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And finally...
Remembering
It is said: “School days are the best of your life”, and I would definitely agree that this can be true in many cases. The ten
years I attended George Watson’s Boys’ College were some of the best years of my life, even though during that time the
Second World War was raging. And, it was upon receipt of a birthday card from the School - on the occasion of my 85th
birthday - that those happy memories of my days at Watson’s were brought to mind.
For me, my school achievements
lay not in academic subjects, but
in sport. I held several swimming
records, which led to me being
awarded my School Colours for
swimming in my final year. I was
proud to Captain the School when
we competed against Robert
Gordon’s College, Aberdeen, both
at home and away and, as I recall,
we won on both occasions. My love
for sport was not restricted to the
pool, I also played rugby and
squash, along with Brian Adair
(Class of 1953). Outside of school,
I was a member of the Edinburgh
Sports Club where Alistair
Groundwater, a Watsonian,
was the professional.
From my time at Watson’s,
I am, perhaps, proudest of my
involvement in the establishment
of the Naval Cadet Unit as part
of the School’s Combined Cadet
Force (CCF). At that time, the CCF,
founded by former pupil Sandy
Morrison in 1904 - who was sadly
killed in action during the Battle
of Loos at Hohenzollern Redoubt,
on 25 September 1915 - only had
an Army and Airforce unit. As my
English teacher, Mr McInnes, was
ex-Royal Navy and I was already a
Sea Cadet out of school, I persuaded
Mr McInnes to help me establish this
missing Senior Service. This, I am
delighted to say, was achieved, with
Mr McInnes, its first Commanding
Officer and I the first recruit.
The Cadet Pipe Band was
established some two years after
the formation of the School’s Cadet
Corps, as it was originally called.
Ted, the Head Janitor, tried tirelessly
to teach me to play the cornet and
bugle - but it was not to be! Instead,
I became a Tenor Drummer. Naval
Cadet Unit numbers began to grow
and Ian Livingston, Bass Drummer,
and myself, Tenor Drummer, were
recruited to the CCF Pipe Band,
proudly wearing our naval uniforms
and not the kilt and tunic dress
other band members wore.
The true meaning of the words
“Combined Cadet Force”
represented for the first time by
two cadets in their naval uniforms.
I embraced every opportunity
Watson’s offered, I was a Cub Scout
in the School’s Scout Troop, a
member of the Scripture Union and
the Scottish Schoolboys Club (SSC)
- a Club founded in 1912 for the
youth of Scotland by Stanley Nairne
- and I went on summer camping
holidays with them over my latter
years at school. I was also one of the
many school boys who went to the
Harvest Camp at the Hirsel Estate,
owned by Alex Douglas-Home,
where we worked for local farmers.
In spite of leaving Watson’s at the
age of 15 - without any school
certificates - I went on to study
at night school and served a
five-year apprenticeship with a
Civil Engineering Consulting firm
in Edinburgh.
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