John Groat (1924-2018) was born in Leith.

John’s father was a baker who worked at Scott Lyons on Trafalgar Street. His mother was a seamstress at Maules in the West End.

His first job, aged 14, was at Brown Brothers’ engineering works where he was the ‘hammer boy’. His first wage was 8 shillings.

John joined the RAF in 1946 as a driver. When command said they were looking for nursing volunteers he duly enlisted. He was posted to Egypt in the ‘Canal Zone’ in 1948 and remained there until 1950.

After leaving the RAF, John trained at the Nursing College at Castle Terrace. It was at the Nursing College where John was to meet his future wife. She was posted to nurse in Kilmarnock, so John would ride his scooter there and back to see her.

John worked in Edinburgh as a district nurse. He got to know many people. He remembers one patient he used to visit in Halmyre Street in Lochend who used to keep a pony in the bathroom!

John retired in 1984.