will be holding the memorial service on the landing station, next to the ferry steps.

“The bag piper needs to be here in the mid-morning or early afternoon, but we need to transport him from Exmouth to Weymouth so if any boat owner could help us by transporting him here that would be brilliant.”

The pipes are a replica of the ones played by the Piper Bill Millin, who led the troops on to the beaches on June 6, 1944. Despite heavy machine gun fire, the soldier survived the invasion.

After the service, which will take place on May 29, organisers have secured The Dunkirk evacuation warship MTB-102 to take the pipes on to Poole.

For more information on the memorial service or to volunteer to take the bagpiper, contact 01244 531765