SCOUTS AND LEADERS OF THE THIRTIES
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Allan, Alistair
Alistair Allan applied for membership in November 1935, which might indicate that he was born about 1925 or 1926. He attended the 1936 summer camp and remained in the troop for 4 years without getting promoted. In 1939, he was in the Wolf patrol under PL Harold Hastie and Second Alistair McGregor, but transferred to a Gourock troop in the autumn of that year. This might indicate that he lived in Gourock since it would have been easier to attend a Gourock troop given the difficulties of travelling at night during the blackout. There is a mention of an A. Allan being in the junior 3 class of Greenock Academy in 1933-34, and winning the egg and spoon race at sports day. He worked at the Gourock Ropeworks after school, but little else is known about him.
Armstrong, Joseph
On the 8th November 1935, it was recorded in the Court of Honour minutes that Joseph had not been attending the Troop and would be removed from the roll. It is not certain who this was, but one possibility is Joseph Andrew Armstrong, who was born in Greenock East in 1921. Joseph would have been 11 if he joined the troop in 1932, and 14 when he left it in 1935. By that time, the family was living at 25 Low Inverkip Road. Joseph would have been coming up for his 18th birthday when war broke out, but it is not known whether he joined the services immediately or not. The records indicate that he was a sub-lieutenant in the Royal Navy Reserve, serving in the Fleet Air Arm from 1941. Sadly, records show that he died in an aircraft accident on the 30th August 1943 as a result of 'war operations'. The plane crashed at Pathside Farm in Bellie, Moray. At the time, he was 22 years old and was stationed at the Royal Navy Air Base in Arbroath.
Barr, Ian
It is beleived that Ian Barr stayed near Fort Matilda and was one of the first 10 members of the Troop. It is likely that his father was John D. Barr (of Barr and Co Coppersmiths) who lived at 79 Newark Street at the time (renumbered to 115 Newark Street in 1936-37). Unfortunately, nothing is else is known about him, other than that he became a civil engineer. A John Snodgrass Barr was born in 1919 in Greenock West and would have been aged 13 in 1932, making him a likely candidate. At the time, the family was living at 19 Ardgowan Street. The Greenock Telegraph reported an I. Barr being present in a winning tug o’ war team for seniors in the Greenock Academy sports day of 1933.
Black, D
Along with Alan Hardie and Eoin Steel, D. Black was a Patrol Leader in 1933, and one of the first patrol leaders in the troop. He was PL for the Curlews and attended summer camp in 1933 and 1934. He was also a member of the COH until October 1934. There is no further mention of him from then on. It is believed that this was Duncan Roger Black who was born in 1920 in Greenock West and lived in a tenement on Finnart Street, near the corner with Robertson Street. This would have made him 13 in 1933, which puts him in the right age bracket. His father might have been Duncan Black who worked for MacFarlan Shearer and lived at 15 Finnart Street. This address was renumbered in 1936-37. The Greenock Telegraph mentions a D. Black being in the senior 1 class of Greenock Academy when he took part in the GA sports day of 1932. He won the egg and spoon race and was third in the sack race. Duncan Black as a sergeant in the RAF for a year, but died in Holland in June 1941. The National Liberation Museum at Groesbeek, near Nijmegan, Holland has records of all UK servicemen who died in Holland during the war and D. R. Black is identified as a sergeant (Wop/Agr) (presumably wireless operator/air gunner) in a crew of four flying a Whitley V (58th squadron). He died when his plane was shot down north of Best, Eindhoven on the 8th June 1941, and would have been aged 20 or 21 at the time.
Blake, Ian
Ian Blake was born John Robertson Blake in 1920 in the West of Greenock. He was one of the older members of the troop when it started up and it is thought that he was one of the founder members. He attended the 1933 and 1934 summer camps and it is possible that he was in the winning Shannon Cup patrol of 1935. He was not promoted and there is no mention of him in the Court of Honour minutes after the summer of 1934, so it is not known how long he stayed in the Troop. It is thought that he lived opposite the tennis courts at 109 Newark Street (renumbered from 73 Newark Street in 1936) and was related to the author (George Blake) who wrote 'A River Runs to War' - an account of the River Clyde during the war years. Ian had an older brother called Alistair who was friendly with Ian Hardie. His father (William) owned a copper piping business (B. Barclay and Co) with a workshop near Cappielow Park. Ian is recorded as winning first prize for handcraft when he was in the senior 3 class of Greenock Academy during 1935-36. Ian's career is not known, but he was a highly popular 70th Scoutmaster in the 1950s, before he moved to the West Indies. He was married with a son called Martin. His death is recorded on a memorial plaque in the 70th Scout HQ.
Archie was born in 1924 and was in the same class at school as Sandy Campbell and Jim Crawford. It is believed that Archie joined the troop in 1934 when he was 10, and there is a slight possibility that he may have been a Wolf Cub with the 4th Greenock before that; an Archie Brown of that Pack participated in a Wolf Cub art competition in 1932. Archie attended the 70th troop's 1935 summer camp. In March 1937, he was promoted to SPL for the Curlew patrol under PL Wilson Hill, and started attending COH meetings. He was also at the 1937 summer camp. In February 1938, Archie Brown took over the Curlew patrol as PL with Alistair McGregor as his SPL, and won the patrol competition in his first month as PL. However, he did not remain PL of the Curlew for long. In September 1938, the COH minutes suggest that
Brown, Archie
he became PL for a new patrol for older Scouts (the Owls). It is not known when he left the group. This may be the same Archie Brown that won third prize for Science at Greenock Academy for the year 1937-38.
Archie had two older sisters, and his father owned a baker's shop opposite the Regal Cinema at 8 West Blackhall Street, as well as one at the corner of Brisbane Street and Robertson Street (31C Brisbane Street) next door to Crabbe, the Grocer. In 1935-36, the family was living at 40 Eldon Street, then moved to 183 Finnart Street in 1936-1937. There is no record of the family living there in 1940 and they may have moved to West Kilbride at that point. A retired baker called Archibald Brown lived at 51 Brisbane Street and may have been the grandfather. Archie himself qualified as a teacher and taught for many years at Ardrossan Academy.
Brown, Archibald
Archibald Brown was in the Rovers (possibly in another Scout group). It is not known how long he was a 70th member but he is certainly known to have been present between 1935 and 1937. During that period, he helped out with the troop on a regular basis, and attended the 1936 summer camp. He attended COH meetings between 1935 and 1937, and took on the role of Secretary from June 1936 until October 1937. At that point, his role as Secretary was taken over by Harold Hastie, and he is not mentioned again. Therefore, there is no record of when he departed the group. Unfortunately, nothing else is known about him, although he might be a candidate for the 'mystery man' who is present in the 1937 troop photo. There is also an intriguing possibility that this might be the Archibald Brown who was an outstanding pupil in Greenock Academy and may well have been a Scout in the 4th Greenock Scout troop. An A. Brown of the 4th Troop certainly won a William Millar scholarship in 1932, which amounted to £5 for two years of study at Greenock Academy. The Greenock Telegraph also records an Archie Brown who won the Scripture Knowledge prize in 1932 when he was in the Senior IV class, and came first in the Glasgow University Bursary exam in 1935. The school was given a day’s holiday as a result! The Scouting scholarship provides some evidence that the academic Brown and the Scouting Brown were one and the same person. This Archibald Brown wrote a memoir in the centennial booklet written for Greenock Academy. It is also conceivable that he was a friend and schoolmate of James Dunne since their applications for an ASM warrant were approved on the same day in September 1936. The author met an Archie Brown and his wife living in Canberra, Australia in the late 1980s. This Archie had been born in 1917 and had gone to Greenock Academy, so there is an intriguing possibility that this was the same person. If so, he was an extremely cheerful and friendly individual who had a passion for Scottish country dancing. Archibald Brown died a wealthy man and his sister bequeathed a healthy sum to Greenock Academy on her death.
George Brown was born in 1927 in Greenock. His father (Frank A. Brown) and uncle ran Brown's shipbuilding at Garvel Point. George lived at 25 Robertson Street, then moved to 4 Academy Place, which was opposite the front entrance to the original Greenock Academy and was probably renumbered 6 Finnart Street in 1936. It is thought that the family may have moved again about 1939. George was about 9 or 10 when he joined the 70th Wolf Cubs, so he was only in the Pack for about a year. There is a good chance that George may have been one of the first Wolf Cubs in the pack when it started in 1935. This would be quite apt since his younger brother Douglas was one of the first Wolf Cubs when the Pack restarted after the war in 1947. Most of George's classmates had gone to Trinity Cubs by the time George was 'packed off to go to
Brown, George
the 70th Cubs'.
George joined the Scouts in May 1937 and was invested in October 1937. He should have been in the group photo of 1937, but he was absent due to a family bereavement. George was in the Fox patrol when it was first formed with Jim Crawford as Patrol Leader, but he may have had Lawrence Harvey as PL during his first year in Scouts. When the patrols were cut from 4 to 3 at the start of the war, George became a member of the Woodpigeon patrol. In September 1940, he became SPL then in June 1941, he was promoted to PL (aged 14) with Robin MacDougall as his Second. George's promotion was recorded as being well deserved and 'in recognition of his hard work'. It was not long before George was made Troop Leader in September 1941 at the age of 15.
He is mentioned several times in the Troop log covering 1939-1943, and passed his Second Class badge in October 1939. He was also an active participant in the collection of waste paper to support the war effort, and regularly attended hikes, outdoor activities and camps. George was mention in the COH minutes. In May 1941, Wilson Hill tore into his PLs and SPLs on the question of discipline. SPL George Brown was the only member to be excluded from this tirade. As Troop Leader, George was in charge of a camp at Everton August 1942.
During the war, George joined the Air Training Corps so that he would have a better chance of getting into the RAF. This gave him the opportunity to get a flight in a Sunderland which was based at the Gairloch. However, he maintained his Scouting and remained as Troop Leader until 1944 when he turned 18. However, the ATC, Higher examinations and war duties meant increasingly less less time on Scouting, much to Wilson Hill’s disgust apparently! As part of his war duties, George kept a vegetable plot in the old Greenock Academy grounds. He was also involved in the Clyde River Patrol, spotting for any approaching bombers. When he came of age, he volunteered for the RAF and was accepted. Initially, went to Edinburgh University for six months to run a meteorology station. This was a six month taster of University life for RAF recruits and George stated that 'it was mostly a 'jolly'. During basic RAF training, he soloed in a Tiger Moth, but at that point the war ended (April 1945) - much to his frustration as it meant the end of his flying. The forces worked on a first in, first out policy, and so George was required to stay on in the RAF until 1947. He went to Singapore for the last 6 months of his service where he had an enjoyable time playing rugby for the RAF team.
Once he was demobbed, George went to Glasgow University to gain a degree in naval architecture, then worked for Vickers in Canada (Montreal) for several years. He moved back to Scotland to become shipyard manager at William Simons in Renfrew - a firm which specialised in building dredgers, boom boats and fish factory boats, before working for a consultancy firm focussing on production matters.
Many good things have been said of George. Robin McDougall was his SPL in Scouts and says that he was a natural leader, a clever fellow, and was always in control in a very nice and calm way. Campbell Conn remembered George as an enthusiastic sailor and an excellent racer who won many races. Finally, George's younger brother Douglas played a prominent part in the 70th from 1948 to 1955.
Jack Buchanan was born about 1927 and lived at the Madeira Street end of Brisbane Street (No. 100). His father (Willie) ran Kidd brothers in Westburn Street / Gray Place selling furniture. His family may also have run an auctioneering business. Jack appears as a Wolf Cub in the 1937 group photo, but did not join the Troop. He may have been an athletic youngster since a J. Buchanan regularly appeared in the results of the Greenock Academy Sports Days during the Thirties and Forties, although one cannot be absolutely certain that it was the same fellow.
During the war, he was reputed to be the youngest commissioned Royal Marine Officer and his immaculate uniform put everybody else in the shade. After the war, he went to Aberdeen University where he gained a degree (possibly in zoology). It is believed that Jack became a Professor and lectured at Newcastle University.
Buchanan, Jack (Biscuit)
Buchanan, Jim
Jim Buchanan was older than Jack Buchanan and was probably born in 1924, being of a similar age to the likes of Jim Crawford and Sandy Campbell. It is thought that he may have come from abroad, and was related to Ian Curtis. Jim joined the troop in May 1937 when he was about 13. He was clearly 'sporty' and was part of the winning team for the Victory Trophy in 1939. A 'J. Buchanan' also won the novice swimming event in 1937 and this is almost certainly him. In October 1939, he was in the Woodpigeon patrol with Jim Crawford as PL and Dennis Woodward as SPL. He gained his Second Class badge in March 1940. He was not promoted and left in May 1940 since he was leaving town. He moved to Dunblane, where it is thought he had an ironmongers shop.
Campbell, Sandy (Wee Sandy)
Sandy was born in 1924 and was in the troop from 1934 to 1939. His father (William) was a marine engineer who lived at 52 Fox Street from 1937 onwards. Sandy attended two summer camps in 1935 and 1937, but was never promoted. In October 1939, he was in the Wolf patrol with Harold Hastie as PL and Alistair McGregor as SPL. The troop log records him being on a walk to Everton in March 1940 in order to do tracking, signalling and fire lighting. It is also recorded that the cost of the 1940 Christmas party (5/-) was donated by Sandy. Sandy had actually left the troop by that time to go to sea, but had attended troop meetings while waiting for his ship. During that time, he helped as an unofficial ASM and had offered to pay the annual subscription. The Court of Honour refused the offer and so Sandy had donated it to the Christmas party instead.
Sandy was always known as 'wee Sandy' since he was small for his age. He came from a seafaring family and his father was a chief engineer, so it was natural that he wanted to go to sea. He joined the British India Steam Navigation Company in 1940 as a cadet at the age of 16. Normally, he would have gone to cadet school, but many of these were closed at the beginning of the war. He received lots of going-away presents and was so delighted with them that he insisted on taking the lot with him on his ship. Unfortunately, his ship was torpedoed (possibly in the Indian Ocean) and he lost the lot! Fortunately, Sandy was rescued and he continued serving in the merchant navy for many years until he became a captain and moved to the Clan line for the rest of his career. He played a squeeze box which would have been good entertainment on ship. In his retirement, he lived in Sandbank, meeting frequently with Wilson Hill. Sandy Campbell is in the 1937 group photograph and in one or two photos from 1939 and 1940. These photos certainly emphasise his lack of height!
Victor John Clark was born in Greenock in 1924, and is remembered by contemporaries as being a nice chap who had a good model railway in his house! He was also very keen on electronic games. He lived in Brougham Street and went to Greenock Academy where he featured at the 1936 Sports Days by winning the sack bumping event for the Senior 1 age group – an indication of his physique. That same year, he won a prize for drawing.
He joined the troop in 1934 when he was 10 and attended the 1935 and 1937 summer camps. He also appears in the 1937 group photograph. He was never promoted, and little is known about his time as a Scout. However, he will principally be remembered for restarting the 70th Scout Troop after the war when it had been temproarily merged with the 59th. If that had not happened, this web site would not exist.
Clark, Victor, J.
At some point between 1939 and 1941, he moved up to Clarkston, Glasgow. He recalled coming down to Greenock in 1941 to visit a friend, and being roped in to help out a Scout camp at Everton involving the 1st Gourock group. Since he had not brought his uniform with him, he and his friend scrounged odds bits of uniform from various places to make up a uniform of sorts. It was then decided that it would be fun if Victor pretended to be a French refugee at the camp, so all the Gourock Scouts were brought in on the scam. Throughout the camp, Victor spoke pigeon English with a heavy French accent, similar to the policeman in the TV programme 'Allo Allo'. This worked very well and everyone was convinced he was an authentic refugee. It also came in very useful, because whenever the Scouts wanted anything they would send Victor to the hut to ask for it in a polite French accent. Naturally, the warden and the other Scouters fell over backwards to accommodate this unfortunate refugee. This went on throughout the weekend and it was not until the Scouts were leaving and had reached the stream below the campsite, that Victor felt compelled to go back and own up. He proceeded to do so, then immediately ran like the clappers back down the hill.
Victor was also in the Greenock army cadets and was due to join the 2nd Battalian Scots Guards in 1942 when he turned 18. Unfortunately (or fortunately), he succumbed to tuberculosis. Since there was no effective treatment at the time, he had to spend three years recuperating.
When he returned to Greenock in 1946. he restarted the 70th, building it up into one of the strongest groups in Greenock – arguably the strongest. In 1952, he married a German girl and the Scouts put on a Guard of Honour for the occasion. The troop continued to thrive and eventually the DC asked Victor to do a similar job of building up the 75th Scouts at the Old West Kirk, which he duly did.
Victor was a timekeeper at Scotts shipbuilding engineering company where he was responsible for clocking people in and out of work and for looking after timesheets. Eventually, he moved to Wales.
Several 'old boys' remember Victor as a private man, who liked to stay in the background. George Brown remembered being 'walked back from Scouts' by Victor during the war. At that time, a 'convoy' system was operated whereby older Scouts accompanied younger Scouts through the black out. In the post war years, Victor did a lot of work with the handicapped, and was in charge of the Otters swimming club. Each year, he organised a camp for the Otters to Wales, which is probably why he moved there.
Kenneth Conway remembered him as a powerfully built fellow during the fifties. By that time, he was GSM and no longer appeared regularly at troop nights, although he attended all parades and social occasions. Kenneth recalled an incident at a jumble sale in the mid 50's, which was being held in the mission hall. There was a pogo stick left over after the sale and none of the Scouts knew what it was, so Victor decided to put on a demonstration. Unfortunately, the stick went straight through the floorboards! Betty Nelson, who was in charge of the Wolf Cub Pack at the time, recalled getting on very well with Victor.
Colquhoun, A.
A. Colquhoun was a Troop Leader in 1933 and 1934. There is a possibility that he might have been the 70th's first Troop Leader, although it more likely that he was a Troop Leader in another Troop (like the 4th Greenock) and was helping out with the fledgling 70th. He was at the 1934 summer camp and the last mention of him is in September 1934 when he attended a COH. It is not known what happened to him after 1934, and there no background information on him. One theory is that he might have been related to Louis Colquhoun, who was a banker in the town. Opinions are divided about where he lived and suggestions include Finnart Street, Union Street, and 75 Brisbane Street! A search of Greenock births for 1915-1918 revealed two possible A. Colquhouns, namely Alan John born in 1916 and Alexander born in 1915. The latter seems less likely since he would have turned 18 in 1933, resulting in him being too old to be a troop leader in 1934. There is a reference to an A. J. Colquhoun being present at the GA sports day in 1931 and being second in sack bumping. In the 1932 and 1933 Sports Days, an A. Colquhoun came first in the three-legged race.
Crawford, James (Jim)
James Crawford was born in 1924. His father was a "Flesher" who owned a shop at 91 Roxburgh Street, some two doors east of the corner with Mount Pleasant Street. The family lived at 49 Finnart Street, which was renumbered in 1936-37 to number 107. Jim was clearly athletic since he features strongly in the Greenock Academy Sports Days. In 1931, he was in the junior 2 class and won both the egg and spoon race and the fairy cycle ride (whatever that was!). The next year in Junior 3, he repeated these achievements and also won the 100 yard sprint. In 1935, he was in the junior 5 class and was second in the egg and spoon race. When he was in secondary 1 (1937) he won the 100 yards sprint, and in 1938, he won the three-legged race with Harold Hastie. In 1939, he was in secondary 3 and won the broad jump, high jump and hurdles, was third in the place kick and took part in the relay race. In
1940, he was third in the place kick and second in the broad jump and 100 yards, then in 1941, he came second in the sports championship. He also featured at prize-givings, being first at handcraft four years running from 1936 to 1939, and first in art in 1937.
Jim almost certainly joined the troop in 1934 along with many of his classmates. He became SPL of the Curlew in December 1935 under Eoin Steel, then in September 1936, he swapped patrols with Wilson Hill and became SPL of the Wolf Patrol under Archie Stalker, remaining in that role until September 1938 - a period of 3 years. During that period, he regularly attended COH meetings, then became PL of the Fox in September 1938 with J (Ian) Curtis as his SPL. He is in the 1937 group photo. In April 1939, he took over from Archie Stalker as treasurer for the COH. In May 1939, Jim and SPL Smith dressed up to represent the athletes and masons proficiency badges respectively at two parades during Scout week. In October 1939, the Fox patrol was renamed the Woodpigeon Patrol with Jim remaining PL with Dennis Woodward, then George Brown as his SPL. The Troop Log has various mentions of Jim. For example, he passed his Interpreters badge in October 1939. The next month he met with ASMs Eoin Steel and Wilson Hill to discuss the collection of waster paper for the war effort. Jim then took on the responsibility of organising the Scouts for paper collections twice a week. In September 1940, he and Ian Munro talked about resigning, but were dissuaded. He was re-elected treasurer at that meeting, then again in March 1941. Finally, he resigned on 6th June 1941, whereupon George Brown took over as PL.
In 1941, Jim enrolled at Glasgow University to study for an Arts degree. He was called up in February 1943 and did basic training with the 55th Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) at Farnborough. He then went to Sandhurst for officer training and was commissioned in the Reconnaissance Corps of the RAC OCTU (Sandhurst) in February 1944. Unexpectedly, he was put on a draft to West Africa to "get to know the Africans" and was attached to the 9th Battalion of the Gold Coast Regiment for some five months. After that, he was posted to South East Asia and eventually joined the 82nd (West African) Recce Regiment in the Araken district of Burma early in April 1945. In January 1946, he got compassionate repatriation to the UK as a result of a family bereavement and was posted to the RAC Depot in Catterick as Motor Transport Officer (MTO), from which he was released in October 1946 to return to University. After qualifying in law in 1949, he joined his grandfather's law practice in Gourock. He practiced for some 40 years with various firms, and latterly acted as a consultant to Neill Clerk and Murray. When Jim married in 1950, Harold Hastie was his best man.
Curtis, J (Ian)
It is not known where and when Ian Curtis was born, but it may have been abroad. Ian joined the troop in May 1937, and was promoted to SPL of the Fox patrol under Jim Crawford in October 1938, allowing him to attend COH meetings. In June 1938, he won a William Millar Scholarship for Greenock Academy worth £3.10 for two years from the local Boy Scout Association. As well as being academically gifted, he was clearly good at sports. In November 1938, he was in the troop's football committee with Nicol Smith and Ian Munro to coordinate the troops campaign in the District's Football Shield. In 1939, he was part of the team that won the Victory Trophy along with Dick Leggat, J. Buchanan and R. Mackay. Ian remained SPL of the Fox patrol until it was disbanded at the outbreak of war. He resigned in October of that year, because he belonged to 'another youth organisation' whose meetings now clashed with the troop. This may have been one of the pre-service cadet units. He and Jim Buchanan may have been related, but little else is known about him or what he did after the war.
Davies, Jack (Ike)
It is likely that Jack Davies was born in 1927 or 1928 as he was in the same school year as George Brown at Greenock Academy. He may also have been born in Old or West Kilpatrick. His father (John) was headmaster of Glebe School in the east end of Greenock and the family lived at Sentose, Cloch Road, Gourock. Jack joined the troop in December 1938 and was a member of the Woodpigeon patrol. In October 1939, he moved to the Wolf patrol under PL Harold Hastie and SPL A. McGregor. By November 1939, his attendance had fallen off and on 1st Dec 1939, he transferred to a Gourock troop, probably because it was such as a long trek to get to Finnart Church from Ashton in the blackout. During the war, George Brown and Jack Davies grew vegetables for the war effort in Greenock Academy's garden. After the war, Jack qualifed as a Chartered Accountant and worked with Shell in the Pacific area. He retired to live in Winchester, then moved to Sannox on Arran.
The Greenock Telegraph reports on Greenock Academy Sports Days reveal that Jack won the egg and spoon race in the junior 2 class of 1934. In 1937 when he was in senior 1 (primary 5), he came second in the 100 yards sprint and the hurdles. In 1942, he was in secondary 3 and won the shot putt, then repeated his victory in secondary 4 the following year when he also won the high jump, was second in the place kick, and came 3rd overall in the sports championship. Finally, in 1944, he won the shot putt with a record distance. His name also crops up in prizegivings. In 1937, he came second for singing in primary 5, and gained first prize in English when he was in the senior 3 class of primary school in 1939.
Dobbins, Peter
Peter joined the Curlew patrol in September 1935 and was either in Jim Crawford's year at school or the year below. There are records of a P. Dobbins doing quite well at the Greenock Academy sports days. For example, he won the 100 yards sprint in 1933 when he was in junior 4, then won the sack race in 1934. The following year, he was first in the sprint and third in the sack race. In 1936, he was second in the sprint and fourth in the sack race when he was in the senior 1 class, and the year after that, he was second in the sack race.
There is no other information regarding Peter. There are records of a James Peter Dobbins being born in 1923 in the west end of Greenock. It is also possible that his father was John H. Dobbins who was District Manager for Pearl
Assurance Co. Ltd., 18 Hamilton Street. The Dobbins family lived at 12 Brisbane Street, then moved to 94 Forsyth Street in 1938. John Dobbins was working in Hong Kong when the Japanese entered the war and was captured and placed in a concentration camp. A photograph of Mr. Dobbins as a POW appeared in the Greenock Telegraph of 21st October 1943.
Dunlop, A. Ian
Alexander Ian Dunlop was born in Paisley in 1916. He went to Paisley Grammar, where his father (Sandy) was a maths teacher. Eventually, his father moved to become the head teacher of mathematics at Greenock Academy where he proved very popular and was given the nickname 'Cheesie' Dunlop. Cheesie was renowned for being absent minded and, on more than one occasion, would search for his glasses when they were on the top of his head. Of course, his class never told him that. When the Dunlops moved to Greenock, they lived at 52 Eldon Street (renumbered 96 in 1936-37), but Ian continued to attend Paisley Grammar, presumably commuting from Greenock by train.
In 1933, Ian started an MA in Divinity at Glasgow University where he met Ian Hardie who was in the same year of the course. The pair of them became close friends. In 1934, Ian Dunlop joined the 70th as an ASM at the age of 18, and his warrant application was approved by the District in October 1934. The warrant was presented six months later – a standard procedure at the time. It is not known how Ian got involved with the
70th, but he may have been a member of Finnart Church and wished to help out with the new troop. Having joined the 70th, he was then responsible for persuading Ian Hardie to become an ASM.
When Sam Faulds resigned as GSM in June 1935, Ian Dunlop and Ian Hastie ran the troop as ASMs until March 1936. At that point, Ian Dunlop became GSM and Ian Hastie became SM at the age of 20. Ian was awarded his GSM’s warrant on the 23rd February 1937 and remained as GSM until 1939 when war service required him to move to Lochgilphead. He and Ian Hardie were responsible for making the 70th a success during the Thirties and they laid firm foundations for the future. Ian was an excellent organiser and administrator, and it appears that he was principally responsible for the organization of the 1936 and 1937 summer camps. He was also present at the summer camps of 1934 and 1935 and may have had a significant role in organising these as well. It is likely that Ian Dunlop was the leader most responsible for determining Troop policies during the thirties, which fits in with his role as GSM, but it is also clear that he was at the ‘coalface’ throughout, and could communicate well with the Scouts. George Brown remembered that 'Ian's talk' was a regular occurrence at campfires and singsongs. This took the form of a yarn or Scouting story that always proved popular. In his later visits to the Troop during the war, Ian got 'stuck in' running games and training Scouts, so it is pretty clear that he would have done the same throughout the thirties. His last meeting with the Troop as GSM was on the 3rd November 1939 when he received three 'very hearty cheers' before moving to Lochgilphead on active service. Later he was given a gift of a book token from the troop, worth one guinea. Ian retained a link with the 70th by becoming a Rover Scout, then applied for a warrant as a Rover Scout Leader in August 1942. By this time he was 26 and could no longer be a Rover Scout, so the warrant was probably a means of retaining his membership of the Group, rather than taking on an active leadership role. After all, he was still on active service.
During the Thirties, Ian was involved in District Scouting, and was the Secretary for the District Executive – a post which he held from October 1935 until October 1938 when he resigned due to the pressure of studies. On his resignation, the Chairman Rev. Alex Philp thanked Ian for his hard work and time over several years. D.C. Waller Butter was also sorry to see him step down but pleased that he would remain on the executive. Following this, Miss Tulloch presented Ian with a Westminster Chiming clock that was suitably inscribed. Waller Butter also praised him for entering into his work with an uncommon enthusiasm, and stated that Ian distinguished himself by his thoroughness and his characteristic efficiency. There was a press clipping in the Greenock Telegraph to mark his service to the District and the Rev. Philp said it would be hard to find one who carried out the duties of the office with such thoughtful care and efficiency. During his time as District Secretary, Ian had a finger in many pies. He served on numerous committees such as the District’s finance committee, competition committee, Sea Scout committee, Everton committee, the social committee (charged with organising the annual social dance), the HQ committee (charged with renovating the Robertson Street HQ that had been purchased in 1936), and the committee that organized the District’s contribution to the Ibrox Park rally in 1938. On top of this, he produced the weekly Scout Notes for the Greenock Telegraph and was secretary of the Rover Council. He helped out as an Instructor at Training Camps for Wolf Cub Leaders at Everton, and he was on the organising committee for the Scout Swimming Galas of 1938 and 1939. He continued to serve on the District Executive until 1939 and represented the District at Scottish Scout HQ and at the County meetings. Being called up for active service was probably a bit of a rest!
Ian Dunlop and Ian Hardie finished their MA degrees in 1937, then went on to Trinity College together where they trained to be ministers and gained their BDs in 1938. A photograph taken in 1939 outside Finnart Church shows Ian Dunlop with his 'dog collar'. It is not known whether Ian helped at Finnart Church at the time, although it seems likely. It is thought that he became a navy chaplain during the war, but it is not known whether he served on ships or at a naval base at Lochgilphead. However, a Greenock Telegraph report in 1946 stated that he was ordained as a chaplain and served during the war with the 15th (Scottish) Division. Ian maintained some contact with the 70th during the war years, and made occasional visits that were reported in the troop log (December ‘39, June ‘41, November ‘41, May ‘42, twice in June ‘42, and July ‘42). He also attended a weekend camp at Everton in July 1942. It is interesting that his first four visits were separated by approximately 6 months each time, which might be an indication that he served on ships. According to Alan Hardie, Ian's name was mentioned in the 1945 London Gazette for a possible mention in dispatches, but it has not been possible to follow this up.
Following the war, Ian was appointed as assistant minister at St. Columba's Church in London, then moved to various other churches, including the Church of Scotland, Pont Street, London. In the 1950s, he became parish minister at Lochgilphead and finally moved to St. Stephen's church in Central Edinburgh just below the west end of Princes Street. He assisted at the 70th's twenty-first anniversary church service, held on the 10th October 1954, and was also present at the 70th's fiftieth anniversary celebrations in 1992. Ian's sister (Sheila) was the first Akela in the 70th Wolf Cub Pack.
Dunlop, Sheila
Sheila Dunlop was Ian Dunlop's younger sister and was born in Paisley in 1918. There are no written records about her, but testimony from George Brown suggests that she was the first Akela in the 70th Wolf Cub Pack. Certainly, her application for an Assistant Cubmaster’s warrant was approved on the 29th September 1936. She must have been young and beautiful because all the Wolf Cubs fell in love with her and called her by her Christian name. This was frowned upon and the boys were instructed to call her Akela instead! She resigned from the pack at the start of 1937, but it is not known why. Some believe she got married, but Alan Hardie recalled going to a dance with her in 1938 when she was still single! Support for Alan’s point of view comes from the fact that a Miss Dunlop started taking minutes for the District executive in January 1938. It is likely that this was Sheila as her brother Ian was secretary for the executive and was trying to reduce his workload at this time. Although the date is unknown, she married a naval officer called Lewis who was lost on HMS Hood when the battlecruiser was blown up by the Bismarck. Alan Hardie believes that Shiela may have served in the WRNS during the war. It is not known what happened to her after that. However, she is known to have married twice more.
Dunne, James
Very little is known about James Dunne. He was certainly a Rover Scout between June 1935 and August 1937, attending COH meetings, and assisting Ian Dunlop and Ian Hardie in organising the 1936 summer camp. He did not appear to attend that camp, but applied for an ASM warrant in September 1936 at the same time as Archibald Brown. The application was approved on the 29th September 1936. It is almost certain that Brown and Dunne were helping regularly at troop nights. It is also highly likely that the two were pals and schoolmates, based on the fact that their names are usually linked. The last mention of James in the COH minutes is on April 1937. No other information is known. A search of Greenock births from 1906-18 shows that a James Dunne was born in 1912 in the east end of Greenock, which would make him aged 23-25 during 1935-1937. Alan Hardie remembered James attending Finnart Church with his family and that James was friendly with Ian Hardie.
Edridge, Molly Miss (Rae, Molly)
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Molly Edridge was born on 7th April 1911. Her father was Charles Edward Edridge - a marine engineer who moved from England to Gourock to become the director of the torpedo factory at the Battery Park, and received an MBE for his services to the crown for his work. Before the war, the family lived in one of the houses in the lower part of Caledonian Crescent. These had been specifically built for torpedo factory employees. As a result, Molly went to one of the Gourock schools and was dux of her year. In her late teens or early twenties, she started training as a school teacher but did not carry it through. It has been mentioned that Molly was a secretary in a law firm at some point, and this might have followed on her from her teacher training.
Molly took over the Wolf Cub Pack from Sheila Dunlop in 1937 when she was aged 26. Her warrant as Cubmaster was approved in March 1937 and presented to her on the 31st August 1937. She appears in the 1937 group photograph, but it is not known how she originally got involved with the group. She was very committed to the Wolf Cub Pack and succeeded in gaining her wood beads at some point after 1937. She even gained a mention in Scout Notes, 17th May 1938, for gaining parts 1 and 2 of the award. During the war years, she served in the National Fire Service (NFS) and was stationed at the municipal buildings in Greenock. This may have been in response to an appeal made in September 1942 for women to join the NFS. Shiela Robertson remembered Molly being very smart in her NFS uniform. It is possible that Molly may have resigned as Akela at that point since the Wolf Cub Pack had stopped by 1942 due to lack of leaders. The commander of the district fire service was James Sidney Rae, and in 1945 he and Molly were married.
The family moved to the Isle of Man in 1946 to run a smallholding, and then moved to Glasgow in 1954 where James worked at Kincaids, then at Glasgow University's Chemistry Department as a chemistry technician. Meanwhile, Mollie was warden of the Glasgow Youth Hostel from about 1955 to 1958. At that point, she decided to return to teaching. She attended Jordanhill from 1959-1962 and gained a diploma for primary school teaching. Her first school was in Townhead, and then she was promoted to Depute Head of Kildrum school in the new town of Cumbernauld. The family soon moved there it was not long before Molly was promoted to be head of Carbrain School. When James retired in the early seventies, Molly was able to look more widely for education posts. The family often spent holidays in Tignabruich, and when the headship of Tignabruich primary school became vacant in 1973, Molly gained that post. Molly and James moved to stay at the schoolhouse in Tignabruich at a time when Tignabruich was far more isolated than it is now. As a result, they found it difficult to become accepted by the local inhabitants. Moreover. Molly was given the responsibility of introducing modern methods of teaching, which did not go down well with those who were steeped in more traditional educational methods. To add to this, Molly was faced with the problem of having to serve distant bosses based in Glasgow as a result of the island being 'swallowed' up into the massive Strathclyde region. This caused many administrative headaches. For example, if she wanted to close the school early due to bad weather, she was meant to get permission from a depute director of education in Bath Street, Glasgow. This often proved impractical, especially when the decision had to be taken much earlier than would be the case on the mainland due to the peculiar difficulties of transport on Mull. Therefore, she occasionally made decisions on her own authority and had to put up with the resulting flak that came her way. This all proved very wearing and she eventually decided to resign a couple of years earlier than she needed to. She stayed in Tignabruich for several years after her retiral, but when James died in 1984, she moved back to Gourock to be closer to her son. Her first house was at the top of Victoria Road and Mansfield Road, then after a couple of years she moved to warden-assisted flats in Largs. She became well established in the retired community there and regularly gave addresses to the haggis at Burns suppers. However, she got fed up with Largs and moved to a flat at Battery Park Gardens, then finally moved to Abbeyfield on the Esplanade.
Jim Crawford, Andrew Webster and Bill Smyth all remembered Molly as their Akela. Bill remembers her being a smashing lady and very tall in stature. The Wolf Cubs also found it difficult to pronounce her surname as it was so unusual.
Faulds, Sam (junior)
Sam Faulds was born on 13th September 1908 to Sam and Jane Faulds who were married in 1907. Sam (junior) was the man responsible for starting the 70th Troop in 1932 at the request of the Reverend Reid. At that point he would have been 24 years old. He was 5'9", of slight build, fresh complexion, fair hair, blue eyes and sported a small moustache. There is no written evidence of whether he had any Scouting experience himself, but it is virtually certain that he did. Alan Hardie recalled Sam helping out at the 5th Wolf Cub Pack when Alan was a Wolf Cub there. He remembered Sam as a nice man and explains that Sam’s frequent visits to the Pack were due to his girl friend being one of the lady Cubmasters! Alan also believes that Sam was a Scoutmaster in another Troop before starting up the 70th. It is certainly known that Sam was District Scoutmaster from 1933-35, which confirms that he had prior leadership experience in Scouting.
As District Scoutmaster, Sam had various responsibilities such as the organisation of the Shannon Cup, the annual parade to Pirrie Park and Scouting publicity. He was present at a ceremony held at Everton in June 1933 where the newly designed Scouting flag was unfurled. This may have been one of his first events as DSM. During his spell as DSM, he had responsibilities for parades and in 1934, he proposed that the Wolf Cubs should no longer take part in the Armistice Parade. His motion was passed and the Wolf Cubs were absent from the parades in 1934 and 1935, although they reappeared in 1936. One of Sam’s last duties in 1935 was organising crowd control during the lighting of the bonfire on top of the Lyle Hill as part of the jubilee celebrations for King George V. Sam was also on the competitions committee and organized the Public Service Vase competition in 1935. He was also the District’s representative on the County Scout council. It is reported that Sam may have been friendly with J. J. Swan who was appointed ADC (Wolf Cubs) in 1933 and was to become a well loved DC after the war.
Sam worked for his father (also named Sam) who was a master slater and cement worker with work premises at 13 Bank Street. The family originally lived at 8 Hill Street, but had moved to 30 Brisbane Street by the time Sam started the troop. Sam junior was GSM from 1932 until September 1935 and must have organised the 1933 and 1934 summer camps, as well as getting the troop off the ground. He may have had less to do with preparations for the 1935 summer camp since he got married that year to Jean Stevenson.
It is a pity that there are no records for the first two years of the Troop since it is impossible to judge just how much work Sam put in to starting the troop. Jim Crawford was a Scout about that time and recalled Sam popping in occasionally to visit the Troop. But by that time it is likely that Sam was stepping back to let Ian Dunlop and Ian Hardie take charge. It seems highly unlikely that Sam could have started up the 70th Troop by acting in the background and so it seems more likely that he was very much at the ‘coalface’ during the first year or two of the Troop’s existence.
In 1935, Sam revealed that he was going to resign since he was going to get married. A farewell party was arranged for June, but this never took place. On Wednesday 12th June, Sam left home at 10.00 am to see a local solicitor. However, he did not keep the appointment and did not return home. The alarm was raised and on Friday evening, there was a letter asking for information in the Greenock Telegraph. That same evening, DC Butter mobilised the Greenock Scouts to carry out a search the following day. For the whole of Saturday, Scouts, Rovers and Leaders scoured the streets of Greenock, the Gourock moors and the trails to Inverkip to try and find Sam. However, there was no trace of him and he remained missing for over a month. It was not until the 17th July that Sam was found in the south of England. To this day, it is not exactly clear what happened and the reasons for Sam's flight do not appear to have been publicised in the Greenock Telegraph. Sam's marriage went ahead and he moved to Stewarton, where it is thought he worked as an undertaker. The troop gave him a wedding present and he officially resigned on 6th September 1935. That is the last record of him although there are references to an S. Faulds helping in the District during the war years. However, this may well be a different Faulds. For example, there was a William S. Faulds who was a leader in the 45th during the war years. At some point, Sam 'emigrated' to Hendon in England.
Fraser, Ian
It is not known for certain when Ian Fraser was born, but it may have been 1925. Ian Fraser lived at 30 Forsyth Street beside Wilson Hill who lived at no 28. His father was a chartered accountant with J. H. Fraser and Crawford or Welsh Walker and MacPherson, and one thing that Ian did not want to be was a Chartered Accountant! Ian was a close friend of George Brown. He joined in May 1937 (along with George Brown and Murray McCreery) having been in the Wolf Cubs, and was in the 1937 Group photo. An Ian Fraser was present on a cycling trip to Glen Masson in April 1942. He would not have been a member of the troop at that time, but it is possible that he might have tagged along as he was so friendly with George. He only spent a limited time in the 70th Scouts before leaving Greenock to go to boarding school at Strathallan.
He was in the RAF as a pilot during the war and trained in Canada. He married an English girl called Pam and the wedding was held in Yorkshire with George Brown attending. Ian started off training to become an accountant (!), but ended up as a traffic controller in Prestwick. An Iain Fraser won the Burns Essay at Greenock Academy in 1937 but it is not known whether this was the same Ian Fraser.
Grant, Ronald
Ronald Grant was the only child of a dentist - possibly D. Bryce Grant L.D.S - and was probably born in 1920 or 1921. His mother must have died when he was quite young because his father was a widower when Ronald was in the troop. There is some disagreement about where he lived. Some think that he lived at the top of Margaret Street, while others believed that he lived at the corner of Union Street and Patrick Street opposite the library. If Bryce Grant was his father, Ronald lived at 13 Kelly Street from 1935-39. There is a mention in the Greenock Telegraph of an R. Grant coming second in a Secondary III pillow fight during the Greenock Academy Sports Day of 1937. However, it has not been established whether this is the saem Ronald Grant
Ronald Grant is almost certainly one of the founder members of the troop since he was a Second of the Woodpigeons with Alan Hardie as his PL in 1933, and attended the first summer camp in 1933. There is also a strong possibility that Ronald was one of the members of the winning Shannon cup patrol of 1935. In June 1935, Ronald was promoted to PL of the Woodpigeon patrol and remained PL for 3 years until the summer of 1938. Assuming he turned 18 in 1938, he must have been 13 when he was an SPL in 1933, and 15 when he was
promoted to PL. He had Lawrence Harvey, Alistair McGregor and Dick Leggett as his SPLs during that period. He was at the 1937 summer camp and is holding the Troop flag in the 1937 group photo. He was last mentioned in the COH minutes of September 1938, and it is not known whether he moved to the Rovers or not. A Ronald Grant was secretary of the District’s Otters Swimming Club when it was started in 1937, but it is not known for sure whether it was the same individual.
During the war, Ronald served as a Paratrooper. Alan Hardie met him by chance when he was home on leave in August 1945 in a pub in West Nile Street. At that time Ronald was a W.O. 1 (Regimental S.M.). The next contact Alan had with him was during the 1970s when Ronald was working with Balfour Beattie. It is thought that he lived in Kilmacolm.
Hardie, Alan
Alan Hardie was born on the 30th August 1919 and was one of the 70th's oustanding Scouts of the thirties. His father (John) was an engineer and the family lived at 23 Union Street - a set of white sandstone flats, which overlooked the Princes Pier railway terminal and which had been built by Eoin Steel's grandfather. Alan was a pupil at Greenock Academy from 1925 to 1936. There are several references to him in the Greenock Telegraph relating to Sports Days and Prizegivings. In 1932, he was in the senior 2 class and came third in the sack race. The following year, he came one place better in the sack race and was second in the pillow fight. He was also second in the pillow fight in 1934 when he was in the senior IV class. The next year, he won the pillow fight. He was in the rugby first fifteen for part of the 1934/35 season and then earned a cap by being in the side for the whole of the 1935/36 season. He was also scorer for the cricket first eleven in 1936 since it gave him Wednesday afternoons off school! In 1936, he won a first prize in French and was also awarded a William Millar scholarship from the local Scout association amounting to £3.10 for two years to continue his studies. Lawrence Harvey was also a recipient that year. It is possible that Alan did not accept the scholarship money as he left
school in 1936 with his Highers, and chose not to go to University. He continued his rugby, playing for the Wanderers then Dumfries when he moved there after the war.
Alan joined the 5th Renfrewshire Wolf Cub pack at the old West Kirk in 1927 and reached the status of Pack Leader. He remained in the 5th and joined the Scouts about 1930 - deliberately choosing a different group from that attended by his elder brother since he did want to be in 'his shadow' (see Ian Hardie). There is a mention of Alan in the Scout Notes of 1931 as part of the 5th's swimming team at the annual swimming gala. All the Scouts in the 5th - bar one - were in other schools and so Alan found that a bit isolating. Therefore, when Sam Faulds started up the 70th, Alan was one of the first to join the new troop. Alan already knew Sam since the latter had been helping out with the 5th. Once Alan joined the 70th, he encouraged his friends to join as well, one of whom was Eoin Steel. Alan believed that he joined in 1932 and that he was one of the first patrol leaders in the 70th, when he was promoted a year later. Alan was patrol leader of the Woodpigeons with Ronald Grant as his SPL for the years 1933 - 1935. In 8th June 1935, he was promoted to Troop Leader and he held that position for just over a year to November 1936. He gained his Second Class, First Class and King's Scout badges – one of only three 70th Scouts to achieve this during the thirties. Alan was a keen camper and attended the 1933, 1934 and 1936 summer camps. At the 1936 camp, he watched over the camp when everyone else was in Pitlochry, and spent the time fishing and catching a trout for supper. He was also the PL of the 70th patrol that won the Shannon Cup in 1935, which makes him one of only three 70th PLs to have ever achieved that honour. He was clearly an excellent swimmer and was the mainstay behind a successful run at the Swimming Gala by the 70th. He won the Scout championship in 1935 and 1936 and led a team of four Scouts who won the Victory trophy in 1936. It is also highly likely that he was part of the 70th’s team which won the Victory Trophy in 1935. In 1937 and 1938, he won the Rover race at the swimming gala and was almost certainly in the 70th team that won the Rover team event in 1937. It is also possible that he may have been in the 70th's swimming team in 1938. He held the positions of Secretary, Treasurer and Vice Chairmen of the Court of Honour at various times. In November 1936, he resigned as TL and joined the Rover crew. A year later he become an Assistant Scoutmaster and had his application for an ASM’s warrant approved in 5th October 1937. He remained with the troop until he resigned in March 1939. At that point, it was stated that he was the longest serving member of the group.
Alan left school in 1936 and became an articled pupil of a firm of civil engineering consultants. He went to the Royal Technical College in the evenings to study for the Institute of Civil Engineers exams, but the Institute would not allow anyone to sit exams until they were 21, by which time the war had started and his studies were put on hold.
In November 1937, he joined the territorial army's Royal Engineers (Renfrewshire (Fortress) Co. R.E.), which was based at the old Victorian Fort Matilda situated between the torpedo factory and the Royal West Boat Club. This was part of a defence unit which included a heavy gunnery unit in Port Glasgow, and could be called up at any time if there was a national emergency. Indeed, the unit was called up during 1938 when war first threatened between Germany and the UK. His war station was at Scapa Flow and he was there for a few weeks in Sept. 1938 until the Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resolved the crisis with a visit to Hitler. This resulted in the Munich agreement which saw the partition of Czechoslovakia. Alan's unit was then stood down, but remained on 24 hour notice. By August 1939, war looked inevitable and on the 24th August, his unit was called up again and stationed in Cromarty. It must have been a difficult time for Alan because his father died on the 30th August 1939 (the same day as Alan's birthday) then war was declared a few days later. Alan served in the Royal Engineers throughout the war until August 1946. At Cromarty, his unit completed construction of forts, then in April 1940 he was sent to Narvik in Norway in support of Allied Landings. Although Narvik was taken, the Germans broke through in France the following month and eventually it proved necessary to withdraw from Norway. Alan coordinated half of the Norwegian fishing boats involved in evacuating forward troops from Narvik to the ships that were to convoy them home. Everyone boarded safely and Alan boarded the Arandora Star which was a fair sized, but very slow liner which had previously been on the Argentine run. The convoys reached the UK safely, but some of the escort ships were not so lucky. The aircraft carrier HMS Glorious (22,500 tons) and her destroyer escorts HMS Ardent and HMS Acasta were intercepted and sunk by the German battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. This also meant the loss of about 20 Hurricane and Gladiator fighters planes which had been flying operations from frozen Norwegian lakes during the occupation of Narvik and which had achieved the difficult task of landing on the aircraft carrier. The crew of the Glorious numbered 748 and there were about 468 RAF personnel on board. Few survived. The oil tanker 'Pioneer' and the troop carrier 'Orama' were also sunk separately by the German warships. Fortunately, there were no troops on the latter.
After about a month back in the UK, Alan moved to Iceland in mid July for 9 months, where his unit built heavy coast defences. Over the winter, they trained RA troops to run the power and searchlight installations. The unit returned to the UK in April 1941. Although the government had said that TA troops should be held near their home bases, they were sent to Plymouth where they demolished bombed buildings. Over several months, the unit requipped as a workshop company and were sent to Egypt in April 1942. However, Alan was posted away from his TA unit to a South African company that was part of the 8th Army. There, he looked after the maintenance of water supplies, as well as a section of the Western Desert road. If truth be told, he found it rather monotonous. Once the North African campaign was over, the South African forces were given a month's leave back home while Alan and other UK Royal Engineers waited in Alexandria. They then moved to Taranto in Italy, and from there they reconstructed blown up bridges so that military bridging could be released for re-use. Alan was later posted to a British group where he remained until his eventual transfer to the UK from Austria. He was given a month's leave for his 5 years overseas service and was finally released on 23 August 1946.
After being demobbed, he took up his civil engineering studies again while he worked for the County of Dumfries Highways Department for a ‘meagre wage’. He finally qualified as an associate member of the Institute of Civil Engineers in 1950, and immediately moved to a job with a London consultancy firm which involved early engineering plans for the Forth Road Bridge. However, after 6-8 months, the government postponed the project. He then worked on the construction of underground radar stations - one of which was built in a quarry near Edinburgh. In 1955, he worked on a power station in Trent, then in 1961, he worked on the foundations of the Severn bridge. He then moved to London as an Associate Junior Partner. He also had a period of 3 years where he worked abroad in places such as India and Indonesia. In 1972, he was involved with the Channel Tunnel construction, but this got halted by the Wilson government in 1975. He eventually became Head of Personnel for 6 years and retired in 1982 at the age of 62 to live in Cranleigh, Surrey.
Alan was married in the 1940s and had two daughters. The elder daughter was born in 1947 and was baptised by Alan's brother Ian just before the latter emigrated to Canada.
Hardie, Ian (John Bruce)
Ian was christened John Bruce Hardie but was generally known as Ian. He was born in October 1915 and lived at 23 Union Street where the Dunrod dairy used to be. He went to Greenock Academy and was in the rugby first XV for the season 1932-33. He was proxime accessit of the school in 1932, then dux of the school in 1933 when he gained subject prizes for Classics, English, Latin, French and mathematics. He also gained a bursary for Glasgow University despite competing with boys who had one or two years extra schooling. That same year, he started his studies for an MA in divinity at Glasgow University, finally qualifying with honours in 1937 along with Ian Dunlop. He and Ian both completed their BD at Trinity College in 1938. His specialities were Arabic and middle eastern languages, and in 1938, he started a PhD at Glasgow University on Arabic Musical Instruments.
Harvey, Lawrence
Lawrence was born in Gourock in 1921, but nothing is known about his parents. He is likely to be one of the first Scouts in the troop since he attended the 1933 summer camp at the age of 11. He was a keen camper and was at three more summer camps from 1935-1937, as well as weekend camps at Everton. In June 1935, he was promoted to SPL of the Woodpigeon patrol under Ronald Grant, and remained SPL for the next two years. On 5th March 1937, he became troop curator for camping equipment. In May 1937, numbers in the troop had grown sufficiently to form a fourth patrol and Lawrence was chosen as the PL of the new Fox patrol. He chose Harold Hastie as his SPL and they proved a winning combination since the Fox proceeded to dominate the patrol championship for several months. A special mention and compliment were even made in the Court of Honour minutes. He was present for the 1937 group photo. In November 1937, it was decided that Lawrence would be responsible for the troop's new football team 'since he knew most about the game'. In December
1937, he gained his Second All Round Cords - only the second set to be won in the troop. This almost certainly indicates that he had previously gained his First Class badge and King's Scout Badge - one of only 3 Scouts in the troop to have done so in the thirties. Lawrence was a PL until the summer of 1938, but after that there are no records of him and it is not known whether he joined the Rovers or left the group. Lawrence had a younger brother (Tennent) who was also in the troop and there may also have been a sister who helped out with the Wolf Cubs. Unfortunately, it is not known what Lawrence did after leaving the group. Alan Hardie recalled that he was a very keen fisherman and remembered fishing with him at the Balinluig summer camp. He also believed that Lawrence may have been one of the Scouts in the patrol that won the Shannon Cup in 1935.
At school, Lawrence gained success both academically and on the sports field. In 1936, he won the art prize. That year, he was also awarded a William Millar scholarship from the local Scout association amounting to £3.10 for two years to continue his studies. In 1938, he was second in French. At the Greenock Academy Sports Days, he was a member of a relay team that came second in 1938, and was second in the place kick in 1939. He also played in the school’s first XI cricket team in 1939.
Harvey, M. Miss
Miss M. Harvey applied for an ACM’s warrant in November 1937 to help Molly Edridge with the Wolf Pack. This may have been a sister of Lawrence and Tennant Harvey. Unfortunately, no further information has been found out to date.
Harvey, Tennant
Tennant Harvey was Lawrence Harvey's younger brother. He joined the Wolf patrol in September 1935 and is present in the 1937 group photo, but there is no record of him after that. He did not get promoted and it is not known when he left the group or what he did afterwards. A Tennant Sloan Harvey was born in 1924 in Gourock and this is likely to be the same person since he would have been 11 when he joined the Troop. Like his older brother, Tennant performed well at Greenock Academy sports days. In 1931, he was second in the 100 yards sprint when he was in the junior 1 class. Two years later he won the sprint. In 1936 (junior 6 class), he won the sack race and came third in the hurdles. He was also third in the three-legged race with A. MacFadyen. The following year, he was second in the three-legged race, this time with T. Templeton.
Hastie, Harold
Harold Thomas A. Hastie was born in 1923 in Milton, Glasgow. In Greenock, he stayed at Hillfoot, Lyle Road which is now part of Newton Street (possibly number 124). Harold Hastie's father was a chartered accountant and the secretary of Fleming Reid and Co (a woollen manufacturer and a big employer in Greenock). The family was well off and owned two cars at a time when it was rare to even own one. Harold's father owned a Wolseley car and his mother had a Ford with a hood - a feature which impressed the Scouts.
Harold was an impressive pupil at Greenock Academy and featured frequently at prize giving and sports days.
In 1932, he was in the junior 3 class and came second in the fairy cycle race. In 1933 and 1934 he won the three-legged race with J. Park. In 1937, he changed sporting speciality and was second in the sack race, following this
up with a victory in 1938. However, he did not totally neglect his three-legged training and won that with Jim Crawford in 1938. In 1939, he won the sack bumping. On the academic side of things, he was top at English, Arithmetic and Latin when he was in the Senior 1 class of 1936. The following year, he came top in English and Latin, second in Science and third in Mathematics. In 1938, he was top in English, Latin and Science, and in 1939 (Sec III) he won the Conon Howell Prize and the Burns Federation Prize, as well as coming first in Art, English, Latin and Science, and second in Mathematics. In 1940, he was in secondary 4 where he was third in the Burns Federation Prize. The next year, he won the Burns Federation Prize, the Holt Prize and was dux of the school. Finally, he gave a speech on behalf of the pupils on the occasion of the rector’s retiral that year.
In the Scouting world, Harold was one of the major 'characters' of the Troop during the late thirties and early forties and reached the dizzy heights of Troop Leader. As is obvious from his school career, he was a very clever guy and often approached things in a totally different way from anyone else. He is first mentioned as a Scout during the year 1934-35 and probably joined in 1934 along with many of his classmates. He holds the honour of being the first winner of the GSM's cup in April 1937. At that point, he was in the Wolf patrol under PL Archie Stalker and SPL Jim Crawford. In May 1937, he was promoted to SPL of the new Fox patrol under PL Lawrence Harvey. This proved a highly successful patrol dominating the monthly patrol championships over the next few months. A special mention is made in the COH minutes praising the leadership of both Lawrence and Harold. On 1st October 1937, he became Secretary for the COH, taking over from A. Brown, and remained so until he resigned - a period of 4 years. He wrote up the minutes faithfully, even when he personally came in for some tough criticism. This reflected the fact that he was an honest fellow who wrote both sides of the argument. He also had a nice turn of phrase and George Brown remembered an entry in the COH minutes regarding the state of the camping equipment as being akin to 'holes, poles and patches.' On September 1938, he was promoted to be the patrol leader of the Wolf patrol with Alistair McGregor as his SPL. In September 1940, he was promoted to Troop Leader in place of Dick Leggett, and is recorded as running games in the troop. Harold was a very active senior member of the troop. He had a great sense of humour and was often a source of laughs at troop nights. This appears to have resulted in him having the occasional run in with Wilson Hill (see later). Harold clearly enjoyed meetings of the COH and he was a bustling fellow willing to lay down the law on anything. For example, on the 3rd December 1937, he asked the Court why the troop had not been to church parade on Armistice Sunday. On another occasion, he wanted to put a Scout ‘on trial’ for poor attendance. In 1940, he drafted a series of procedures which should be followed during air raid warnings. Later in that year, he proposed a system of regulations governing troop meetings. In 1941, he made another proposal redefining the Court's constitution. These are just a few examples. Harold was always coming up with proposals, comments or arguments, some of which he won and others which he did not. One of his vetoed suggestions was to send a letter of congratulations to the new Chief Scout, Lord Somers. Another was that the troop should pay half the cost of uniforms for new recruits. Nevertheless, it appears that he won more proposals than he lost and sometimes won proposals that were opposed by the Scout Master. For example, he successfully argued that the troop should pay for each patrol to purchase a copy of "Boy Scout Tests and How to Pass Them" One of the biggest arguments in the Court of Honour related to Wilson Hill's proposal to have a Scout Council in the Troop. This led to quite a vehement argument with insults and accusations flying freely, and members being asked to leave the room. However, according to George Brown, everyone very quickly got over such bust ups, and they were quickly forgotten.
Harold owned a projector which was used along with Wilson Hill's for 'cinematograph shows' No doubt this inspired him to suggest getting films from the local library covering topics such as firefighting to show to the troop and any interested parents. If the above account gives the impression that Harold was somebody who focused purely on committees and debates, then it would be a false one. He was active in instructing Scouts and running activities. For example, it is recorded on 10th January 1941, that Harold was teaching Second Class ambulance, while on 2nd May, he organised a treasure hunt using Wilson Hill's hat as the treasure! After that meeting Wilson tore into his COH so perhaps he was not amused! Harold resigned on 26th September 1941 due to time pressures, and joined the Rovers, but he remained as a co-opted member of the Court of Honour demonstrating that Wilson Hill still valued his input despite their occasional spats. It is also known that he occasionally turned up at troop meetings to help out. For example, on 5th December 1941, he conducted a singsong, and on 30th January 1942, he did a stunt at the campfire. The account mentions 'Haw Haw', but it is not made clear whether this was the name of the stunt or a nickname for Harold! On 15th May 1942, he presented the GSM's cup.
Harold left school to take an apprenticeship as a Chartered Accountant and applied for the RAF during the war, his father having flown with the RAF in the Great War. However, his eyesight let him down and he was not allowed to fly. Nevertheless, he still joined the RAF on non-flying duties. Jim Crawford met Harold in Karachi in 1946, where he was 'doing something related to radar'. After the war, Harold finished his CA course when he was at Moores, Carson and Watson, about the same time that Bill Smyth was an apprentice audit clerk there. Since Harold had come from the forces, he was given the opportunity of an accelerated training course of three years rather than 5 years. He worked very hard and duly qualified as an accountant, as well as being the top medallist of his year He then went on to work with various industrial firms and may have been working for Upper Clyde Shipbuilders at the time of its liquidation. He eventually moved to Bridge of Allan.
Hill, Wilson
William Wilson Hill was born in 1920 and lived with his parents and sister at 28 Forsyth Street. He attended Greenock Academy and won the art prize in 1936 and 1937, as well as the handcraft prize in 1936. His father (Matthew) was a grain merchant who ran his own firm (J & J Denholm), and was also a great supporter of the troop. For example, he helped to transport Scouts and equipment to hikes and camps - a rare privilege since private ownership of cars was not common at the time. It is also known that he was principally responsible for a successful fund raising effort that led to the purchase of the trek cart. Finally, he is known to have paid for train fares when the Scouts were transporting their cycles to Kilmacolm. There must be many other instances of his support that were not recorded. Wilson's mother was also a great supporter of the Scouts, and is known to have contributed home baking to the Troop's Christmas parties.
Wilson himself was a fellow with high coloured cheeks and fair hair. He was a PL at the time the Group 1937 photo was take and is shown holding the Union Flag. He is also present in the troop photograph taken in 1942. Other than that, he is rarely seen in photographs available from the time as he was a keen photographer and took the vast majority of those photographs. This is unfortunate as it disguises just how important a character he was in the history of the 70th, particularly in the war years when he played a crucial role in keeping the Troop running through a very difficult period.
The name of Wilson Hill first appears in the COH minutes for the year 1934-35, and it is almost certain that he was one of the Founder Scouts who joined when the troop started up. Alan Hardie agreed and stated that Wilson was in the troop from the beginning. On 8th June 1935, Wilson was made SPL for the Curlew patrol under Eoin Steel. He is mentioned as working towards his First Class badge on 8th November 1935 and was promoted to Patrol Leader of the Curlew Patrol in November 1936 with G. Lawson as his SPL, then Al Brown. It is likely that he was part of the winning Shannon Cup patrol of 1935, and he was certainly chosen to lead a patrol for the Shannon cup competition of 1937. However, he had to withdraw. On 9th April 1937, he was authorised to receive 1d from each Scout towards a world-wide presentation for the Chief Scout on the occasion of his silver wedding. By November of 1937, he had gained his Second All Round Cords, which was a major achievement since he was the first Scout to do so in the troop. This also indicates that he had gained both his First Class badge and King's Scout Badge (one of only three 70th Scouts to do so in the thirties). In October, he proposed that all members of the troop wear identical woggles in troop colours. He remained as patrol leader until he was chosen as Troop Leader on 3rd December 1937. He was not Troop Leader for very long and resigned on 11th February 1938 to become a Rover Scout. He was present at a COH meeting in May of that year, which indicated that he was helping out with the troop. It is also known that he helped with the Wolf Cub Pack. His application for an Assistant Scoutmaster’s warrant was approved by the Troop on 9th September 1938, and by the District on the 27th September. On May 1939, he was the examiner for the GSM's cup on knots and on the 6th October 1939, he succeeded in acquiring sugar bags for the storage of tents.
At the beginning of 1940, Wilson (aged 19) was the only warranted leader remaining in the troop. The Reverend Stewart stepped in to take over the role of GSM and relieve Wilson of various administrative duties, but Wilson still had to run the troop single handed as an ASM. On 3rd November 1939, Hill was elected to a new office of Group Secretary, but it is not clear what that entailed. Wilson showed an impressive commitment to the 70th over the war years and even kept a meticulous account of events in the troop log from October 1939 to 1943. This includes several invaluable photos that he took and developed himself. He played a major role in cleaning out the cellar under the church in order to store camping gear. This became known as the 'dunny' and was used by the Scouts for the next 30 years. He was also instrumental in raising cash for the 70th's first trek cart. In December 1940, he proposed taking out an SM's warrant which suggests he was approaching his 21st birthday. On the 25th February 1941, he was awarded his warrant and remained SM until the end of the war. He did a fantastic job under difficult circumstances and it would have been easy for him to get discouraged, especially in 1940 when numbers were low. However, Wilson's commitment paid off and there was a strong resurgence during 1942. There is no doubt that Wilson devoted a huge amount of time to the Scouts and was the man principally responsible for the Troop returning to its pre-war numbers in 1942. From 1943 to 1945, Wilson's work must have made it difficult to attend troop nights on a regular basis, and it is likely that he spent a lot of time and effort finding temporary leaders to keep things ticking along.
There is evidence that Wilson's health was not great. Although he was a very fit person, he had TB and that might have prevented him joining the forces. There were several occasions when the troop log mentions him being ill. Matt Neilson who joined the 70th in 1944, recalls that Wilson was often absent from troop nights because of illness or work. He also believes that towards the end of the war Wilson was not sufficiently well enough to camp.
Wilson also had an active role in District Scouting where he was badge secretary from April 1942 until November 1944 when he resigned owing to ‘health reasons’. His interest in camping is deomonstrated by the fact that he seconded motions at the District Executive in 1943 to allow Troops to have their own campsite area at Everton, and that Everton should be open to Scouts who were just coming down to camp for the day. Wilson was also co-opted onto the Sea Scout Committee in February 1943, and had an important role in the successful Gang Show of 1943, gaining special praise from the Treasurer. There is a reference in the District records to a Mr. Hill being a football helper in 1946, but it does not seem likely that this is the same person.
Outwith Scouting, Wilson was a volunteer on the Clyde River Patrol along with John Menzies, Jim Tosh and possibly Sandy McKechnie.
It is believed that Wilson attended University for 3 - 4 years and got a degree. It is certainly known that he ended up working at the Royal Naval Torpedo experimental establishment involved in the design, testing and development of torpedoes. After the war, this establishment moved down to England and expected Wilson to move with them. Wilson was not at all keen on this idea and went into teaching instead, becoming a technical teacher. He taught at Dunoon Grammar where he was a colleague of Bob Miller - a 70th SM from the 60s. Remarkably, neither man knew of the 70th connection! Wilson was a keen sailor and owned a small boat called the 'Pirouette' which he custom designed with an armchair from which he could control everything around him. He was even able to make himself a cup of tea without having to get out of his chair. In later years, he lived at Hunters Quay.
Wilson was a highly popular leader and personality. George Brown described him as a super chap and a 'jolly good Scoutmaster' who was keen on the outdoors and was always very cheerful and outgoing. Robin McDougall decribed him as a very good chap and a faithful ASM who took on the major burden of the troop during the war and did it very well indeed. He also remembered him being quite clever and a bit of a boffin. Apparantly, Wilson liked mechanics and he would often take machines apart to see how they worked. Arthur Blake, who was a Scout in 1945, remembered Wilson as a forthright delightful man. Matt Neilson who joined in 1944 stated that all the Scouts had a great respect and affection for the man. Eric Phillips recalled that Wilson owned a dinghy and taught him how to sail. During the period 1932-1945, Wilson was the Group's longest serving member, having been associated with the Group both as Scout and Scoutmaster throughout that entire period.
Holms, Harry W.
Harry Holms appears as a Wolf Cub in the 1937 group photograph, but does not appear to have joined the Scout troop. His grandfather was of German origin and his parents owned a hairdressing shop at the corner of Nicholson Street and West Blackhall Street, next door to the Regal. A Greenock directory of the time reports that a hairdressers and chiropodists was owned by William Holms and Son at 7 West Blackhall Street. The family lived at 1 Madeira Terrace until 1938, then moved to 38 Newark Street. Bill Smyth believed that they might also have owned a coffee shop.
Harry attended Greenock Academy and won a mathematics prize in 1938. In 1937, he came first in the 100 yards sprint at Sports Day when he was in the senior 1 class. Harry was considered a bit of a boffin when he was with the 70th and it is believed that he studied at Glasgow University about 1956. It is even rumoured that he came up with one or two inventions which made him quite wealthy. Harry's young brother John ran the family hairdressing business for many years, before it became a jewellery business.
Hood, A.
There is reference to a Troop Leader called A. Hood helping out with the Group in 1935 and attending summer camp, but there is no other information. Neither are any records of an A. Hood being born in Greenock or Gourock during 1915-1920, making it likely that the family moved to Greenock from elsewhere in the country. Although he was a Troop Leader, he attended none of the COH meetings during 1935, which supports the theory that he was a Troop Leader with another Scout Group. Unfortunately, his Christian name is unknown. An engine driver by the name of A. Hood is listed in the 1937-1938 Greenock directory as living at 15 Brougham Street, but there is no evidence to show whether this was the same person or not.
Inglis, Bill
This is almost certainly William Todd Inglis who was born in 1924 in Greenock West. Billy Inglis was in Sandy Campbell's class at school and it is known that he was in the troop between 1935 and 1937, since he attended summer camp in 1935, and was in the 1937 group photo. However, it is not known when he joined the troop and when he left. It is quite likely that he joined in 1934 along with many of his classmates. He was never promoted and Jim Crawford remembered him as a shy, retiring laddie, unlike his big brother Jimmy. He went on to manage a bookmakers office in Greenock.
Johnstone, Ian
There is only one person in the 1937 Group photograph of the 70th who has not been definatively identified. Alan Hardie believed that the mystery figure might be an Ian Johnstone who was an ASM with the 70th for a short period. Little is known about him. He was not a former pupil of Greenock Academy or a former 70th Scout, and it is possible that Ian Dunlop brought him along to the troop as an ASM. It is not known when he joined or how long he stayed.
Jubber, Alan - click here for Scouts and Leaders (1939-1945)
Kerr, Jock - click here for Scouts and Leaders (1939-1945)
Kinnell, George
George Kinnell was born in 1925. His family owned a dairy in Greenock, most probably at 17 Tobago Road. There are four Kinnells listed as dairymen in the Greenock directory, all of whom seem to be related. According to Campbell Conn, George's father was called John, and was the brother of James Kinnell who lived over the dairy. According to the street directory of the time, this would indicate that George’s family lived at 6 Brachelston Street. George went to Greenock Academy and it is recorded that he was second in the sack race at the Greenock Academy Sports Day of 1936.
He joined the Woodpigeon patrol on 20th November 1936, and was at the 1937 summer camp. He is also in the group photograph of 1937. In 1939, he was in the Wolf patrol under PL Harold Hastie and SPL Alistair MacGregor. The following year he was in the Curlew Patrol under PL Ian Munro and SPL John Menzies. There is no record of when he left the Troop, but it is known that he joined the Merchant Navy and was serving as a cadet on the merchant ship SS. Denpark from 1941-42. The Denpark was a steam merchant ship of 3491 tons built in 1928 at Lithgows, Port Glasgow, and was owned by J & J Denholm Ltd., Glasgow. On the 12th May 1942, the ship was part of convoy SL-109, sailing about 300 miles NW of the Cape Verde Islands, when it was torpedoed by U Boat 128. George was not one of the survivors and died at the age of 17. His name was on the Roll of Honour at Greenock Academy. George Brown was younger than George Kinnell but remembered him as having a big open cheerful face. He always thought of George at Armistice Day services.
Lawson, G.
G. Lawson was promoted to SPL of the Curlew patrol on 20th November 1936 under PL Wilson Hill, but had to leave in March 1937 due to work. It is not known when he joined the Troop and he may well have been one of the original members. Unfortunately, nothing else is known about him, not even his Christian name. A search of birth registers shows that there was a Malcolm George Lawson who was born in Kilmacolm in 1920. However, it has not been established whether this was the same person.
Leggett, Dick
Dick Leggett was probably born in 1922. His father was Dr. William Leggett who was medical officer at Ravenscraig (then known as Smithston Lunatic Asyllum), and the family lived in the grounds of that establishment. Dick attended Greenock Academy in the year above Jim Crawford and featured in Sports Days and prizegivings. In 1933, he was in the junior 5 class and came second in the three-legged race and third in the sack race. Next year he won the sack bumping. In 1935, he came second in the sack race and won the three-legged race, then in 1936, he was second in the pillow fight and a member of a team that won the senior relay race. In 1939, he was in secondary IV and was second in the sack bumping and the tug of war. He also played in the school’s first XI cricket team. On the academic
side of things, he won the prize for Latin in 1937, prizes for Latin, Science and Maths in 1938, and was second in science in 1939.
Dick was very successful in the 70th and rose to become Troop Leader, probably the first Troop Leader not to have been a founder member of the troop. He joined the troop in April 1936 and was present at the summer camps of 1936 & 1937. He is also present in the 1937 photo of the Group. In February 1938, he was promoted to SPL of the Woodpigeons under PL Ronald Grant, then proceeded to shoot up the 'promotion ladder’. Within 6 months, he was Patrol Leader for the Woodpigeon Patrol with Dennis Woodward as his SPL. At the same time, he was made the curator of the troop equipment. As part of that role, he was on a committee with Ian Dunlop and Eoin Steel looking at whether equipment could be stored under the church. He was promoted to Troop Leader in March 1939, and was also elected chairman of the COH. His promotion was made 'in recognition of his hard work'. Unusually, for a Troop Leader, he remained in charge of his patrol for the first 6 months of his 'reign', and only gave up that role when the number of patrols was cut from 4 to 3 in October 1939. In November 1939, he took over the organisation of the troop's waste paper collections for the war effort.
Dick was obviously a good sportsman, because he was given the task of organising a Scout cricket team, and was in charge of the team that won the Victory Trophy at the swimming gala of 1939. It is believed that he was also a member of the team that won the Victory Trophy in 1936, and it makes sense to assume that he was in the teams that came second in 1937 and 1938. Dick was also chosen as part of a four-man swimming relay team to represent Greenock District at a swimming gala in Glasgow held in January 1937. The race involved teams from Greenock, Glasgow, Dumbarton and Edinburgh. Dick was recorded as the fastest swimmer in Greenock’s team and was picked again the following year for the same event.
He remained troop leader until September 1940 when he joined the RAF. Margaret Gatherer reported that he rose to the rank of squadron leader. It is thought that he may have lived down south after the war.
MacKenzie, Duncan (II)
Duncan MacKenzie may have been born in 1923. His father (John) was a pawnbroker and auctioneer who owned a shop in the east end of Greenock (5 William Street). The family lived at Janefield, High Inverkip Road. Duncan attended Greenock Academy and came second in the hurdles at the school’s Sports Day of 1936 when he was in the senior 1 class. During 1935, he joined the troop along with Jim Tosh. He was at summer camp in 1937 and is in the 1937 group photo. In 1939, he was in the Woodpigeon patrol and won the GSM's cup that year for knotting skills. However, he had a 'barney' at a Troop Meeting in the autumn which saw him forcibly ejected from the meeting! He did not turn up to Troop meetings after that and so he was taken off the roll. This caused the COH some
consternation since Duncan still held the GSM’s Cup. There were various discussions on how to get it back, then to everyone's surprise, Duncan appeared in uniform at a troop meeting on the 8th March 1940. This caused the COH to hastily meet at the end of the meeting to discuss what to do next. The matter seemed to get resolved and Duncan was put on 'probation'. He went to Everton for testwork on 16th March 1940, and attended regularly for the next month, helping with paper collections. As a result, he was put back on the troop roll, then on the 31st May 1940, he proceeded to win the GSM's cup again, this time for pioneering skills! He finally resigned on 11th October 1940 and once again there was much gnashing of teeth on how to recover the cup.
Duncan had an older brother in the army, but it is not known whether Duncan joined the forces or not. He owned a jewellery shop in Greenock.
MacKay, Alan - click here for Scouts and Leaders (1939-1945)
MacKay, Ronald Reay
Ronald Reay Mackay was born in Broughty Ferry during 1924. His father was the minister Rev. R. J. McKay who was ordained at Petty Church in 1918 and was married about the same time. He moved to Broughty Ferry West in 1921 before coming to Greenock in 1934 as minister of St. Columba's Gaelic Church (the Gaelic 'wee free' church). This church is no more and some of the stones were used towards the building of the West Church. The Rev. Mackay lived at 39 Fox Street from 1936 or 1937. This may have been a manse since a minister lived there before him.
Ronald attended Greenock Academy and played for the school’s first XI cricket team in 1940. At the Sports Day that year, he gained third place at the place kick. There were 4 brothers in the MacKay family - Alistair, Hamish, Ronald, and Alan. There has been great confusion as to which is which when it comes to troop records, especially since most or all of them were nicknamed 'Stourie' at one point or another! It is presumed that Alistair and Hamish were the elder brothers and were never in the troop. Ronald was born in 1924 and is the one who is present in the group photo of 1937. He joined the Troop in May 1937 at the age of 13 along with J. Buchanan, I. Curtis, M. McCreery, I. Fraser and George Brown. He was then invested in October 1937 along with G. Brown and J. Menzies. Ronald was a good swimmer and was part of the team that won the Victory Trophy in 1939, alongside Dick Leggett, Ian Curtis, and J. Buchanan. He also won the novice race the previous year. In October 1939, he was in the Woodpigeon Patrol with Jim Crawford as PL and Dennis Woodward as SPL. He is also mentioned as being present at the Xmas party of 15th December 1939. In March 1940, he passed his Second Class badge by completing his final signalling test, but left the troop at some point between then and September 1940.
Not much else is known about Ronald other than he served in the RAF aircrew during the war. After the war, it is thought that he was involved in agriculture and lived in Edinburgh.
McCreery, Murray
Harry Murray McCreery was born in 1925 in Greenock West and lived in a bottom Finnart Street flat at the top of Patrick Street. His father is likely to have been Harry McCreery who was a piecework manager who lived originally at 2 Ford Place, then moved in 1936-37 to 41 Finnart Street. Murray attended Greenock Academy and was in the junior 1 class (primary 1) in 1930-31. At the Sports Day in 1931, he won a prize for the fairy cycle ride. In 1933, he won the egg and spoon race, and was second in the same event in 1934. In 1935, he won the three-legged race. In 1937, he was in the senior 3 class (primary 7) and won the writing prize as well as three three legged race at sports day.
Murray joined the Scouts from the Wolf Cubs on 28th May 1937 at the same time as George Brown, Ian Fraser, J, Buchanan, I Curtis and R. Mackay. He almost certainly joined the Fox patrol under PL Lawrence Harvey and SPL Harold Hastie. He is in the troop photo of 1937 and was transferred from the Fox to the Curlew Patrol in November 1937 under PL Wilson Hill and SPL Archie Brown. Archie Brown became his PL and Alistair McGregor his SPL in October 1939, followed by Ian Munro (PL) and Nicol Smith (SPL). Murray was not promoted and left at some point during 1940. He worked in IBM, but picked up an infection at work and was pensioned off. One of his sons (Ian) was in the 70th Wolf Cubs during the 1960s. Murray identified many of the individuals in the 1937 photograph when it was printed in the Greenock Telegraph in 1996.
McFadyen, Alan (Red Arrow)
Alan McFadyen may have been born in 1924 and was the youngest of a large family living in Robertson Street (possibly no. 42). It is likely that the family moved ito Greenock after he was born. His father (possibly named James) worked in Hasties. Alan was about the same age range as Sandy Campbell and John Menzies, and may have been friends with the latter. He attended Greenock Academy and featured during Sports Days. In 1933, he won the sack bumping, then came second and third in the sack race in 1934 and 1935 respectively. In 1936, he partnered Tennant Harvey in the three-legged race and came second. He won the sack race in 1937, was third in 1938 and won again in 1939. In 1939, he was also second in the three-legged race.
Alan joined the troop in November 1936 at the same time as I. McFarlane and George Kinnell. He joined the Woodpigeons which had Ronald Grant as PL and Lawrence Harvey as SPL. In October 1939, he was in the Wolf Patrol under Harold Hastie as PL and Alan McGregor as SPL. On the 3rd November 1939, the COH decided to send him a letter since he had not been at Scouts for some time. This resulted in him leaving on the 1st December 1939, but he returned about a year later on 11th October 1940, and was immediately promoted to Second of the Wolf Patrol under I. Mitchell as PL. At his first Court of Honour meeting, he offered to pay full subs, despite the fact that he had missed half the year, but the COH declined the offer. At the same meeting, he seconded a motion by John Menzies to reallocate patrols by 'numbering off'.
Alan was supposed to have been a bit of a rough diamond and had the nickname 'Red Arrow'. At the COH meeting of 13th December 1940, there was a spectacular argument that saw Harold Hastie insisting that Alan be sent out the room for misbehaving. However, he was probably no worse than anyone else based on the given account! Wilson Hill reprimanded him but refused to send him out the room. In August 1941, he (or his parents) provided free transport for the camping equipment to Everton farm. He attended a weekend camp at Everton on 9th-10th August 1941, where he was the cook for the camp. On 12th September 1941, he became PL for the Woodpigeons with Sandy McKechnie as his SPL. On 21st November 1941, there was a boxing match between him and John Menzies, but it is not clear whether this was sport or an argument! On 21st December 1941, he and Robin McDougall were in charge of the church parade to Finnart Church when Wilson was ill. In February 1942, he became PL of the Curlews with John Menzies as his SPL. The Curlew patrol at that time was made up of older boys such as ex PLs and SPLs. In the group photo of April 1942, he can be seen wearing a Civil Defence uniform, and in May 1942, he was the first 70th Scout to gain the National Service badge. He left on the 23rd October 1942, but there is no information on what he did after he left the Troop.
McFarlane, Ian
It is not known where or when Ian McFarlane was born, although an Ian Arthur MacFarlane was born in Greenock West during 1924. Ian was a pupil at Greenock Academy and it is reported that he came second in an egg and spoon race at the 1931Sports Day when he was in junior 2 (primary 2). During the time he was in Scouts, Ian lived in Finnart Street near Murray McCreery. Therefore, it seems highly likely that his father was Matthew McFarlane who was an engineer living at 4 Finnart Street. This house was renumbered in 1937 to number 48 Finnart Street. Ian joined the Curlew Patrol on 20th November 1936 along with A. MacFadyen and George Kinnell. His PL and SPL were Wilson Hill and G. Lawson respectively. He went to summer camp in 1937, but it is not known what he did after that.
McGregor, Alistair
Alistair McGregor had red hair and was probably born in 1923 or 1924. He lived in Newton Street at the corner with Kelly Street and opposite the old Greenock Academy. It is thought that his father was a timber measurer, in which case this would correspond to Alexander McGregor who lived at 2 Brachelstone Street until 1936, then moved to 21 Newton Street. Alistair attended Greenock Academy and the Greenock Telegraph reported that he came third in Latin when he was in the senior 1 class of 1935-36.
It is not known when he joined the Troop, but it is likely to have been 1934 along with many of his classmates, such as Harold Hastie, Jim Crawford and Sandy Campbell. He was promoted to SPL of the Woodpigeons in May 1937 under PL Ronald Grant. In February 1938, he was transferred to be SPL of the Curlew Patrol under PL Archie
Brown, then moved patrol again in September 1938 to become SPL of the Wolf patrol under PL Harold Hastie. This transfer is a bit of a puzzle since there was a vacancy for a PL at the time and it would have been logical to promote Alistair. Instead, Ian Munro was promoted from Scout to PL in one go. It is possible that Alistair was not interested in becoming a PL, or was happy being in the same patrol as Harold Hastie. In October 1939, he gained his Interpreters badge in French at the same time as Jim Crawford, and remained SPL until he left the Troop on 27th September 1940.
During the war, he served as a captain in the King's African army, which was made up of East African troops, and fought in Burma. After the war, he settled in Africa, then moved to Australia where he lived on the central coast of New South Wales. He died at a relatively young age on the 13th August 1966 and his funeral was attended by many Sydney branch members of the Burma Star Association, of which he was a popular member. His death was also announced in the Greenock Telegraph of Friday 30th August 1966 along with a short article that included a war poem that he had written.
McKenzie, Duncan (I)
Duncan McKenzie was promoted to SPL of the Curlew patrol in the year 1935 and he may have been one of the founder members of the troop. He must have lost interest after that because he was taken off the roll on 8th November 1935 for non-attendance. Curiously, this occurred at exactly the same time as a younger Duncan McKenzie was enrolled. A Duncan McKenzie was born in Greenock in 1922 and it is possible that this was the same person – possibly Duncan McKenzie, the butcher. If so, it is probable that he was the son of one of the two Duncan McKenzies living in the West end of Greenock during the relevant time period. One family lived at 34 Brisbane Street, then 88 Forsyth Street. The other lived at 109 Newark Street. Unfortunately, no other infomation has been obtained.
Mclean or Maclaine, Alasdair - click here for Scouts and Leaders (1939-1945)
McMillan, Andrew- click here for Scouts and Leaders (1939-1945)
McNeil, James
James McNeil was born about 1924 and lived at 76 Forsyth Street, but nothing else is known about his background. He attended Greenock Academy and was in the same class as Jim Crawford, Sandy Campbell and many other Scouts present during the thirties. The Greenock Telegraph reports that he was third in the 100 yards sprint at the school’s Sports Day of 1933, when he was in the junior 4 class. In 1936, he won the 100 yards sprint when he was in the senior 1 class. There is very little information about his time in Scouting. He was at the 1935 summer camp, but resigned on the 9th October 1936. After he left school, he became a dentist and moved to Port Elizabeth in South Africa. He had 2 sons, both of whom went into the South African army. Sadly, one of the boys was killed in action. This badly affected James and he died shortly thereafter. James had a young sister (Margaret) who married Ronald MacKay's young brother Alan.
Menzies, John
It is thought that John Menzies was born in 1925 in the east of Greenock. However, he was brought up in South Street, and his father (Willie) owned a dairy business (John Menzies and Son) which used to be in Ann Street. The Greenock directories state that there were two addresses for the business in Ann Street (numbers 28 and 40), then in 1938, there was only one address at 42 Ann Street. The family lived at 9 Newton Street until 1940 when they moved to 54 South Street.
John was a pupil at Greenock Academy and he was a consistent prize winner at the school’s Sports Days. In 1932, he came second in the 100 yards sprint and first in the fairy cycle race when he was in the junior 2 class (primary 2). The following year he was second in the 100 yards. It appears that he repeated junior 3 or primary 3, because he was in
the same class in 1934 when he won the 100 yards and the cycle event. In 1935, he was first in the 100 yards sprint, then in 1936 he was third in the egg and spoon race, second in the 100 yard sprint, first in the hurdles, first in the sack race and second in the three-legged race. In 1938, he was third in the 100 yards race, first in the three-legged race and first in the under 14’s high jump.
John joined the troop from the Cubs on the 17th September 1937 at the age of 12, and was invested on the 22nd October 1937. In 1939, he won the novice cup at the swimming gala. In October 1939, he was in the Curlew patrol with Ian Munro as PL and Nicol Smith as SPL.. The following year, he was promoted to SPL of the Curlew in September 1940 with Ian Munro as his PL. This allowed him to attend Court of Honour meetings, and on 11th October, he proposed that the patrols be rearranged by numbering off the Scouts. PL's Mitchell & Munro were not greatly chuffed at this idea, but were outvoted. John played a full part in the COH meetings, so much so that Wilson Hill ejected him from an infamous COH meeting held on the 13th December 1940 for bad behaviour. This decision was rescinded when Harold Hastie objected. In March 1941, John proposed that the patrol competition be held over one night rather than over a month, but was defeated. However, he was praised as being the only PL to have gained a patrol box for his patrol. In September 1941, it is reported that he was training new recruits, and he was promoted to PL of the Curlew Patrol on the 12th September 1941, with Andrew Webster as his SPL. During November 1941, he took part in a boxing match with Alan MacFadyen at troop night although it is not clear what this entailed. On 13th February 1942, there was a rearrangement of the patrols such that all the older boys went into the Curlew patrol with John as its SPL and Alan MacFadyen as its PL. Maybe the boxing match was to decide who would be PL!
As far as his Second Class badgework is concerned, John passed his signalling in October 1940, his ambulance test in February 1941 and his pioneering in February 1942 – not exactly speedy process! In March 1942, he took part in a cycling expedition to Everton where he passed his Second Class cooking. At the end of March that year, the Fox patrol was brought back into being with John Menzies as PL and Alan Mackay as SPL. John finally passed his Second Class badge on 15th May 1942 - quite a long time (nearly 5 years!). He passed his cyclist badge in the same month. In August 1942, he ran a patrol camp at Everton and passed his First Class swimming test. Unfortunately, the troop log ends during 1943, and so it is not possible to say how much further he progressed with his badgework or when he left.
The Peewit patrol log covering 1943-1945 refers to a Robin and a John helping out at the troop. This might refer to Robin McDougall and possibly John Menzies. John Menzies and Robin McDougall were in the same year at school and were both studying for their highers in 1944. The John described in the Peewit Log had a reputation for running endless games. However, a 'John Young' is mentioned on 23rd March 1945, and it has not been possible to establish whether John Menzies helped out at the troop or not during 1944-1945.
John Menzies was a volunteer on the Clyde River Patrol when he was a student, along with Wilson Hill, Jim Tosh and possibly Sandy McKechnie. John worked in the shipyards for a bit, then at some point after the war, he moved to the USA and managed a shipping company in Seattle. He also worked for Lockheed.
Mitchell, Ian
Ian Mitchell was in the same year as Jim Crawford, which suggests that he was born in 1923 or 1924. It is possible that his family may have moved into Greenock from elsewhere since his name does not appear on the birth records for the local area. He attended Greenock Academy and won the English, French and Handcraft prizes when he was in secondary II (1937-38). The following year, he won the English and Handcraft prizes and was second in Mathematics. As far as the 70th is concerned, he joined in December 1938 when he would have been about 14 years old. However, he had been a Scout in another Troop and already had his Second Class badge. He was placed in the Fox patrol with Jim Crawford as PL and Ian Curtis as SPL. In October 1939, Ian was in the Curlew patrol with Ian Munro (PL) and Nicol Smith (SPL). That month, he passed his First Class thrift, and he may have been to Everton during March 1940. In September 1940, he was promoted directly from Scout to PL of the Wolf patrol with Alan McFadyen as his Second. This was presumably in recognition of his Scouting experience, and the fact that he was working towards his First Class badge. At a COH meeting in October 1940, Ian Mitchell and Ian Munro objected at a proposal to re-order patrols by numbering, but were outvoted. At that same meeting, he was made warden of the troop equipment and asked to review the tents to see if they were still intact. In January 1941, he was instructing on First Class signalling, and he was re-elected curator of equipment in March 1941. On the 26th September 1941, he resigned from the troop due to lack of time, despite being offered the position of Troop Leader. It was suggested that he join the Rover Scouts, which he proceeded to do. He and Harold Hastie were also asked to be co-opted members of the COH. It is known that Ian helped at troop meetings as a Rover Scout during 1942 and 1943. For example, he ran troop games and a campfire on 13th February 1942. On the 27th February 1942, he helped out when Wilson Hill was ill. On the 5th June 1942, he was instructing semaphore. On the 19th June 1942, he ran O'Grady, and was also recorded as being present on the 9th April 1943. He may well have been at more meetings - but these are the ones that are recorded. Jim Crawford recalled Ian Mitchell living in Gourock. After the war, he did an apprenticeship in Glasgow and became a railway engineer. He eventually moved to Canada or the USA.
Morris, Alexander
There is mention of an Alexander Morris joining the troop on the 10th November 1935. However, it is not known how long he stayed in the troop. It is known that a Sandy Morris lived in Newton Street and became a doctor. If this is the same person, he eventually left Greenock. The birth register shows that an Alexander Morris was born in 1921 in the west end of Greenock.
Munro, Ian (J. T.)
Ian Munro lived in Kelly Street and was probably born in 1923 or 1924, but nothing is known about his background. There were two Munro families living in Kelly Street during the thirties. A James J Munro lived at number 14 and was a foreman engineer, while a John Munro lived at number 43 and was a carpenter. Whichever family he belonged to, Ian attended Greenock Academy and won several prizes at the school’s Sports Days and prizegivings. As far as sports are concerned, he was in junior 2 (primary 2) during 1930-31, and won the 100 yards sprint and the egg and spoon race during the 1931 Sports Day. In 1933, he won the egg and spoon race, then he won the hurdles race three years running from 1934 to 1936. In 1938, he was second in the sack race. On the
academic side of things he won a Burns prize and was third in English in 1936. In 1937, he picked up a number of prizes – second in English, second in Latin, first in Maths, second in French and first in Science. In 1938, he was second in English and Science. He also won a William Millar Scholarship from the local Boy Scout Association amounting £3.10 for future studies. In 1939, he was again second in English and Science.
It is not known when Ian joined the 70th, but he was at the troop's summer camps of 1935 & 1937. He was considered for promotion to SPL in February 1938, but he remained as a Scout until 9th September 1938, when he was suddenly promoted from Scout to Patrol Leader of the Curlew patrol with J. Nicol Smith as his SPL. Ian remained PL of the Curlew for the next 3 years.
There are a number of entries in the COH minutes and troop log relating to Ian. In November 1938, it was decided to enter a football competition and Ian was elected to serve on a committee coordinating the team. In April 1939, he was given the responsibility of finding out how many Scouts would go to summer camp, although this camp never took place. During Scout week (June 1939), he carried a placard that identified what proficiency badges Jim Crawford and Nicol Smith were representing during a Scout Display. In November 1939, he caused a slight disturbance at a COH, objecting about the fact that his name was always at the end of the list of PLs. His mini rebellion was squashed and his objection overruled. He was present at the Christmas party during December 1939 and it looks like he may have organised a waste paper collection over the Christmas period. In March 1940, he and Nicol Smith did their First Class journey to Arrochar on bicycles. During September 1940, Ian and Jim Crawford talked about resigning, but were dissuaded. At a COH meeting in October 1940, Ian Munro and Ian Mitchell objected to the 'numbering' method for reorganising patrols, but they were outvoted. At another COH in December, Ian joined Harold Hastie in opposing Wilson Hill's idea of creating a Scout Council. During March 1941, it was decided to restart camping which had clearly lapsed for some time. PL Ian Munro was considered to be the expert in this area, being 'an old camper' who could draw 'from his huge stock (of) reminiscences'. He finally resigned on 26th September 1941.
During the war, Ian was commissioned into the army engineers for a while. After the war, it is thought that he gained a BSc and possibly trained with a civil engineering company called Crouch and Hoggs. He eventually moved to Canada as a civil engineer.
Park, J. (John)
Birth records suggest that this might be John Boyd Wilson Park who was born in the west end of Greenock in 1924. John was the son of John Park who, with his brothers, owned Allen McKechnie and Co, Butchers and Game Merchants. The family owned various shops in the district - the principal one being at the corner of West Blackhall and Argyll Streets. John lived 53 Finnart Street, and was the envy of some of his contemporaries as he owned at least two ponies, one of which was a Shetland and the other a larger one called 'Silver'. Jim Crawford recalled flying over the head of one of these ponies!
John attended Greenock Academy and had some academic and sporting successes. In 1931, he was in the junior 3 class and was second in the egg and spoon race at Sports Day. In 1933 and 1934, he won the three-legged race with Harold Hastie, and came third in the egg and spoon race in 1934. In 1936, he was in the senior 1 class and was second in Handcraft. The following year, he was in secondary I where he was first in Maths, Art and Handcraft. In 1939, he won the Spanish prize when he was in Secondary III.
It is not known when John joined the 70th, but it was likely to be 1934. He attended the 1934 summer camp, and was still present in the troop during 1935-36. By October 1936, he was no longer attending and he was removed from the roll on 6th November 1936. After that there is no further mention of him. His Christian name is not mentioned in the troop records, but Jim Crawford confirmed that this was John Park who was in the same class as many of the 70th Scouts who joined in 1934.
John left school early and joined the family business, but then the war broke out. Since he was a bit older than the rest of his classmates, he joined the army early on in the war. By this time, his love of ponies had given way to a passion for motor cycles, so it was not surprising that he should become a despatch rider. It was a dangerous occupation. Of the 20 or so in his original squad, only John and one other rider survived the war. After the war, John continued to live in Greenock, then later moved to Kilmacolm. His addiction for speed continued with an interest in fast cars. When this faded, he took to riding to hounds. In later years, the family butcher business amalgamated with Archie Jess to become McKechnie, Jess and Co.
Paterson, Colonel David
Colonel David Paterson DSO, TD, DL, Depute Lieutenant of the County was a member of the Finnart Church congregation and he led the committee responsible for appointing the Rev. Stewart as minister following the departure of the Rev. Reid. He was an important lay member in Greenock Scouting, where he was the District’s legal adviser and its vice president during the thirties and early forties, becoming its president in October 1943, following the death of Ryrie Orr. Colonel Paterson was a strong supporter in the independence of Scouting and stated on several occasions that the Scouts should remain independent and unaffected by some of the government schemes that were being mooted during the forties. He praised the Scouts voluntary style of discipline over the regimented discipline that was present in pre-service cadet corps. All the same, he thought a little more display of what the Scouts had to offer young people would increase their ranks. Colonel Paterson liked to work in the background and it is quite possible that he was influential in encouraging the start up of the 70th Troop and its continuing success, especially since he was a regular supporter of District Scouting. It is possible that Colonel Paterson served with the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce Batallion of the 17th Highland Light Infantry. A book was written in 1920 covering the war record of the batallion, with a contribution from a Major Paterson DSO MC. Colonel Paterson was one of the VIPs who reviewed the military march past at the Battery Park on King George VI’s Coronation day during 1937. Going from the sublime to the ridiculous, he also contributed towards the costs of the 70th’s new trek cart in 1939. Colonel Paterson was a lawyer and a partner at Neill Clerk and Murray Solicitors. He lived at Clyde House, Roseneath Street and had a son, Major David L. E. Paterson MC.
Phillips, Eric - click here for Scouts and Leaders (1939-1945)
Rae, Molly - see Edridge, Molly
Ramsay, D. (David)
David Stewart Ramsay was born in Greenock West in 1924. He was very friendly with the Steels and he stayed diagonally opposite them in Margaret Street. David was a pupil at Greenock Academy where he was in the same class as Harold Hastie, Sandy Campbell and Jim Crawford. His name appears quite frequently amongst the prize winners at the school’s Sports Days. In 1933, he was second in the egg and spoon race and was in the winning tug of war team for the junior school. In 1934, he was in the junior 5 class and was first in the egg and spoon race and second in the hurdles. In 1935, he won the pillow fight and was fourth in the sack bumping. That year, he also won the Fraser Writing Prize. In 1937, he was 3rd in the under-15's cricket ball, 1st in the under-14’s cycle race and high jump, and finally 3rd in the sack bumping.
David joined the 70th Scouts on the 31st January 1936, along with Hamish Steel with whom he was very friendly. It is not known how long he stayed in the troop, but it is known that he attended the 1936 summer camp. He was not in the troop for very long because he eventually went to boarding school at Fettes school. After school, he qualified as an accountant and worked in Bathgate with a steel firm before becoming a director and secretary at Yarrows Shipbuilders. He eventually moved to New Kilpatrick, East Dunbartonshire.
Reid, Reverend A.R.R. MA, DD
The Reverend Reid was minister of Finnart Church from 1930 to 1936 - a mere 6 years - but he is the man who inspired the start of the 70th Scout Group connected to the church. He was born in Edinburgh in 1895 and studied for the ministry at Edinburgh University and New College, then served for 5 years at the Church of Scotland in Bombay from 1924-1929. For a time, he served as a lieutenant with the H.L.I. He was married and had two sons (Ronald and David) during his period in India. He returned to the UK in 1929, and took up his post at Finnart Church in 1930. To begin with, he stayed at the manse in Union Street, but eventually moved to the end house in 109 Finnart Street (Kilmory) (later renumbered to 209). It is remarkable that he showed any interest in a Scout group since he had plenty of other problems on his mind. In 1932, the church was suffering a long catalogue of problems that included damp, plumbing leaks, gas leaks, over excessive consumption of electricity and roofing problems.
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He was clearly interested in the Scouting movement though. In June 1932, he took the annual open-air District Scout service at Pirrie Park and this may have been one contributing factor in his decision to have a Scout troop at Finnart Church. At that service, he gave the address from St. Matthew's gospel (Let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in Heaven).
Although he does not seem to have been involved in the running of the troop, it is clear that he had a keen interest in it. He visited several of the Troop's summer camps in the thirties and camped for 2-3 days with the Scouts during 1935 and 1936. His son Ronald recalled him wearing an ex army khaki kilt on those visits. The Rev Reid was also the chaplain of HMS Carrick - the local base for the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve (Greenock subdivision) from 1931-1936. He led another District Service at Pirrie Park in 1935, before leaving Greenock in June 1936 to become minister of Belmont Church in Glasgow. There were generous tributes made to him in the Greenock Telegraph which praised him for building up the congregation of Finnart Church - one of the reasons why Belmont Church was so keen to recruit his services. Mr. J.B. Hutchinson of Finnart Church stated that the congregation felt that they were ‘losing a best friend but that everyone wished him well. He would be difficult to replace. Mr. Reid had been an inspiration and a living force.’
The troop posted him a book token worth a guinea to mark his departure. A letter of thanks was received and read out at the COH on 6th Nov 1936. It is not known whether he made any future contact with the Troop after that. A Mr. Reid is reported to have taken films of the troop which were shown on 15th December 1939, but it seems unlikely that this was the Rev Reid. In 1940, he served as a chaplain in the navy for three years before returning to Belmont Church in 1943. That year he also gave the watch night service on the radio on Hogmanay 1943 from 11.45-12.05.
After the war, he continued as minister of Belmont Church and supervised a successful union with Hillhead Parish Church during 1949/1950. Belmont Church itself became part of Laurel Bank school. In 1957, he moved to take up a parish in Cleish, Fife near Kinross and Loch Leven. When he retired, he moved to Kippen where his main hobby was painting in water colours.
George Brown who was troop leader during the war remembered the Rev Reid as being a very nice man.
Reid, David
David Reid was the second of five sons fathered by the Rev. Reid, and was born in Bombay about 1926. During his six years in Greenock, he was a pupil at Greenock Academy and picked up some prizes at the school’s Sports Days. In 1933, he was in the junior 2 class (primary 2) and was second in the 100 yard sprint and egg and spoon race. In 1934, he was second in the 100 yards again. In 1936, he was third in the sack race. He also won the Fraser writing prize in 1935 and 1936. His brother Ronald recalls that both he and David were in the 70th Cubs. If so, they must have joined either at the start of the pack or very soon afterwards since the family moved to Glasgow in the summer of 1936. David became a minister, following in his father's footsteps.
Reid, Ronald
Ronald Reid was the eldest of five sons fathered by the Rev. Reid and was born in Bombay about 1925. He was at Greenock Academy during his six year stay in Greenock. In 1935, he was in the junior V class and was first in the sack race and second in the three-legged race at the school’s Sports Day. He followed this up in 1936 by being third in the sack race and first in the three-legged race. Ronald recalls being in the 70th Cubs, and he may well have had a short stint in the Troop before the family moved to Glasgow in the summer of 1936. George Brown remembered him wearing a greenish blue kilt. Ronald graduated as a doctor and eventually emigrated to Australia.
Ritchie, Billy
Billy Ritchie's father (James) was the photographer who took the group photo of September 1937. He was with Robert Aulds photographic business at 38 Union Street at the corner with Campbell Street. Billy is present as a cub Seconder holding the totem. There is no other mention of him and it is not known whether he joined the Scout troop. Little else is known about him and it is believed he moved abroad. The Telegraph mentions a W. Ritchie who won the pillow fight in 1936 when he was in the junior 6 class. If this is him, it would imply that he was born about 1925. There is also a notice of a William L. A. Ritchie gaining a school leaving certificate from the Academy in 1942.
Smith, J. Nicol K.
Nicol Smith's full name was James Nicol Kynoch Smith and he was born in 1924 in Anderston, Glasgow. It is not known when the family moved to Greenock, but they lived at 14 Brisbane Street. Nicol’s parents were associated with Kennedy and Co. Monumental Sculptors with a yard at the foot of South Street, opposite the cemetery gates. Nicol was friendly with Sandy Campbell who was in the same class at school. Sandy's sister (May Ogilvie) remembered Nicol as being a nice boy and an only child. At the school Sports Day of 1933, Nicol was in the winning tug of war team for juniors in 1933. Once he was in the Secondary school, he was second in Handwork in 1937, and played in the school’s first XI cricket team in 1940. In 1941, he was in secondary V and won prizes in Maths and Science.
It is highly likely that Nicol joined the troop in 1934 at the age of 10 along with many of his classmates. He attended a summer camp in 1937 and was in the group photo of that year. In September 1938, he was promoted to SPL of the Curlew patrol under PL Ian Munro. As a Second, he was entitled to attend COH meetings and there are various entries involving him. In November 1938, he was elected to a football committee that would coordinate the troop's entry in a football competition. In May 1939, the troop owed 3/- towards the hire of a football pitch and Nicol was asked to address the matter, drawing on troop funds if necessary. In June 1939, he and PL Jim Crawford took part in two parades during Scout Week where they dressed up to represent a couple of proficiency badges (the masons and athletes badges respectively). He attended the Xmas party in 1939, and was on a day trip to Everton during March 1940. On Thursday 28th March 1940, he and Ian Munro did their First Class journey to Arrochar on bicycles. This demonstrated that he had already gained his Second Class Badge and it may well be that he gained his First Class badge. He finally resigned on the 27th September 1940 along with A. McGregor and D. Woodward due to business, home guard and other duties.
Nicol was in the Royal Armoured Corps during the war, and was commissioned in 1944. He served in NW Europe where his tank blew up after running over a mine. As a result, he lost one foot and part of his leg. According to May Ogilvie, this had many unfortunate consequences. For example, Nicol was meant to be Sandy Campbell's best man at his wedding, but Nicol could not wear the kilt. Nicol gained a degree in electrical engineering and worked with a firm called Lucas. He died quite young and it is probable that his wounds contributed to his early death.
Smyth, Bill - click here for Scouts and Leaders (1939-1945)
Stalker, Archie
Archie Stalker was born in 1921. His father was a clothier and tailor who lived at 5 Robertson Street, Greenock. Archie was in the same class in Greenock Academy as Sandy Campbell's sister (May Ogilvie). In 1936, he was in the senior 3 class and won the English prize.
Archie was one of the earliest Scouts in the 70th and may well have been one of the founder members, although he himself did not believe so. He was SPL for the Wolf Patrol (possibly under D. Black or Alan Hardie) for the year 1934-35. In March 1935, he was promoted to Patrol Leader at the age of 14 with Jim Crawford as his SPL, and remained as patrol leader until June 1938 - a period of 3 years. In November 1936, he became the treasurer for the COH taking over from Alan Hardie, and was reappointed as treasurer during October 1937. On 9th September 1938, he was made Troop Leader, but resigned the same night! However, he was made honorary treasurer in October, suggesting that he had joined the Rovers. He finally resigned from the group on 28th April 1939.
Archie Stalker remained in Greenock and worked in the Provident Bank when he left school. During the war, he served in the Royal Corps of Signals in India from 1942-1945, returning home in April 1945, before getting transferred to Germany. After the war, he returned to work with the Provident Bank until he retired. He was on the musical festival committee. Archie had a brother called P. J. (Ian) Stalker who was also in the Royal Corps of Signals and served in the Far East before he was captured by the Japanese. As a prisoner, he survived the sinking by torpedo of a Japanese ship carrying POWs from Thailand to Japan, and was taken to a POW camp at Fukuoks.
Steel, Eoin
Eoin Steel was born Ian Simpson Steel in 1919 and lived at 39 Margaret Street; the family may also have lived on the Esplanade at some point. Ian eventually changed the spelling of his name to Eoin, but it is not known why. He came from a large family that consisted of five sons (Bill, Alistair, Donald, Eoin, Hamish) and one daughter (Elspeth). The sons (particularly Alistair) were very good rugby players and were the backbone of Greenock Wanderers for many years, while the father (William) is said to have held the Wanderers together during the war years. William was a master builder who owned a yard in Jamaica Lane. He was responsible for constructing a well-designed building on the NE corner of Margaret Street and Union Street just after the First World War.
The Steel family were strong supporters of the 70th troop. William contributed a pound towards the troop's trek
cart in 1939, while Eoin's older brother (Donald) supplied a lorry to help the Scouts move paper during the war years. Eoin's mother (Annie Rankin) was by all accounts a very strict woman, and apparently many childhood friends of the Steel boys lived in fear of her. She was known to have chased naughty children along the streets of Greenock and through the undergrowth. On the other hand, she supported the Troop on several occasions. The COH minutes of November 1935 state that 'a sum of money (5/-) was devoted as a slight gesture of appreciation to Mrs. Steel and Mrs. Cook for their benevolent cooperation in the matter of the troop meetings'. Unfortunately, there is no clue what that cooperation involved. It is known that Mrs. Steel contributed baking towards the Troop's Christmas parties and it may have had something to do with that.
Eoin attended Greenock Academy and there are references to some of his performances at Sports Days. In 1932-33, he was in the senior II class and won the under 15’s cricket ball with a throw of 60 yards at the 1932 Sports Day. He was also in winning tug of war team for the seniors, and won the pillow fight. In 1934, he won the pillow fight again and came second in the cricket ball. The following year he was in the senior IV class and came first in the pillow fight and 100 yards sprint, second in the broad jump and third in the high jump. Finally, in 1937, he was 2nd in the 100 yards sprint and third at the shot putt. On the academic side of things, he won a William Miller Scholarship of £3.10 from the local Boy Scout Association for the academic year 1935-36. He also won a French prize in 1937. From this record, it was clear that Eoin was an athletic, fit individual and his record at Scout swimming galas (see later) back this up.
There is a strong possibility that Eoin was in a different troop when the 70th started up in 1932. However, Alan Hardie was a close friend and encouraged him to join the troop very son after its creation. It is highly likely that Eoin was promoted in 1933 at the age of 14 to be one of the 70th’s first PLs. He was certainly a patrol leader from 1933 to 1936, possibly for the Wolf patrol until 1935, then for the Curlew patrol (1935-36) with Duncan McKenzie and Jim Crawford as his Seconds. In November 1936, he succeeded Alan Hardie as Troop Leader and held that position until September 1937 when he joined the Rover Crew. Eoin was a regular camper as a Scout, and attended four summer camps (1933, 1935, 1936, and 1937). He was also a member of Alan Hardie's winning Shannon Cup patrol in 1935. During 1936, he led a patrol for the county flag, and was part of the 70th swimming team that won the Victory trophy in 1936. He may also have been part of the team that won the trophy in 1935.
At the beginning of 1938, he was back with the troop as an Assistant Scoutmaster, organising the 70th swimming team. Although there is no record of how the team did in 1938, they were extremely successful in 1939, winning the Victory Trophy and novice cup, with Eoin himself winning the Rover Scout Championship. Considering Eoin’s physique and his record at GA Sports Days, it is likely that he was good at a range of sports, which is probably why he was given the responsibility of leading the Troop's football committee in 1938. Towards the end of 1938, he was given the task (along with Ian Dunlop and Dick Leggett) of exploring whether it would be possible to store camping equipment in the church cellar - later to become the 'dunny'. The dunny was used extensively by the 70th in years to come for all sorts of purposes.
It is clear that Eoin was a keen ASM, and was good at motivating Scouts, because he was commended in November 1938 for producing a substantial increase in attendance figures. Eoin may have been particularly friendly with SM Ian Hardie, for on the 3rd March 1939, he made a speech at which Ian was presented with a fountain pen from the troop to mark his departure. In June 1939, Eoin played a significant role in the organisation of Scout Week and received thanks from the District in the Scout Notes of 6th June.
When the Second World War started, Eoin organised the collection of waste paper for the war effort from Mr. Taylor, Rector of Greenock Academy. In November 1939, Ian Dunlop resigned as GSM leaving Eoin and Wilson Hill to run the troop single handed for the next couple of months. Eoin was the senior figure of the two, and took over as acting Scoutmaster and chairman of the Court of Honour. With Wilson, he organised a Christmas party for the troop and a hope was expressed in the COH minutes that Mrs. Hill and Mrs. Steel 'would again contribute to the eating side with some splendid specimens of their delightful cooking'. Work continued on clearing out the church cellar with Eoin and Wilson describing an atmosphere that was 'positively foul'. Eoin Steel’s last meeting with the troop was on the 26th January 1940, since he had been called up for military service. His departure was mentioned in Scout Notes of 30th January and this reveals that he had been Camp Skipper at Everton from October 1938 and had been extremely popular with all ranks camping at Everton. During the rest of the war years, he made the occasional 'surprise visit' on the 70th when he was on leave. For example, he took part in troop meetings on the 7th March 1941, 10th October 1941, 29th May 1942 and 8th September 1942.
It is believed that Eoin served in the RAF as ground crew or administration. He survived the war and lived near Fort Matilda station, working as the transport manager for a fondant-producing firm called Fergusons. After he retired, he could sometimes be seen at Tescos, working on the trolleys. His wife Sarah taught music to a very high standard and many of her pupils entered the music festival. Eoin was a member of St. Luke's church has been described him as 'a nice fellow' by those that knew him.
Steel, Hamish
Hamish Raibert Simpson Steel was born in 1924 and was the youngest son of William and Annie Steel. He lived at 39 Margaret Street and had one sister and four brothers including Eoin (see above). He attended Greenock Academy and featured in some of the school’s Sports Days. In 1933, he was in the winning junior team for the tug of war. In 1935, he was in the junior VI class and came second in the pillow fight and the hurdles. In 1938, he was in a winning relay team.
Academically, he won the Fraser Writing Prize two years running in 1935 and 1936. When he was in secondary I (1937) he was first in Latin. He left school in 1942.
Hamish joined the 70th troop on 31st January 1936, and was at the 1936 and 1937 summer camps. There are no records of what he did in the troop or what patrol he initially joined, but in October 1939 he was in the Woodpigeon patrol with Jim Crawford as PL and Dennis Woodward as SPL. Hamish was never promoted and left the troop on the 3rd November 1939.
During the war, it is thought that he served in the navy but little is known about this. After the war, it is believed that he was the only one of the Steel brothers to go to university and it has been suggested that he attended St. Andrews University. There is some disagreement about this though. At the time of his death, he was studying for a degree in hotel management and one wonders whether St. Andrews would have been providing such a course at that time. On the other hand, he might have started a course at St. Andrews then switched courses and University. He apparently struggled with his studies and it is said that he succumbed to deep depression. In the early hours of the 22nd January 1948, he woke up in the early hours of the morning, left his parents house and walked down Margaret Street to the Esplanade. He then walked down one of the slipways into the Clyde and drowned himself. His body was found in the river next morning opposite Johnston Street. He was 23 at the time.
Stewart, D. H. Reverend
Donald H. Stewart was born in 1899 in Inverary, Argyll, where his father was the minister of the UF church for many years. Having grown up in Inverary, he left school to train for the ministry. It is not known how many charges he had, but he was the minister at St. John's at Edenside, Kelso for four and a half years before taking over the ministry of Finnart Church in 1937 following the departure of the Reverend Reid in 1936. The Rev. Stewart was the church’s fourth minister and was welcomed to his new charge at a social meeting at the Lorne hotel which was given full coverage in the Greenock Telegraph. His predecessor, the Rev Reid, sent a letter expressing deep regret for his absence and wishing Mr. Stewart the utmost joy and
blessing in his new charge. A spokesman at the meeting stated that Finnart Church had taken a full year to appoint their new minister, searching long and hard, because they wanted to get the right man. In the end, they had selected a man who came ‘with no recommendations except his own brain and ability’. His real recommendation was ‘his personality, sincerity and sound judgment’. There was also a reference to the Rev. Stewart’s love of the Highlands, its lore and spiritual traditions. Colonel D. Paterson DSO spoke on behalf of the congregation stating that there had been some anxiety that they would ever find the right man for the job, but as soon as they heard the Rev Stewart preach at Finnart Church, they knew he was the best man. His appeal was in his ‘attractive personality, obvious sincerity’ and ‘his broad and clear presentation of the gospel message’. The Rev. Stewart replied that his invitation had been so unanimous that he felt it was a call from the church itself and that he could not possibly refuse . He said simply, "I have no programme to announce or plans made for my ministry except to work hard and to give you all I have in faithfulness to duty."
He remained as minister until 1968 and was always a strong supporter of the 70th Scout Group. He played a particularly important role during the war years, taking over the role of Group Scoutmaster to relieve the young Wilson Hill of the Group's administration and paperwork such that Wilson could concentrate on running the troop. The Reverend also made frequent visits on troop nights to see how things were going, and attended special events such as the Troop's annual Christmas party. He also took a special Scout Christmas service each year during the war years, but it is not known whether he introduced this or not. The Rev. Stewart continued to be a very keen Troop Padre when the troop restarted after the war, and he was a frequent visitor at Friday night troop meetings. When he retired in 1968, he moved to Edinburgh.
Telfer, John
John Telfer was probably born in 1919 and was the son of Dr. Walter Telfer who specialised in tropical medicine and had a colourful career in West Africa where he was told that Greenock was listed in a book as a 'fishing port, water plentiful, natives friendly'. Alan Hardie stated that the Telfers lived in Union Street opposite Trinity Church. John attended Greenock Academy and is mentioned in the Greenock Telegraph as coming second in the three-legged race for juniors at the school’s Sports Day of 1932.
Tosh, Jim
Jim Tosh was born in 1923, and lived at Fort Matilda Place. His father (Neil) owned a family butchers in Port Glasgow. There were three brothers. Jim was the eldest, then Stuart and Norman. Both Jim and Stuart joined the Scouts and are present in the 1937 Group photograph. Norman was in the Cubs and the Scouts, but eventually joined the 1st Greenock BB. Jim joined the troop on 8th November 1935. It is not known which patrol he joined, but in October 1939, he was in the Curlew patrol with Ian Munro as PL and Nicol Smith as SPL. He was never promoted and left both school and the troop on the 1st December 1939 at the age of 16. Apart from the 1937 photo, there is little information about his Scout career due to the lack of records.
Jim attended veterinary school in Glasgow during 1939-1941, travelling up by train since he still lived in Greenock. During that period, he volunteered for the Clyde River Patrol and nearly perished as a result. He and a friend were on a patrol boat that had a faulty gas fire. As a consequence, they both succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning and fell asleep. Fortunately, they were found in time and rushed to hospital.
In 1941, Jim left veterinary college and joined the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders for a while, before transferring to the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME). He served in Kenya during the war in Nanyuki. Norman (his youngest brother) apparently hero-worshipped him and was very proud that he was in the army. He even memorised Jim's identity number (144966224). After the war, Jim returned to veterinary college, but only stayed a year before leaving college and joining the family butchers business, which he ran for many years. Eventually poor health forced him to sell off the shop. Jim was then invited to be the President of the Butchers Society of Scotland and attended conferences around the UK. He lived in Jardine Terrace.
Tosh, Norman - click here for Scouts and Leaders (1939-1945)
Tosh, Stuart - click here for Scouts and Leaders (1939-1945)
Webster, Andrew - click here for Scouts and Leaders (1939-1945)
Wickham, B
The COH minutes record that a B. Wickham resigned from the troop on the 3rd January 1936 since he was moving house. Unfortunately, it is not known what his Christian name was, when he joined or who he was. Jim Crawford knew of a Brian Wickham who lived in Gourock, but he did not remember him being in the 70th. He may have come to Greenock from the south. Certainly, there was no B. Wickham born in Gourock or Greenock over the relevant time period.
Wilson, W.
There is no background information about W. Wilson, other than that he was a Scout who resigned from the troop on the 6th September 1935 because he was moving to another neighbourhood. Given the date, he may have been one of the troop’s founder members. Assuming that he joined in 1932 or 1933 at the age of 10 or 11, this would imply that he was aged 13 or 14 when he resigned. A search of birth records suggest that this might be William Stewart Wilson who was born in the west end of Greenock in 1921.
Woodward, Dennis A
Little is known about Dennis Woodward's background, other than that he was friendly with Sandy Campbell, and was in the same class at Greenock Academy. This suggests that he was born in 1924. His family may have moved to Greenock from England since there is no record of Dennis being born in Scotland. He lived at 44 Brisbane Street and his name appears in several Telegraph reports on Sports Days and prizegivings. In 1932, he was third in the egg and spoon race. The next year he won the sack race. After a gap, he proceeded to win the sack race three years running from 1937-1939. He was clearly academically gifted since he was a regular prize winner. In 1936, he was first in handcraft and second in Maths. In 1937, he was top in Art and handcraft and second in Maths. The next year he was first in Art, Science and Maths and won a William Millar Scholarship from the local Boy Scout Association towards his studies. This was worth £3.10 for two years. In 1939, he was third in Maths, then in 1940, he won the Rankin prize for Art, the Murray prize for Arithmetic and the Dan Kerr Prize for Science.
Dennis may well have joined the troop in 1934 along with Sandy Campbell and other Scouts from that cohort. He is certainly present in the 1937 Group photo and remained with the troop for several years. He was considered for promotion in February 1938, and was finally promoted to SPL of the Woodpigeon patrol under PL Dick Leggett in September 1938. He remained as SPL of the Woodpigeon with Dick Leggett then Jim Crawford as PL until 1940 when he left. His name crops up in the COH minutes and troop log. During Scout week, he lifted a principal award at a cycle parade, but no details are given. In November 1939, he was made warden of troop property. In December, he ran a spelling bee at the troop's Xmas party. He resigned on 27th September 1940 due to other commitments, but came back to visit on 6th December 1940, and offered to bring along some machine to show pictures at the forthcoming Xmas party.
It is highly unlikely that he was in the services during the war, since he was known to be asthmatic. Moreover, the Telegraph reported that he had been admitted as a member of the Institute of Accountancy and Actuaries in September 1945, indicating that he had spent the war years training as an accountant at Hourston (or Hounton) Macfarlane and Co, Chartered Accountants in Glasgow. It is not known what he did after the war, other than that he moved to South Africa since the climate there seemed to be better for his asthma. He visited the UK occasionally and made a point of seeing Sandy Campbell during these visits.
Ian was originally in the 4th (45th) Scouts meeting at the corner of Robertson Street and Ardgowan Street before he joined the 70th as an ASM in 1934, along with Ian Dunlop. His application for a warrant was approved by the District in October 1934, and the actual warrant was presented six months later – a standard procedure at the time. When Sam Faulds departed in June 1935, he and Ian Dunlop ran the troop together as ASMs until Jan 1936 when Ian Hastie became SM, and Ian Dunlop became GSM. Ian was awarded his warrant as Scoutmaster on the 23rd June of that year. He attended four summer camps from 1934 to 1937. Since there are no troop logs surviving from the period, it is not known how many weekend camps took place in the thirties, but there are certainly indications that quite a few took place. There is certainly one reference in the COH minutes of at least one weekend camp held at Everton in May 1937, which was run by Ian. It is a shame that the troop logs for the thirties have not been tracked down because we cannot judge just how much time and commitment the two Ians put into the troop and its activities. However, it must have been massive for the Troop to have succeeded as it did. In November 1935, Ian Hardie was elected secretary for the COH until 7th June 1936. On 5th March 1937, he took over as Chairman from Ian Dunlop, and was re-elected on 14th October 1938. He resigned on 3rd March 1939 and was presented with an engraved fountain pen as a present from the Scouts. Eoin Steel made a speech and Ian 'replied with emotion'. He also made a visit on 27th October 1939, which was Ian Dunlop's final meeting before resigning as GSM, and that is the last record of him in the troop archives.
Since Ian was in the ministry he was not called up during the war, and he completed his PhD studies. He became assistant minister at the Mid Kirk in Greenock and, in 1940, became locum at the Old West Kirk when the minister left to be a chaplain with the TA. He held this post until he was appointed to the charge of Forth. He left Greenock in 1943, and at the end of the war, he moved out to Palestine. In 1947, he emigrated to Canada and became a Professor of Old Testament languages at the University of Nova Scotia. He also gained a couple of honorary doctorates, one of which was from McGill University. Before emigrating to Canada, Ian had the pleasure of baptizing his brother's daughter.
Alan Hardie testified that John was a founder member of the 70th, which means that he must have joined in 1932. He was at summer camp in 1935, but there is very little recorded about what he did when he was in the Scouts. It sounds as if he might have been a bit of a rebel in his teenage years since the COH passed a vote of censure against him in January 1936 for not wearing uniform to meetings. Whether he continued to rebel or stopped attending regularly is not known, but he was removed from the troop roll on 17th December 1936. However, he was accepted into the Rover crew on 12th February 1937, and appeared in the Group photograph of the year. It is not known when he left the group, but he went on to study medicine at Glasgow University, graduating with an MV. ChB in the summer of 1943. It is not known for certain what he did during the last two years of the war, but the Greenock Telegraph of 27th July 1946 reported that he was a Captain in the RAMC.
After the war, he set up his own practice, taking mostly private patients, and ran the practice that Robin McDougall joined. According to Bill Smyth, he was a very good GP and ran his Greenock practice from about 1947 to 1955. He then followed his father into tropical medicine, moving to live in Africa where it is said he died of a coronary. However, others believe that he returned to build a house on Newton Street at the top of Madeira Street and lived out his life there. This house was one of the first to be built in MacAuleys field after the war. Bill Smyth described him as a smashing guy.