On the worst days in military history, some men walked forward carrying no rifle at all — only their bagpipes. The Pipes of War is a new podcast celebrating and remembering the pipers of the past and present: the instrument that led men into battle, and the men and women who played it.

Host Ian Williams — a piper for more than four decades and the foremost authority on Piper James Cleland Richardson, VC — introduces the project: its roots in the 1920 book The Pipes of War by Seton and Grant, which recorded some 500 pipers killed and 600 wounded in the Great War; his 20-plus years of research into Jimmy Richardson and the battlefield pipes of Regina Trench; and the mission to dig through archives, regimental museums, family letters, and diaries to bring forgotten names back into the light.

Coming episodes feature pipers who fought and fell long ago, pipers serving today in regiments across the world, and the piping world's greats — including Jack Lee, one of the most decorated competitive pipers in history; Scott Methven, 15th Piper to the Sovereign; and Pipe Major Roger McGuire, who helped discover and repatriate Richardson's Victoria Cross pipes — the most famous pipes in Canadian military history. Plus regimental drum majors, police and firefighter pipe bands, Emerald Societies, and the legends, and lore.

Recorded in the field — competition grounds, barracks, armouries, and regimental museums — a little raw, a little rough, and entirely from the heart.

Tune in. Take one moment out of your week — just to remember. Lest we forget.

New episodes at PipesOfWar.com Follow @PipesOfWar