Originally a folk tune in Italy, "The Green Hills of Tyrol" is a tune that most every piper learns fairly early on. Tyrol is a historic region of northern Italy and Southern Austria. The tune and the area both have quite a bit of history. In the Crimean War, in 1854, the outnumbered British army bested Russian cavalry. Also in WW1, Italian troops took 356,000 soldiers of the Austrian army as prisoners and overtook their position. The tune was also used as a chorus in the 1829 opera, William Tell, and in 1960, Andy Stewart, a Scottish pop singer, arranged and produced the chart topping hit “A Scottish Soldier” based on this pipe tune.

In October of 1854, the Russian heavy cavalry had taken the Causeway Heights, and its gun emplacements, above the supply port of Balaclava. Only the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders, under Sir Colin Campbell, stood between them and the port—the capture of which would have ended the campaign there and then. The Russian heavy cavalry rolled down the hill onto the 93rd. Ordered to die where they stood if need be, the 93rd was formed into an extended line two ranks deep rather than in the defensive square formation more usually adopted by infantry facing a cavalry attack. The 93rd stood its ground, firing controlled volleys into the attacking cavalry. The Russian cavalry faltered and veered to the left of the 93rd exposing their flank to more fire. The Russians were then beaten off by an audacious uphill charge by a smaller brigade of the British heavy cavalry. Some of the 93rd then made out to charge with the bayonet, but Sir Colin Campbell stopped them, reputedly bellowing “93rd, damn all that eagerness.” In any event, Balaclava was saved and the Sutherland Highlanders secured their place in history.

On November 3, 1918, in the final days of World War I, the already disintegrating Austrian-Hungarian troops were defeated in the Battle of Vittorio Veneto. The subsequent armistice that was signed was not to enter into force until November 4 and the Austrian command ordered its troops to cease hostilities one day too early. This not only allowed Italian troops to take 356,000 soldiers of the Austrian army as prisoners, but also to overrun the Austrian positions and occupy Tyrol. This victory marked the end of the war on the Italian Front, secured the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and contributed to the end of the First World War just one week later.

Tune info from "Behind the Tunes Vol 1" by Dr. Peter L. Heineman and Wikipedia.