Obituary: Major George Dinnie MBE, 83

Tributes have been paid to a city major and war hero who has passed away at 83 after a life of military service to his country.

Major George Dinnie MBE joined the regular army at just 14 after lying about his age to join the war effort.

He joined the 1st Battalion Royal Scots, serving for a time in Scotland but mainly in the Far East, India, and Malaya.

He was still a teenager when he was captured by the Japanese and tortured in Singapore in 1945, witnessing the murder of men he had fought alongside.

He would later escort Japanese war criminals to the gallows in 1946, although as a religious man his family said he struggled with his conscious at times, despite the cruelty inflicted on his fellow troops by enemy forces.

Although he bore the physical scars of several months of captivity, he had an air of calm and like many others rarely discussed his experiences, until he detailed his war record in notes for his family shortly before his death last week.

After the war Major Dinnie went on to become Guard Commander to Lord Mountbatten.

During his career he also taught soldiers jungle warfare in Malaya and trained others in India.

He served as a soldier until the 1950s, when he met his wife, Jean Johnstone.

The pair first met in a cafe in Newington in 1954, when he was home on leave. They married the following year and had one daughter, Marion.

After he left the regular army, Major Dinnie joined the Territorial Army and was Company Commander, The Royal Scots Greys, later the Armoured Company, The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards.

During the 1960s he completed an apprenticeship as a vehicle spray painter with Alexanders of Edinburgh, and later moved to brewer Scottish & Newcastle in Fountainbridge, until he retired in 1986.

He received the military MBE from the Queen in 1983 for his service at home and abroad and retired in 1986 with the rank of major.

Major Dinnie, who also became a youth leader and elder of St Leonard's Parish Church, spent much of his retirement looking after his wife after she was disabled through illness.

The couple lived in East Crosscauseway for 23 years, and he was known by everyone in the Southside as The Major.

He was widowed last year and had suffered three heart attacks, but had enjoyed good health up until his 70s when he was still practising Tai Chi.

His daughter Marion said: "I was a daddy's girl and he would have given me the world if he could have. He was a totally different man while in uniform and earned a lot of respect. He had a brave heart.

"In civvies, he was a gentle man. He was a marvellous man and a true example of humanity."