Letter: Battle of Britain

Published on Sunday 23 May 2010 20:21

The mistake that Dr David Purves, Bill McLean and many others make is assuming that every Scot sees the world through the same tartan telescope. I had the good fortune to spend my childhood in the fair city of Edinburgh and my experiences were different. On my parents' mantelpiece there were mugs celebrating the crowning of King George VI and various books around the house were filled with pictures of Scottish soldiers marching proudly beneath the Union Flag.

There were pictures of a vast fleet, most of them built on the Clyde, their crews packed with Scots and every one of them a jolly British Jack Tar. And every former RAF man remembers the lustre that surrounded the City of Edinburgh squadron. And after the war there were street parties in the Sciennes area, Union Flags everywhere, to express the joy of loved ones returning home and the enormous relief that the war was over at last.

Being British meant something in those far-off days, many Scots' lives were sacrificed and many young men came home from the war unbelievably scarred, and not only physically.

But the fact is that all the British people, including every Scot, knew that they'd all done their bit to defeat an evil tyranny, the likes of which the world had never seen before. So, if our separatist friends don't mind, we'll continue to have the fondest memories of all our many English friends and comrades in a time when we were truly proud to be British.

ROBERT VEITCH

Paisley Drive

Edinburgh