John Skene (right). The person on the left was an army friend.

“This is my father [at the time when] he was courting my mother. They both met at Colinton when she was out walking with the children of the family she was in service with. He served in the Royal Scots Greys.

“He came from Lybster in Caithness. He ran away from home and joined the army when he was a young teenager. He drunk the communion wine in the church and his father was very strict. The minister caught him and he knew his father would take his belt to him when he came home from his job at the railway – he was a train driver. So he took off and joined the army. He lied at that time about his age. He sat all his exams with the army and passed them.

“He won medals during the war and had the oak leaves and a citation from King George VI [and] also was mentioned in the newspapers.” – Helen Ewing (née Skene) [2003]

Photography – Jerome’s Studio

Donor number: 0135-004