Journal 2008 - The Journal Royal Highland Fusiliers - The Royal ...

Regiment, clad in Glengarry, combat kit, tartan belt, courtmountedmedals, and carrying a briefcase (or worse, possiblya cased laptop). The caption is: ‘Parade Dress – Well, lookat me – Glengarry and medals too.’ The second arose from aremark made by the female Lt Col Dental Officer, who claimedthat the shocking state of the Battalion’s teeth was due to overconsumption of Scotland’s other national drink. Donald’ssketch depicts his ever present round-faced young Jock clearlyapprehensive as he sits in the dentist’s chair. He holds a bigfizzing glass of something. Over him stands the slim attractiveoverall clad figure of the Dental Officer, her uniform cap andbadges of rank easily visible. In one hand she is holding out a setof dentures. The caption reads: ‘Don’t fuss, laddie.. Just swallowthat pint of bru and then I can fit these in no bother.’ Bothcartoons appeared in the journal (Vol 24 No 2, Winter 2000).As subsequent events have sadly proved, Donald Mack wasremarkably prescient. Reprinted in the Journal (Vol 28 No 2,Winter 2004) were his verses Saint George for integrated England!Which he had penned while he and I were in 1 RHF in Aden,1960. The second of its six stanzas begins “Our buttons areidentical/and the badges in our caps – to show our solidarity/wecross post all our chaps…”Donald’s wit enlivened Journal pages on countless occasions.His letters to the Editor could be relied on to rattle a few cages,dealing as they did with topics dear to some hearts: how much orhow little attached female officers of AGC knew: the pattern ofhelmet in service, the culpable failure of those in authority to seethat the tartan patch on combat kit was grenade shaped, ratherthan square. Those who have read ‘Bits and Pieces from Malaya,’published in two parts (Journals Winter 2004 and Summer 2005)can be left in no doubt that the young Lt D I A Mack, en route toMalaya with 1 RSF Advance Party and serving there as a PlatoonCommander during the anti-communist Emergency displayedeven then an uncommon talent for vivid prose. His description ofthe tribulations of junior officers sharing tables with families andferal “kiddie-winkies” at meals on board HMT Empire Orwell isin my view a classic, and we are fortunate that Donald’s parents,recipients of the letters quoted, preserved them.We have Lt Col Ian Shepherd to thank for the apt Eulogy hedelivered on 21st January at the Service of Thanksgiving forDonald’s life in Hyndland Church, where Donald’s years as anElder were called to mind not only by the Minister, but also withwarmth by elders I met.It is also thanks to Ian that another example of Donald Mack’sprescience, and I believe the last of Donald’s cartoons to featurein the Journal (Vol 29 No 2, Summer 2005), was reproduced.Drawn all of thirty-seven years earlier, it depicts two very “GSlooking” hatless officers, clad in detested “English” Service Dress,fleeing for their very lives. The red-tabbed senior is saying to theother, “Look here, Prendergast, I thought you said the Council ofColonels had ceased to exist”! Hard on their heels, brandishingclaymores, a horse whip, shotgun, wild of eye and fiercelymoustached, comes a pack of officers, Lowland and Highland,the leaders, RHF, Argyll, choleric-faced RO in tweed breeks,each accurately drawn, while above the pack are Saltire and fierycross. In the background are mountains, while a small sign on theground reads “You are now entering Scotlandshire”. Donald Mackwas sui generic, truly one of a kind.CAPTAIN JOHN MCDERMID RHFCaptain John McDermid was bornin Glasgow in 1964. He joined the1st Battalion The Royal HighlandFusiliers in 1983 serving 21 yearsas a soldier and three years as anofficer. In a distinguished careerhe served in Berlin, Canada,Kenya, Cyprus and Belize,conducting two tours in Bosnia aspart of the UNPROFOR missionCaptain John McDermid and and one in Kosovo as part of thehis wife Gill. NATO deployment. He completedfour Northern Ireland tours,and a further tour in Iraq cemented his standing as a hugelyexperienced,skilled, knowledgeable and capable soldier.His quality was identified early on and he rose quickly throughthe ranks. As a first-rate Senior Non-Commissioned Officer, hewas selected to instruct officers at the Royal Military AcademySandhurst, where he excelled. On return to the Battalion heserved as Company Quarter Master Sergeant, Company SergeantMajor and Regimental Quarter Master Sergeant before promotionto Warrant Officer 1st Class and Regimental Sergeant Major of the1st Battalion The Royal Highland Fusiliers in 2002.He was commissioned in June 2004 and initially led theRegimental Recruiting Team based in Glasgow. His energeticand engaging approach overhauled recruitment. His subsequentappointment was as Unit Welfare Officer where he oversaw themove of the Battalion (now the Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2ndBattalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland) from Cyprus toGlencorse Barracks, Edinburgh.Captain McDermid was posted to a staff appointment at theRoyal Military Academy Sandhurst in early 2007. Always a fieldsoldier, he volunteered for operational service in Afghanistan. InSeptember 2007 he was attached to 2nd Battalion The YorkshireRegiment as a member of the Operational Mentoring and LiaisonTeam, tasked with training the Afghan National Army. As amentor, he was responsible for developing the leadership andinfantry skills of platoon or company commanders.On the 16th of November 2007 Captain McDermid was leadinga joint UK and Afghan National Army patrol to the south ofthe district centre of Sangin in Helmand Province, duringwhich he was also mentoring an Afghan National Army Officerin the leadership and infantry skills that platoon commandersneed. It was during this patrol that an improvised explosivedevice detonated. This sadly resulted in the death of CaptainMcDermid and serious injury to the Afghan interpreter who wasaccompanying him.Lieutenant Colonel Paul Harkness MBE, Commanding Officer ofThe Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion The Royal Regimentof Scotland, said:Captain John McDermid represented everything that isspecial about both the Army and The Royal HighlandFusiliers. From Fusilier to Regimental Sergeant Major, his 21years service as a soldier was notable for its professionalism,THE ROYAL HIGHLAND FUSILIERS 17