Obituary: Cpt Alistair Robertson MBE, respected health administrator who took cue from his experience in naval service

Alistair Robertson was one of the select few who, after National Service in the Royal Navy, went on to become a captain in the RNR. At the same time, he pursued a successful career in the NHS.

He was an only child and his father, who had served in the Merchant Navy, died when Alistair was very young. He left school at 16 and joined the education department of the Glasgow Corporation. He joined the Clyde Division of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) in March 1951 in the hope that he could do his National Service in the navy. This wish was fulfilled, and he was quickly selected as officer material, and became a midshipman.

As a supply officer, he unusually spent a lot of time on submarines. He recalled in later life, that this usually involved writing up reports of inquiries as submariners always seemed to be in trouble.

He also recalled that, as a passenger, his gear was always in the after compartment which had no escape hatch, and that one learned to change quickly when shut in behind a watertight door. He was involved in the search for survivors when the ferry Princess Victoria sank in the Irish Sea in 1953.

His final National Service appointment was to HMS Perseus, a light fleet carrier, ferrying aircraft from Norfolk, Virginia.

After National Service, he gained a diploma in health service management, and so began nearly 40 years with the NHS.

He served with the Western Regional Hospital Board in Glasgow, then as secretary of the Mearnskirk Hospital. He then moved to the regional hospital board in Dundee and then the Angus Health Board. He then worked for the south eastern district of the Glasgow Heath Board and was general manager of the Forth Valley Health Board, retiring in 1991.

From 1991 to 1996, he was the director of the Strathcarron Hospice in Denny, Falkirk, when he finally retired and moved to Inverness.

In August 1958, he married Mary Smith in Glasgow. He and Mary had attended the same school and were neighbours.

Following National Service, Alistair Robertson spent 26 years in the RNVR, (later the Royal Naval Reserve.)

Despite the various moves, he was able to belong to both the Clyde Division in Glasgow and the Tay Division in Dundee, returning to the Clyde until he retired.

The RNR involved dedicating two nights a week and two weeks a year training. There was plenty of sea time mainly in the division’s minesweeper, but he also served in HMS Vanguard, the RN’s last battleship, the guided missile destroyer HMS Devonshire, and the cruiser HMS Belfast, now berthed in London and open to the public.

He was appointed as the senior RNR supply officer. This involved inspecting all divisions and communication centres once or twice a year.

He remembers that they were all different and with their own interpretation of Queens Regulations and Admiralty Instructions. The Belfast Division was based onboard HMS Caroline, a First World War cruiser which had seen action at Jutland in 1916.

During his visits to Belfast in the Troubles, he told of staying initially in a friendly hotel, then with the army which involved being inspected with an SLR (rifle) pointed in his ear before being allowed in.

Robertson retired with the rank of captain RNR in 1979. He was awarded the Royal Naval and Royal Marine Forces Reserve decoration (RD) and bar.

In 1997, he embarked upon the third phase of his very full life when he joined the Inverness-shire Branch of the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association – Forces Help.

As a caseworker and then branch secretary, he applied his eye for detail and his compassionate nature to many cases of hardship and bereavement.

Branch president Colonel Alaister Cumming OBE remembers him as tireless in putting others before himself and to dedicating his talents with great industry and effort to all their ventures.

In addition, he became regional representative for the northern Scotland region of SSAFA – Forces Help.

Alistair Robertson was awarded an MBE in 2010.

He was a founder member of the Loch Ness Rotary Club, member of the Highlands and Western Isles Valuation Appeals Panel, a member of the Inverness Sea Cadets committee, past chairman, Scottish Partnership Agency (for palliative and cancer care), a past lecturer, University of Stirling department of midwifery and nursing, and a member of the Northern Health Board.

He is survived by Mary, sons lan and Kenneth, daughter Elaine and five grandchildren.

Jonathan Brett Young