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Wings Over Scotland



The story of a soldier boy 101

Posted on August 23, 2014 by

“Soldier boy” was an affectionate nickname given to me by my father before he passed away. It was both said with pride and his way of calling me a dunderheid.

elvislennon

Dad was an intelligent, cerebral, well-read man, anti-war and pro-independence. He tried to convince me in a variety of ways not to “sign your life away”, including leaving a collection of DVDs for me like “Beneath Hill 60”, “Cross Of Iron” and “My Boy Jack”, as well as many war poems. He also highlighted my distaste for authority. But he failed to stop me. I signed up.

Scottish independence was a different story.

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    • Alf Baird on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Aye Northcode, instead of “a loud, symbolic objection from the independence movement” all we got was Swinney singing the colonizer’s…Jul 24, 10:44
    • James on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “What a Prick.Jul 24, 10:22
    • willie on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “And whilst we are reflecting on the new Lord it might be interesting to reflect on the family history. Anas…Jul 24, 10:21
    • willie on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Sarwar follows a well trodden path of nominal Scots who get picked to be unelected lords and masters. Who in…Jul 24, 09:43
    • Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Thanks for watching it on our behalf, Northy. I trust you’ll continue to put in the shifts and report back…Jul 24, 09:27
    • Andrea on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “I understand what you are saying, but wouldn’t you jump at the opportunity to get away from holyrood? It must…Jul 24, 09:25
    • Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “@Xaracen Have you checked the status of the England-Scotland border and for how long that has been no more than…Jul 24, 09:22
    • Northcode on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Yesterday offered a striking sight: the remnants of the British Empire gathering to celebrate their shared colonial inheritance. And what…Jul 24, 09:14
    • Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Odd that you continue to lump Eastern Europeans in with the Africans. I’ve never noticed much of the Sharia, stabby…Jul 24, 09:14
    • Xaracen on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “factchecker said: “The Act specifies the creation of a unitary country, not a partnership of two.” Nonsense! Since neither kingdom…Jul 24, 08:57
    • Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Aye, sam, we’re in the 21st century now. It’s ludicrously unrealistic to expect that hospitals should be able to count…Jul 24, 08:39
    • Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: ““Post colonial theory is of no help here” Death to the heretic!!! It’s the only language he’ll understand. Talking of…Jul 24, 08:32
    • sam on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Factchecker “Regarding piss poor management of resources etc, I agree – but it’s equally incompetent relative to England.” Regarding the…Jul 24, 08:22
    • Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “@Aidan The CM blog is where the antisemites hang out. Although Robin McAlpine is not averse to donning the tea…Jul 24, 08:22
    • Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Prepare for a shock, Alf. BOO!!! I’ll go organise the clean up for you.Jul 24, 08:15
    • Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “I listened to Swinney’s sad interview on BBC R4 this morning. The interviewer was struggling to hide his frustration and…Jul 24, 08:10
    • Aidan on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Now that he’s on pre-mod (I expect) he’ll go off and haunt some other forum.Jul 23, 23:15
    • robertkknight on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “His King’s Colours didn’t go down too well either, with the Scots deciding upon their own design, which was contrary…Jul 23, 23:12
    • Alf Baird on Ain’t it funny how things change?: ““I’m every bit as much a Sovereign Scot as you.” In a colonial society there are plenty of assimilated natives…Jul 23, 22:41
    • Angus on Ain’t it funny how things change?: ““Ain’t it funny how things change?” Ain’t it also funny how things never change? Labour has been promising to abolish…Jul 23, 22:35
    • Captain Caveman on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Heh, oh really… Well, I’d “knock it on the head” and quit whilst you’re (self evidently) behind, Confused. 🙂Jul 23, 22:23
    • Confused on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “EFTA came up, in the context of GDP/capita – the small, rich countries club – but you realise evil never…Jul 23, 22:23
    • Xaracen on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “A, B, C, and E don’t mean anything to you, Aidan, and they don’t have to. They did mean something…Jul 23, 22:10
    • Confused on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “you’re a bit of a pedant, and prone to miss the point (like some others round here, the reading age…Jul 23, 22:05
    • Confused on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “sure www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5FbYBiJiuA caveman, you’re the kind of turnip a bash on the head might knock some sense intoJul 23, 22:01
    • Confused on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Main – the mobile gas van is on route number 6 000 000 as any fule knoJul 23, 21:59
    • sam on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Auld enemy. Different language,they didnae ken. Deid Mum. Divine Right was right up their parliamentary noses. On the plus side…Jul 23, 21:28
    • diabloandco on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “I see Queen Camilla is thoroughly enjoying the opening ceremony!!Jul 23, 21:21
    • Aidan on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “A, B and C don’t mean anything but E is interesting, what proportion of Scots had the vote in 1707…Jul 23, 21:18
    • Cynicus on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Alf Baird says: 22 July, 2026 at 4:31 pm There is a long history of elite Scots selling out their…Jul 23, 21:00
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